Hospital sets goals for 2025

COLFAX — Whitman Hospital and Medical Clinics Commissioners set forth their Strategic Goals and Objectives during the Wednesday, Oct. 16 board meeting earlier this month.

Whitman Hospital and Medical Clinics CEO Hank Hanigan presented several strategic goals and objectives that the hospital would have moving into the new year.

Hanigan said the hospital plans to complete an expansion of the therapy area, which is a continuation of the project happening this year.

“It is not yet complete, but still needs to be a focus,” said Hanigan.

Hanigan said the hospital intends to develop a walk-in-clinic.

“This is something that we’re very excited about,” reported Hanigan, noting the project will create a path for patients who have an urgent need but don’t want to go to the emergency department.

“We want to create a path that is an alternative to the emergency department,” reported Hanigan.

“The theory of this would be that we just have an open schedule like we do on Saturday,” Vice President of Outpatient Services Debbie Hoadley who would be in charge of carrying out the project.

The hospital is planning to recruit an onsite behavioral health provider, an orthopedic surgeon and develop cardiology.

Hanigan reported the hospital does not currently have its own cardiology program and this would be the hospital’s program.

Other improvements the hospital plans include improving swing bed utilizations, which is the ability for the hospital to provide transitional care for patients who need more time to heal after an acute hospital stay.

“The swing bed program is critically important,” Hanigan reported, noting that the program has had some challenges in the past but its a service they need to put energy into.

“Our current swing bed utilization is about 1.6 patients per day on average,” said Chief Nursing Officer Bill Bryant. “Our goal this year was to get that up to 2.5, we’re not going to make that goal but we have identified the profits that prevented us from getting there.”

Commissioners discussed the Medicare program in regards to the swing bed utilization.

Whitman Hospital and Medical Clinics Chief Financial Officer Abby Smith reported the Medicare plans that people use as their primary coverage may not have swing bed coverage in their plan.

Another improvement the hospital plans is population health and increasing preventative screening in primary care.

“There is certainly a lot more energy around this,” reported Hanigan, noting he can almost guarantee they will focus on breast health and primary care.

“We really haven’t had a population health goal and this is an effort to start doing that,” Hanigan reported.

The hospital is seeking to also improve patient experience with a patient centric focus initiative, improving patient and staff safety and implementing real time clinical documentation in clinics.

Other projects on the goals included planning for the future of the possible St. John Clinic and investigating pulmonary services including sleep program; Bariatric Surgery, Outpatient Dialysis and the potential of Oncology.

Whitman Hospital and Medical Clinics moved and approved the strategic plan and goals to work towards hospital goals in the 2025 year.