Report to the Community - St. Nicholas Hospital

S t r a t e g i c D i r e c t i o n sTo the StaffWe wanted to thank youso very much for yourwonderful care afterBryon’s bike accident.It was very upsetting toend our holiday in thehospital but yourkindness to both of ushelped so much.He is improving dailyand we traveled home inthree days without toomuch problem.Our very sincere andheartfelt thanks.(from a patient)I Objective IStrategic Goals & Objectives: Fiscal Year 2007Like any company, St. Nicholas Hospital leadershipworks to develop a strategic plan to ensure longtermgrowth and success. Within this plan weconnect each goal and objective to our mission,vision, and values.Strengthen Financial Business PracticesOne of our strategic responsibilities is to strengthenfinancial business practices and, in conjunctionwith HSHS Business Advisory Committee, workto standardize our information for managed careplan review purposes.In order to ensure we are civically responsibleto these important issues, many of ourdepartment managers and administrativeleaders participate in speaking out on theissues. Our active participation is vitallyimportant to our hospital, system,and patients.Our hospital leadership’s participation with theNational Association for Home Health Care(NAHHC) effectively resulted in influencing 76US Senators to sign the Collins/Feingold letteropposing the spending cuts to home health andhospice services.Our Perioperative Services staff offered educationto area physician office staffs. These sessions helpedincrease the medical office staff’s awareness andunderstanding of the changes in the UnitedHealthcare contract and other mandatory managedcare preauthorization requirements.We frequently send delegates to our state capitalto speak with government officials on a wide rangeof issues.• Opposed the proposed cuts in Medicaid funding,which unfortunately did not pass.• Opposed proposed changes in DRGs/Medicarereimbursements.• Support the permanent provision in the PensionProtection Act of 2006 that allows tax-freedistributions of up to $100,000 from individualretirement accounts (IRAs) to charitableorganization.• Opposed the proposed hospital tax.• Support the inclusion of the proposed Two Centsfor Tooth Sense, a program that will increase thetax per can of soda (by two cents) to increaseMedicaid reimbursements to dentists.Letter writing campaigns, visits to Madison tomeet with our state representatives and senators,and a presence in our national, regional, and stateprofessional organizations are ways in whichwe deliver our message and address the needs ofour patients.II Objective IIFurther develop service lines andinvestigate & develop other satellite opportunitiesRehabilitation Services Our hospital and theservices we provide are constantly changing in orderto ensure that we meet the needs of our patients,their families, and community. Each year we analyzeour service lines and look for ways to develop newservices that advance the level of care.C o n g r a t u l a t i o n s r e h a b s e r v i C e s s t a f f !BESTRehabilitation ServiceSt. Nicholas HospitalSheboygan Press 2007 Readers’ Choice AwardsKnee Replacement Procedure for Women Werecognize the unique needs of women and workedwith Kevin Gassner, MD, orthopaedic surgeon toprovide special equipment for a new knee replacementprocedure that he performs for this population. Thisis a new service for the community and responds toour growing female population.• Support of amending Title XVIII of the SocialSecurity Act to provide coverage of cardiac andpulmonary rehabilitation services.Resolve through Sharing Families that have lost aninfant through miscarriage or stillbirth have specialneeds. Our Resolve through Sharing (RTS) program10