Happy New Year

This will be a monumental year for our organization. We will make historic transformations in the way we deliver healthcare by implementing our Electronic Health Record (EHR) system and consolidating the Arden Hill and Horton Campuses into our new state-of-the-art facility. We are also expected to provide excellent care to every patient, every day. All of the steps we take to accomplish these goals will require patience, flexibility and a great deal of energy.

Training for EHR is well underway with approximately 600 scheduled sessions for the nurses, physicians and employees required to use the system. This extraordinary training effort is key to the success of one’s ability to effectively use the system to deliver patient care; we cannot just “go through the motions”. When our EHR system goes live in March, the paper chart will disappear and will be replaced with the electronic patient chart. You will need to implement what you have learned. There will be a significant support system in place, comprised of EHR experts, to assist throughout this transition.

Construction of the new hospital continues on budget and on schedule with completion expected in late April. Soon after, equipment and furniture will be delivered and installed, numerous inspections will be conducted by various State and local agencies, an intense cleaning effort will be conducted and all staff will be oriented. Our expectation is to be completely moved into our new hospital campus by late August with all patients, from the Arden Hill and Horton Campuses, transferred in one day.

In the meantime, we need to remain focused on patient satisfaction and achieving successful patient outcomes. As we have witnessed with our outstanding Joint Commission survey last month, we can achieve any goal, when we stay focused and work as a team. Additionally, patient rounding is an extremely effective way to increase patient satisfaction. Therefore, Chairman of the Board Lou Heimbach and I are making patient rounds twice per month. While we will be visiting with our patients, we also look forward to seeing you in our travels.

I am very proud of our accomplishments to date. This year will mark a milestone for us as professionals and as an organization. It will also be a new a new era for our patients and an opportunity for us to raise the bar for healthcare in the entire region. Exciting and challenging days lie ahead. Please do your best every day and stay focused. Together, as a team, we can achieve success.