What will 2018 hold for Campbell County Health, and for each of us as individuals?
The truth is none of us really knows the answer to either of those questions.
The life of an organization is much like our own personal lives—sometimes
we are surprised by our good fortune, and other times we are disappointed
with sudden sorrows.
If we are healthy human beings, somehow we find a way to move on knowing
that taking the good and the bad of life is just part of the journey.
You cannot rest too long on the joy that success brings, nor should you
hang your head too long if failures and setbacks are your portion. CCH
as a healthcare organization is actually much the same. We must continually
press forward knowing that our mission drives our reason for existence—not
the fleeting elation of success, nor the equally temporary setback from
missing a goal or making a mistake.
This past year had many successes, but we had some failures as well. We
were recognized as one of the
Top 20 Rural Hospitals in the nation, we began our
Baldrige journey with a successful first step, and Mountain Pacific Quality Health identified
us as having exemplary methods to improve patient care. However, we also
experienced a
security incident with employees’ information, we were challenged financially as our
expenses outstripped our revenues, and violence found its way into many
of our departments and facilities.
So do we just add up the “wins and losses” to determine whether
we were successful in 2017 or not? I believe that every year that we are
true to our
Mission and Values is a successful year.
As an organization, we provided thousands of our friends, family, and neighbors
with a healing touch. We saved lives, repaired broken bodies, and reached
into the souls of many human beings. We prevented people from living in
pain, brought new children into the world, and held the hands of our elderly
community members as they passed from this life into the next. We saw
kids get care that they might not have received if it wasn’t for
CCH. We saw physicians and advanced practice providers use every bit of
their training and experience to diagnose and treat diseases. Nurses,
therapists, technicians, and caregivers through all of CCH gave of their
expertise and their heart to treat that one human being in front of them.
Everyone at CCH did something to change the life of another person this
last year, whether they work in a clinical area or in a support department.
Everyone contributed to improving the lives of our community.
Yes, I think we were successful. While there will be many changes we can’t
anticipate at the federal level, there are many projects and plans that
we will integrate into our strategic planning process. This next year
we anticipate the start of a major remodel of our
inpatient facilities. This project will provide brand new rooms, clinical space, and family
areas for all of
Women’s Services,
Medical / Surgical Unit, and the
Intensive Care Unit. We will be combining our hospital and clinic billing departments into
one department in a new area being developed at the Pioneer Building.
We will begin a new and very deliberate process of succession planning
as we identify and train upcoming leaders.
Virtual medicine will be a growing part of CCH as telemedicine and other
uses of clinical information technology find their way more and more into
our organization in an effort to treat people outside of the physical
organization.
Finally, we will continue to work toward the long-term goal of fully implementing
the Baldrige Excellence Framework. Our first step in that direction was
successful, but there is a long road ahead in that journey.
Undoubtedly, change is in our future, and some of changes may prove painful.
We may not be able to afford to do everything we’ve always done
exactly the way we’ve always done it. That is reality. But we will
continue to serve our community with a lifetime of care with dedication,
skill, and compassion. Those aren’t just words; that is why we exist.
This year, I encourage all of CCH's medical staff and employees to
recommit to our patients, our residents, and all those whom we have the
privilege to serve. I believe that your work here makes a difference every day.
I want to say thank you to everyone for giving care and compassion. Thank
you for your work The year of 2018 will be a successful year.
~ Andy
