More Than Medicine
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More than medicine. 2014 Annual Report Charlton Memorial • St. Luke’s • Tobey A message from Keith Four years ago we articulated a vision of world-class In 2014, we also unveiled a state-of-the-art maternity healthcare, delivered close to home. It was a vision of unit at St. Luke’s Hospital — part of a $13.5 million unsurpassed, personalized clinical treatment, offered renovation of the hospital’s Family Centered Unit, with a patient experience second to none. A vision of which recognizes that a baby is born to an entire innovative care, tailored to our communities’ unique family, not just the mother and father. combination of needs. We opened a new Urgent Care Center in Wareham. I can proudly say that we have made that vision a It joined the Fairhaven Urgent Care Center in offering reality. And we have built a foundation of success for convenient, affordable care when patients need the work that remains to be done. it most — providing direct access, if necessary, to Our strategic investments — supported by the Southcoast’s specialty and surgical services. generosity of our community — have transformed In 2014, Southcoast Health received numerous Southcoast into a healthcare system that rivals — even commendations from Healthgrades, including being exceeds — the best that any medical center in the named among the Top 5% in the Nation for Patient nation can offer. Safety, and the Joint Commission named us a 2013 Top ® We have recruited the finest medical talent from Performer on Key Quality Measures . We are the only around the country to work in state-of-the-art facilities healthcare system in our region to earn this distinction. with the latest technology. In 2014, we provided our patients with online access In November, we broke ground on the Harold and to their medical information through MyChart, Epic’s Virginia Lash Heart and Vascular Center at Charlton patient portal. Any patient with a Southcoast physician Memorial Hospital. The new facility will house our can now refill prescriptions, communicate with their expanded cardiovascular services, including a state- provider’s office and download health forms without of-the-art hybrid operating room. There, a multi- calling or visiting an office. By the end of 2015, Epic disciplinary team of doctors will work with advanced will be implemented throughout the entire system. imaging equipment to perform sophisticated, While our principal focus has been on physical health minimally-invasive cardiac surgery. and well being, behavioral health issues have reached crisis proportions in our region. Yet there is a critical Our strategic investments — supported by the generosity of our community — have transformed A message Southcoast into a healthcare system that rivals — even exceeds from — the best that any medical center Keith in the nation can offer. shortage of high-quality care for patients, especially on — but sometimes we take its many blessings for the inpatient side. granted. The social and economic challenges faced Southcoast is joining with Acadia Healthcare, a leader by our cities are sometimes more apparent than the in mental and behavioral health, to operate a 120-bed physical beauty of our shorelines. Yet physicians who inpatient behavioral health hospital on Faunce Corner relocate here from other parts of the country celebrate Road in Dartmouth. The center should be completed their good fortune. They are able to practice medicine in the fall of 2015. at the very highest standards of their field, while living in charming communities, with their children attending We have positioned Southcoast for a strong future. good schools, and enjoying a rich variety of cultural But progress comes at a cost. In the last year, we and outdoor pursuits. invested $50 million on the start of our Epic electronic health record system implementation, and we made You, too, should celebrate the South Coast that you a significant investment in the recruitment of new have built. And you should take great satisfaction physicians. These investments were critical, but they in knowing that among the institutions you have will take time to show returns. established and supported is a world-class community health system. The work of building a community healthcare system, responsive to the community’s needs, is never finished. I urge you — do not allow Southcoast Health to be a And because we are a community system, we will be hidden jewel. Get the word out about our physicians, looking to all of you to help us continue to advance. our facilities and our state-of-the-art treatments. Speak proudly of the system you have helped create, and Southcoast Health Trustees have approved a $25 which you sustain with your treasure and your time. million fundraising campaign that will focus on our pillars of success: innovation in practice, collaboration You have helped build something extraordinary. Now it with partners and community-focused approaches. is time we brag about it. Jack Dresser, our Chief Philanthropy Officer, will explain more about the campaign later in this report. We live in a pretty special place — one that is Keith A. Hovan sometimes called the hidden jewel of Massachusetts President & CEO Southcoast Health System and Southcoast Hospitals Group 1 Maureen Sylvia Armstrong, president and CEO of the Sylvia Group and a Southcoast Health trustee, has been defying the odds Defying the odds. since she was a toddler. 