Aloha … from BethCGifford celebrates
'a decade of change'
RANDOLPH, March 9, 2010 – Gifford Medical Center held its 104th Annual Meeting of its corporators Friday evening at the Randolph hospital. The meeting celebrated “a decade of change.”
And change Gifford has.
At the close of the 1999 fiscal year, Gifford faced a deficit of nearly $2.7 million and had lost money four of the five previous years. The way President Joseph Woodin tells it, there was even talk of closing Gifford.
In the years since, the medical center has seen its finances turn around and services, clinics, revenue, quality indicators and numbers of providers and employees grow.
Provider numbers have jumped from 57 in 1999 to 92 in 2009 – the most recent completed fiscal year. Lab procedures are up 113 percent, physical therapy procedures up 93 percent, visits to the Gifford outpatient providers are up 51 percent and surgical procedures are up 43 percent in the last decade.
In 2009 alone, Gifford added a number of new health care providers, including an orthopedic surgeon, a podiatric surgeon, a general surgeon, several hospitalists, an internal medicine provider and a new Emergency Department director, Woodin said in his annual presentation to the corporators.
The growth has largely been due to the fact that patients have either “‘come back’ to Gifford or now choose to make that effort to see our providers,” Woodin said. “In addition, we have had a number of physicians join Gifford as employees, wanting to be part of a progressive, community-based health care system.”
“It’s been an exciting time at Gifford,” Woodin said, summing up the previous 10 years.
The non-profit medical center operated on a state-approved 2.7 percent margin in 2009, which is about average for the nation, Woodin said.
The margin doesn’t leave much wiggle room, especially in today’s economy. “We have problems and we have challenges,” Woodin acknowledged, “but we try not to create stress by laying off employees or discontinuing needed services.”
Gifford has also launched some services, both clinical and non-clinical, over the last decade that have made it a leader in the health care field. Its food service program was created by professional chefs, buys local produce and is delivered via room service to inpatients.
“It’s that kind of thinking that has launched this hospital into a place of pride,” said Randy Garner, Gifford’s outgoing Board of Trustees chairman who Friday was recognized for his three years of leadership. “I can’t really believe three years have gone by. Thank you for the opportunity to serve as board chair. It has truly been an honor.”
The medical center’s success was also attributed to “knowing itself” and not trying to be something it is not, such as a tertiary care center. Gifford has rather focused on providing accessible, community health care and carefully watching its finances.
Elections
Accepting the role of new board chairman was Robert Wright, a Brookfield resident and Vermont Castings foundry manager, who previously served as board vice chairman. “I’m very impressed with the organization and the team that we have at Gifford,” Wright said.
Retiring from the Board of Trustees after a maximum nine consecutive years was Susan Sytsma, who was praised for helping start the Last Mile Ride. Corporators newly elected William Baumann of Randolph to the Board of Trustees with a unanimous vote and a round of applause. Baumann is known for his long-time leadership of local engineering firm Dubois and King.
Newly elected as corporators – the more than 100-year-old body tasked with electing the hospital’s board and serving as liaisons between the medical center and the communities it serves – were Leo Connolly and Chris Wilson.
Awards
A host of financial awards were also announced. The Boys and Girls Club of the White River Valley was awarded the $1,000 Philip D. Levesque Memorial Community Award, named for Gifford’s long-time president and announced by long-time pediatrician Dr. Lou DiNicola.
Betina Barrett-Gallant, a hospital employee and daughter of the late Dr. Richard Barrett announced the winner of this year’s Dr. Richard J. Barrett Health Professions Scholarship. East Braintree’s Krystal Francione, a member of Gifford’s patient registration team who is pursuing an education and career in nursing, was awarded the $1,000 scholarship.
And William and Mary Markle Community Foundation grants were awarded to six organizations: the Chelsea Recreation Committee to help build a lighted skating rink on Heath field; Valley Rescue and South Royalton Rescue for equipment and training; Randolph Elementary School for snowshoes for students’ use; Williamstown Middle-High School for athletic equipment and first aid supplies; and women’s motorcycle club Green Mountain Spirit, which is using its award to support AWARE, a sexual and domestic violence victim support organization.
Quality
The evening concluded with a presentation on quality by Gifford family physician Dr. Marcus Coxon.
Coxon described some of the medical center’s efforts around quality improvement, particularly in recent years since public reporting mandates have increased, such as through the state’s Act 53 Hospital Report Card.
Gifford has a Quality Management Department, Quality Council, Board Quality Committee and Peer Review Committee all focused on improving quality of care, including publicly reported inpatient and surgical care measures and many other self-start efforts to improve preventative and diabetes care, for example.
In 2006, the Board of Trustees challenged the medical center to achieve 100 percents on Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) measures. Since, Gifford has seen its scores rise from middle-of-the-road to top-of-the-pack among Vermont hospitals.
“We want to be the best. That is the goal,” Coxon said, noting, “There’s going to be more external reporting, and I think we’re ready for it.”
In addition to increased staff and Board of Trustees involvement with quality, Coxon also described technology’s role in reducing medication errors, for example, and looked ahead to an electronic medical record, which has the potential to further improve Gifford’s growing reputation as a “really excellent” medical center.
For a copy of the 2009 Annual Report titled “A Decade of Change,” go the Community Reports section of this site or call the medical center’s Marketing Department at (802) 728-2284.