The New York Times Article

It's not every day that your health system is featured in the NY Times, actually it's not any day as it has never happened before.  About two weeks ago, Kathy Rogers, Director of Community Relations, received a call from Eduardo Porter, a reporter from the NY Times.  Eduardo was calling to interview me upon recommendation from Maryland's Secretary of Health and Mental Hygiene, Joshua Sharfstein, MD.  Dr. Sharfstein visited with us several weeks ago and was impressed with our innovative approaches to population health and he suggested to Eduardo that he call us for his story on health care delivery in Maryland.

Eduardo and I spoke on the phone and he decided to visit Cumberland to interview Dr. George Garrow, Chief Medical Officer for WMHS, and me.  George and I met with Eduardo last Thursday for over an hour providing him with a perspective on how we moved from a volume-based delivery model for health care to one of value.  George and Kathy then took Eduardo on a tour of our health system, highlighting those areas where we have dramatically changed how we deliver care to our patients.  Eduardo was especially impressed with Dawn Snyder, our Nurse Practitioner for our Congestive Heart Failure Clinic.  Dawn's photo was featured in the attached article. 

Eduardo left Cumberland and said that the article would run this week and it did.  It is tough to write on such a complicated subject, but Eduardo did a nice job.  Thank you, Dr. Sharfstein and Eduardo Porter, for recognizing the very innovative practices that have been put in place in western Maryland as we work to meet the triple aim of health care reform (better quality, reduced cost and a healthier community).

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/28/business/economy/lessons-in-maryland-for-costs-at-hospitals.html