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Paragould’s Arkansas Methodist Medical Center Redefines Care
The city has always been geographically distinctive from the surrounding Delta area — it’s situated in and near the rolling woodlands of beautiful Crowley’s Ridge — but the community has recently resumed growing and thriving in new ways. Paragould’s healthcare community, centered on Arkansas Methodist Medical Center (AMMC), is developing a distinctive reputation marked by multimillion-dollar facility expansions, new quality improvement initiatives, an enviable nurse retention rate and a slew of recent awards for innovation and service excellence. The hospital was built by a group of community leaders in 1949 as Community Methodist Hospital; it emerged from the roots of Dixon Memorial Hospital, which had served the area since 1907. In 1982, the hospital was renamed Arkansas Methodist Hospital, and following considerable expansion in the mid-1990s to early 2000s, became AMMC in 2002. The expansions to the medical center included a new intensive care ward, a physician office building, an auditorium, an atrium, a community Wellness Center and a delicatessen. The hospital also modernized the X-ray, imaging and lab service areas and constructed a new emergency room, improved the surgical suites and made various other updates throughout the hospital. Within the year, the hospital expects to break ground for its newest expansion, a patient tower that will make the 129-bed facility an all-private-rooms hospital. The change is immediately apparent as one walks into the new atrium. A baby grand piano playing quiet music, a Starbucks café and the new deli all impress on patients, guests and employees entering the building that this isn’t your average small-town hospital. Shane Carter was born and raised in Paragould and recently moved back from Tulsa, Okla., to helm AMMC’s public relations and marketing department. Carter said he was amazed at how much had changed and how progressive the old community hospital had become in the time he’d been away. Besides the expanded and revamped facilities, a comprehensive quality campaign that began a year and a half ago has also made an enormous difference, he said. “Over the past year and a half, it has completely transformed this medical center into an empowering atmosphere for our employees,” Carter said. The medical center has 676 employees and about 125 volunteers. Thirty-nine of their employees have been with the medical center more than 25 years, and they retain 91 percent of their nurses. Carter said that more than ever, employees want to come to work and do a good job. “Everyone understands that each person in each department has a role here, and that their place is important in getting that patient well and back home. It’s become very supportive, not just for our patients, but for our employees as well.” Brenda McKinney, RN, BSN, has about 20 years experience in nursing and nursing education and now works as a full-time patient liaison and coordinator of the medical center’s multi-faceted Excellent Service Provider (ESP) program. She was involved in the transformation from the beginning. “Under the vision and direction of our CEO, Ron Rooney, we started scouting the country looking at different programs of service excellence and studying how to initiate a program that would work inside our culture here at AAMC,” she said. “We wanted to implement something that would not only look at providing excellent service to our patients, but also meeting the needs of our employees. Our premise was that if we met the needs of our employees and they loved working here, then they would in turn go the extra mile and give that compassionate care we wanted AMMC to be known for.” Senior administration involved employees at all levels in the discussions and opened up new lines of communication among departments and administrative hierarchies. Employees now have multiple avenues to make suggestions, big and small, regarding their work environment, policies and processes. Rooney holds monthly meetings open to all employees to report on board activities and give them straight answers to any questions they have, regardless of whether the information is yet public knowledge. These days, much of that information is overwhelmingly positive. AMMC received a $90,000 incentive from the Arkansas Medicaid Initiative as one of the top 25 hospitals in the state for outstanding patient care. Medicare ranked AMMC number one in giving heart failure patients necessary treatment. The hospital received an Innovator Award from the Arkansas Foundation for Medical Care, and the comprehensive rehabilitation hospital within the medical center just received the highest level of accreditation. Most recently, eight of the 12 employee nominees AMMC submitted for consideration for Custom Learning System’s annual quality awards placed in the top three nationally. McKinney said Custom Learning System’s chief executive officer personally called Rooney to tell him how astounding it was to have that many high placements from a medical center of AMMC’s size. That kind of quality is apparent throughout the city, McKinney said. “We only have about 25,000 population, but it’s a growing community. While the other places I’ve lived are good places, the progressiveness and the attitude of progression here is just great. Everyone, from the healthcare community to the Chamber of Commerce, has such teamwork to get things done.” One example of that teamwork is the free Mission Outreach Charitable Clinic, which opened on Sept. 20. McKinney said that, almost immediately after the idea for the clinic was announced, a flood of pharmacists, doctors, nurses, lab technicians, therapists, housekeepers, chaplains and others from the city volunteered their free hours. “It’s been beautiful to watch it all come together at the community level,” McKinney said. “But it’s not surprising. This is a friendly place.” Patient care remains top priority, Carter said, and McKinney regularly compares patient satisfaction surveys to national data to ensure that they stay at the top of their game. Every day, the senior administration goes on patient rounds to talk with patients about their care. “They give them their cards,” Carter said, “and tell patients to call them immediately if there’s a problem the medical staff can’t address. That’s who we are. We listen.” Editor’s note: Around Arkansas is a regular feature showcasing one of the many medical communities around the state. For consideration of a location, e-mail jennifer@medicalnewsofarkansas.com with “Around Arkansas” in the subject line. November 2007 Tags:NoneBookmark:
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