Blogs

July 7, 2011

Sep 28, 2011 by Francine Pina

Folks,

 

Del Rio is a hike from Galveston.  And it’s even further if you drive back to Del Rio by way of Arlington.  My family and I covered a lot of miles this 4th of July weekend, and we had a super time spending it with many friends and family.  I hope you had a great weekend, and for those of you who spent your 4th up here at VVRMC while others played, I appreciate that a whole bunch.  As I pen this week’s letter, I have just returned from North Texas, two big dogs in tote and have taken one step further to my permanent residence in Del Rio!  Exciting, but tiring at the same time.

 

Well, there’s a bunch going on as usual at VVRMC.  Certainly the thing we are really pumped up about are the results of our employee engagement survey.  Our overall engagement score was 85%.  That is outstanding!  HCA company-wide (about 160 high-performing, high quality hospitals) was 77% while Methodist Healthcare System up the road was 76%.  Without question, we are best-in-class.  My hat is off to our leadership team who gets all the credit for developing such a great culture at VVRMC.  There is big pressure on me not to come in and screw it up, and I’m up for that challenge!  In fact, I see no reason why we can’t shoot for 90%.  A lofty goal, but my early hunch with this gang is, put’em to the test and we can get there!  Employee engagement to me is at the foundation of everything we do here at the hospital.  Rest assured, it will continue to be a focus and priority of your leadership team to make sure that a) you have the tools and resources you need to take care of your patients, b) feel supported by your boss, c) come to work each day in an environment where teamwork is the norm and d) have a whole bunch of fun while we are at it. 

 

As a very small way to show how fired up we are about supporting our team and demonstrate our continued commitment to you, everyone who is a permanent VVRMC employee (FT, PT and PRN) will receive in the next payroll distribution a $5 gift certificate to the Verde Café.  Thanks again for everything you do for our patients.  We know when you are happy, there’s a better chance our patients are happy, too.

 

Congratulations to the emergency room team for the work they are doing each day to move patient satisfaction scores.   Our early June results indicate we are making progress.  Guys—keep it up.  What you are doing is making a difference in our community.  Our Board is talking about it.  Our colleagues are taking notice.  And the community continues to come around (see the nice story in last Thursday’s paper).  One patient and family at a time.  Don’t let up.  There is an extension of our emergency room just a block down the road and across the street at the Val Verde Health Clinic.  It’s real important that all of us are aware of our after-hours clinic and the good job our team on the ground is doing there.  This is a super strategy to help relieve some of the volume through our ED, especially those patients who need a lesser level of care.  Please spread the word among your friends that the clinic is open for business on the weekends now, and we are working toward expanding our hours of operation to seven days a week in July.  Keep an eye out for the new signage, new newspaper ads and new billboards around the county promoting the clinic.  There were some comments I read from the Employee Engagement Survey where folks didn’t (or don’t) feel like they really knew too much about the clinic, including its purpose or its direction.  Look for more material on our bulletin boards and communication boards providing this information.  The clinic is a great community resource that serves as an alternative to our busy ED.  That’s the main point we want to get across.  

 

I want you to know that last week at our Board meeting, the Board approved a policy that your management team presented to them which would allow us to extend a discount to our medical staff and their immediate family.  There are few professional courtesies we can extend to the doctors who work here without Forrest or me going to jail (and I don’t look good in stripes!) but this is a legal and above board way in which we can strengthen our relationship with our medical staff and show to them that they too are part of our family.  I want to give our docs every reason if they or someone in their family need a hospital’s services to receive those here at VVRMC.  The policy went into effect last week, and I am in the process of notifying our physicians of the news which I hope will be well-received.

 

The intranet is coming.  We are targeting having the site up around Labor Day.  If you have any good ideas of what type of content would be helpful for you to have at the touch of a button from your house, Iphone or right here at work, do tell.  We are building the site as we speak.  Lots of comments through EES regarding communication (or lack of).  I am hopeful this site will help to address many of those concerns and generate new ideas.

 

Lastly, it is with a heavy heart that I want to make everyone aware of some tragic news our Medical Records Coder Cindy Gonzales received over the weekend.  Her sister’s granddaughter and four very young children were killed during a traffic accident between San Antonio and Eagle Pass.  Our thoughts and prayers go out to Cindy and her family during this time of loss.

 

Keep the Spirit,

 

 

Marc

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