2 “When I put my hand out, they give me the instrument I need. It’s like a dance. I lead and they follow.” Michael Langworthy, MD Chief of Orthopedic Surgery & Sports Medicine Doctors feared she would never walk when she was “When I put my hand out, they give me the born without hip sockets, but Armstrong grew up instrument I need,” said Dr. Langworthy. “It’s like taking dance lessons, climbing trees and playing a dance. I lead and they follow.” hard. A growth spurt in middle school revealed that Patients recover in private rooms attended by nurses her right leg was shorter than the left. Too busy for specializing in orthopedic care. Nearly 40 physicians, corrective surgery, however, Armstrong went on surgeons, nurses and other clinical staff at St. Luke’s to become a cheerleader and basketball player at sub-specialize in hip or knee replacement and Bishop Stang High School. Southcoast was the first in the country to offer partial Armstrong graduated from Boston College, married knee replacement using the Blue Belt Navio robot, classmate Ray Armstrong, had two sons, assumed he said. leadership of the family business and led numerous Armstrong’s new hip has passed significant tests, community initiatives — never allowing hip pain to including the large Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve stop her, even though doctors said she would need dinners she hosts. “In the past, by the time it came a hip replacement by age 28. to clean up, I’d be hanging on to the counter with It wasn’t until after a New Year’s ski trip in 2013, when pain,” she said. She hasn’t climbed a tree yet, but her hip popped out on the first run, that surgery she has been tempted. could no longer be avoided. Doctors in Boston Dr. Langworthy expects that more and more diagnosed a torn labrum, the soft tissue at the hip people will recognize the care that is available joint, but Dr. Michael Langworthy, Southcoast’s in their own community. But for Armstrong, the Chief of Orthopedic Surgery & Sports Medicine, decision was clear. suspected bone damage and recommended hip replacement. She scheduled surgery in December “You can be operated on by a rock 2013 after her company’s holiday party. “I had to star surgeon, right here at St. Luke’s,” dance,” she said. Armstrong said. Armstrong was walking unaided again within three weeks, a quick recovery time that Dr. Langworthy credits to the practiced efficiency of his surgical team. They perform complex surgeries in under an hour, reducing blood loss and risk of infection. 3 As parents of five active children, George and Jill Fearons are often in need of emergency pediatric care. But it’s their youngest son, Jack, who made them especially grateful for Southcoast Pediatric Services at St. Luke’s Hospital whose collaboration with Boston A huge benefit. Children’s Hospital brings 24/7 onsite pediatric care to the region. Now a cheerful and healthy three-year-old, Jack additional expertise is needed, such as pediatric developed chronic breathing problems when he was neurology, specialists at Children’s can examine a 18 months old. child via a robot nicknamed Rosie, he said. After one particularly scary episode, the pediatrics “Keeping care in the community, that’s what we’re team at St. Luke’s ordered an MRI, which revealed all about,” he said. “But we do not hesitate to send Jack’s problem — Chiari malformation, a defect children out if they need more intensive care.” at the base of the skull where the brain meets the The Fearons are thrilled with the care they have spine. The defect not only impinged on the nerve received for all their children. In addition to Jack, that controls breathing, it caused his brain fluid to there are: Patrick, 15; Seamus, 14; Maggie, 6 and drain into his spine. Without that liquid cushion for Molly, 1. With a sixth child on the way, they will most his brain, Jack would not survive a fall. And without likely find new reasons to seek care at St. Luke’s. surgery, he would not live another six months, They recently invited 70 people to their Mattapoisett doctors said. home to introduce Dr. Sard and other Southcoast The malformation was corrected during a six-hour staff to the community, and the couple was so operation at Boston Children’s Hospital, and today, grateful they matched all donations made that night.