WESTERLY – At its annual meeting Dec. 8, Westerly Hospital Healthcare, the parent company of the Westerly Hospital, discussed strategic initiatives it has undertaken in its delivery of health care services to position itself for the new era of health care reform.
The changes include: the opening of a North Stonington, Conn., health center, focused on sports medicine; the opening of a new primary care physicians office in Charlestown; and the implementation of electronic health record keeping.
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“We’re positioning ourselves so that the hospital is no longer at the center of the universe,” said Nick Stahl, spokesman for Westerly Hospital. “We’re developing a presence that is closer to where our patients live and work.”
William G. McKendree, chairman of the hospital board of trustees and of the Westerly Hospital Healthcare, called the changes a “proactive” strategy. In the future, he continued, health care systems will be centered less around hospitals and more around patient information systems, integrated physicians groups, and great attention to wellness and prevention.
McKendree also reported that there had been trending improvement in the hospital’s financial performance. During fiscal year 2010, there was an operating loss of $800,000, which was $83,000 better than fiscal year 2009. When investment income and contributions are included, the hospital’s bottom line was a positive $485,000, according to McKendree. The hospital provided the community with about $8.1 million in uncompensated care.
George A. Vecchione, president and CEO of Lifespan, was the meeting’s keynote speaker. He spoke about the leadership role hospitals need to play in designing “new models of care that that bring value and cost effectiveness to our patients, as well as to the businesses, the state, and the federal agencies that are paying for these services.”
