Mary Chiles Hospital Responds to Survey by Adding Services
er plus, health care, leadership montgomery county, mary chiles hospital,
The people spoke‚ and Mary Chiles Hospital listened. When Leadership Montgomery County members surveyed residents on their thoughts about the community hospital‚ they got an earful.
“We asked 12 questions‚ ranging from services used in the last three years to what are your major medical concerns‚” says Donna Payne‚ a Leadership Montgomery County participant. “And to my surprise‚ we received 711 responses. The interest was amazing.”
Jon Tarr‚ vice president of physician services and business development for Mary Chiles Hospital‚ says the survey provided significant insights into the hospital and the services it provides.
“The survey clearly showed two central themes: One was the need for an after-hours clinic and the second was the need to inform the community of what we have available in services and physician specialties‚” Tarr says.
In addition‚ Mary Chiles officials learned that theirs was not seen as a “friendly” hospital.
“With this in mind‚ we have started a new customer service push throughout the hospital to train the employees on how to treat the patients and their family members‚” Tarr says.
It seems to be working.
Rosalyn Goodpaster‚ who rushed her 89-year-old mother‚ Mildred Goodpaster‚ to the hospital after a recent fall‚ says she was impressed with the professionalism and personal attention her mother received.
“The most outstanding thing I noticed was everyone’s attitude‚ from the nurses to the cleaning staff‚” says Goodpaster‚ whose mother suffered injuries to her pelvic bone and ribs.
“Everyone was great from the time we went into the emergency room until we left two weeks later. The girls in the office were great at explaining the insurance. No one brushed me off with short answers; everyone was so patient‚ and I was confident with their answers.
“A lot of people say they will go to Morehead or Lexington. I can’t imagine why they would go anywhere else with a hospital like Mary Chiles available.”
The hospital addressed the need for better after-hours service by opening a new ER Plus department in April. ER Plus has cut waiting times for patients with non-life-threatening illnesses or injuries by two-thirds.
Before ER Plus‚ “the only option in Montgomery County after 5 p.m. was the emergency room‚” Tarr says.
“Many times‚ a patient would come in with a minor illness‚ such as a sore throat‚ and end up having to wait two hours to be treated because a more urgent case‚ such as a heart attack‚ was brought in by ambulance and needed immediate treatment.”
Another concern uncovered by the survey was a lack of public information about the hospital.
“It became apparent that the community did not know what services we offer at Mary Chiles‚” Tarr says. “Thus‚ we have hired an advertising agency to work with us on developing new ad campaigns to highlight our services and high technology‚ as well as our medical staff.”
The survey was initiated by the Leadership Montgomery County group after members met with Pat Romano‚ chief executive officer of the hospital‚ to learn how they might assist the county’s largest health provider.
“Mr. Romano asked them to conduct a survey for us‚” Tarr says.
“The purpose was to give the hospital administrators an idea of what the community thought of the hospital.”
Romano‚ Tarr and two other vice presidents all had been working at the hospital less than a year when the survey was initiated.
“We knew what we thought of the hospital‚ but did not have enough connections within the community to know their impression of the facility‚” Tarr explains.
Leadership Montgomery County met with the hospital board of directors and administration in February to discuss the results of the survey.
Payne‚ who opened a State Farm agency in Mt. Sterling just a few months before joining the Leadership group‚ said she saw it as a tremendous opportunity to get involved in the community.
“The Leadership meetings run from August through March‚ with monthly meetings‚” she says. “There were 18 participants‚ representing businesses from banking to health care.”
“Each class can choose its own project. Some choose Habitat for Humanity; we chose Mary Chiles Hospital. We just want Mt. Sterling to be the best community it can be.”
Story by Lucretia Carter
Photo by Theresa Montgomery
