Healthiest Companies in America

Congratulations to the employees of the Western Maryland Health System for being named one of Interactive Health Solutions’ Healthiest Companies.  According to IHS, out of 1400 employers with whom they work, they identified 70 honorees, and WMHS is one of those 70.  We have created a culture of wellness among our employees by actively engaging employees in proactive health and wellness initiatives.  We have far exceeded the key indicators and previously established benchmarks by IHS.  WMHS has also been able to reduce our overall employee health care costs.  Great job on the part of the Human Resources staff as well as the staff of Wellness and Employee Health.

Yesterday's Message to Staff at WMHS

At yesterday's Department Director meeting there were a series of presentations related to our current fiscal situation and our FY 2013 operating budget.  Regarding our current state of the System, we are making great progress in improving the quality of care and improving the health of our population.  A great deal of work will continue in both areas, but our early results are most promising.  The area where we have fallen short is in the area of generating a cost saving through the improvement in quality and delivery of care.  It takes a great deal of effort to virtually change the way you do business in any industry, but patient care is especially challenging as we have found out first hand.  Would I change the direction of the organization away from a model based on the value of the care rather than the volume of the services provided, absolutely not!  In fact, I am staking my career on the direction of health care continuing to reduce readmissions, greater focus on quality and safety, reducing utilization, caring for the patient in the most appropriate setting and the list goes on. 

As I have blogged before, health care spending at its current level is unsustainable.  It is my opinion that it doesn't matter what happens with the upcoming Supreme Court decision, even if the Affordable Care Act is overturned, the delivery of health care will continue to change in the direction which WMHS has embraced and that is consistent with our strategic plan.

The Pinnacle Award Winner

Congratulations to Denise Marsh, Charge Nurse on 7 North, on her selection as the WMHS Pinnacle Award winner for 2012.  Denise was selected among a field of 12 "stars" at the Western Maryland Health System. As I told the group yesterday, I was both honored and humbled to be in their presence at the awards ceremony.  These are special people and Denise will very well represent the group throughout the year.  She is an outstanding nurse, an effective leader, always upbeat and positive, a mentor to others and has an excellent rapport with patients and families.  Denise has been described by her colleagues as epitomizing service excellence and exemplifying our Core Values.   Way to go, Denise the award is so very well deserved! 

The Pinnacle Award

Today is a very special day at WMHS as we recognize one of our twelve previous Values in Action award winners (employee of month winners for those of you outside the System) with the Pinnacle Award.  This award is presented to the one employee who stands atop the group through their embracing of our Core Values, their contributions to the organization and their community, as well as, being highly respected by their WMHS colleagues.  What a difficult choice out of the twelve exceptional individuals who demonstrate professionalism and exemplify a dedication to service excellence each day.  These individuals are exceptional; they are the "cream of the crop," if you will, and truly stand out among an already unbelievably dedicated staff at WMHS.  Congratulations to each of the nominees as you are all extremely special in all that you do for our patients, our organization and each other.

The nominees for the 2012 Pinnacle Award are below.

Ruth Romesburg, RN         

Bob MacMillan                     

Jim Brant                                 

Amy Campbell                      

Denise Marsh, RN

Debbie Dayton

Carol Strawderman

Shirley Young

Joshua Payne

Alda Westfall, RN

Chris Seibert

Glenda Billy, RN                

Employee Service Awards

Last week, we celebrated the employee service award milestones for employees with 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40 and 45 years.  That's right, we had 2 employees with over 45 years of service.  Amazing and it says a lot for our organization.  We had over 250 employees with 5 to 20 years of service, 34 employees with 25 years, 23 with 30 years of service and 17 employees with over 35 years of service.  There were 13 employees with over 40 years of service, which is also amazing.  The longevity of our staff is unmatched in any other hospital or health system in which I have worked.  This group of awardees has combined years of experience exceeding 5,300 years.  Wow, we are truly blessed with the knowledge, background and experience of our very committed and dedicated staff.

Nanny Bloomberg?

Mayor Bloomberg of NYC has recently been renamed “Nanny Bloomberg” after beginning the prohibition of large sugary drinks being sold in his city.  Quite honestly, my intention in this blog was to criticize the Mayor for his action and ask, "Doesn’t he have more important things to deal with then to tell us what we can and cannot consume?"  I then remembered about a year ago walking through the health system's atrium dining area and seeing an extremely obese forty-something woman who was a double amputee and nearly blind sitting in a wheelchair pulled up to a table eating the biggest sweet roll  that I have ever seen.   My reaction was if people are not going to help themselves then we are going to have to do our part.  We have since adjusted our menu with much healthier choices and have significantly reduced the number of less healthy options that we make available in our Cafeteria.  So, in a way, I am restricting an individual's choice by limiting those unhealthy options in our facility with the same idea in mind as that of Mayor Bloomberg. 

As a society, we cannot sustain the amount of unhealthy living that is occurring daily.  If individuals are not going to be responsible for their own well being, then we are going to have to help them.  There is a lot more at stake for hospitals in the near future as we will be incentivized to ensure that the population we serve continues on an ever improving wellness track.  In the event that there is a decline in the health of our population, the hospital will be penalized.  So, in closing, I have become what is known in political circles as a "flip-flopper."  I have come 180 degrees in my opinion of Mayor Bloomberg's latest edict in a matter of minutes.

Update on WMHS Clinical Quality Council

At yesterday's WMHS Board meeting, I gave an update on the progress that we are making with the President's Clinical Quality Council.  Just short of a year ago, we identified a dozen members of our medical staff who are leaders among the physicians and are early adopters as well as innovators.   This group has been meeting with members of senior management for about ten months addressing a variety of areas requiring change.  As a result, we now have a truly engaged Council of physicians.  Some of our achievements to date have been: enhancing physician education on key topics related to the care of the patient; using data to improve care; better alignment of care delivery; reduced readmissions; a stronger focus on patient-centered care; a reduction in practice variance; an enhanced awareness of the changes facing health care; better quality and patient safety along with a reduction in the cost of care.  There continues to be a lot of work ahead of us, but with closing in on one year since the inception of the Council, I am very pleased with our progress.