Roane General Hospital is dedicated to the delivery of high-quality, cost-effective health care to all members of our community. The work we do makes a difference in people’s lives.
Forging Ahead in an Uncertain Healthcare Environment
I cannot think of a time during my 15 years in healthcare administration that we had so much uncertainty as to the state of our local, state, and national healthcare systems. As with anything we do in life, it is difficult to plan for the future when we don’t know the rules and they seem to constantly be changing.
As a starting point, the details -- the "rules" -- of the trillion dollar health care reform package that Congress passed 14 months ago remain incomplete. What started out as a 2,000 page bill ultimately will be thousands more pages when the details of the reforms are finalized in the upcoming months.
To compound the uncertainty of the Reform Bill, several states have challenged the constitutionality of the provision that would require individuals to purchase health care insurance -- an issue the United States Supreme Court will be asked to decide. If the high Court deems this mandate unconstitutional, the entire healthcare reform package, including the expansion of coverage and subsidies for lower income Americans, may be thrown out. In addition to the debate in our court system, some members of Congress also are discussing possible ways to de-fund what many critics have dubbed “Obamacare” as our congressional leaders debate the 2012 federal budget.
As we continue to track these uncertain reforms, the Hospital has and will continue to focus on its core mission of providing the highest quality healthcare to our community. As in years past, the Hospital went through the process of developing a strategic plan, resulting in more than 35 goals and objectives for Roane General. We are forging ahead with these goals and hope to accomplish these within the next two years. In the next few months, we specifically will focus efforts on a new Urgent Care Walk-In Clinic located at RGMA and the expansion and update of the Hospital's core Meditech Information System. These efforts will better serve our community and improve the financial performance of the hospital in light of the financial pressures from the ever-changing regulatory landscape.
One of the most exciting of these goals will be the development of a new Urgent Care Walk-In Clinic that will be located in the RGMA Medical Building. We have heard from so many patients the difficulty of seeing a physician or nurse practitioner when they need one. These acute or same-day visits often result in an unnecessary and expensive emergency room visit or to a visit to a healthcare provider outside of our community, which requires the patient to travel. We hope to address this issue by opening a new clinic with expanded hours to serve patients as walk-ins. Our hope is to open the clinic by mid-summer with operating hours of 9:00 am to 6:30 pm, 7 days a week. As soon as the details become final, we will be communicating and marketing the service to our employees, patients, and community. We are obviously very excited to be able to offer this service to our community.
The Hospital also has invested in a new Meditech Platform. We will begin the planning and implementation very soon. This new Meditech 6.0 Platform will greatly enhance the look, feel, and functionality of our current information system. It will move from the old DOS "look and feel" to a "point and click" Windows environment. Although the “go live” date is still two years away, we will begin planning and implementation in the upcoming weeks.
Obviously, while the healthcare regulatory environment continues to change and has largely created an unpredictable environment for healthcare providers, the Hospital nevertheless continues to plan and move forward. Our focus has never changed: To provide high quality, cost effective health care to our community.
Doug Bentz: Chief Executive Officer
Louise Ward: Vice President of Financial and Support Services
Julie Carr: Vice President of Nursing Services and Clinical Informatics
Brenda Knapp: Executive Assistant
Roane General Hospital Board of Directors
Directors
| Jack D. Garrett, II | President |
| William G. Downey, Jr. | Vice President |
| Gregory A. Boggs | Vice President |
| Jennifer F. McCulty | Secretary |
| John A. Varda | Treasurer |
Members
| Bob G. Ashley |
| G. Jeanette Atkinson |
| Richard E. Bowlby |
| Martha S. Cooper |
| Christine M. Hedges |
| Paul M. Hughes |
| John H. Taylor |
| Gerald M. Titus, Jr. |
| Robert E. Zdanek |
| Ex Officio: Douglas E. Bentz; Chief Executive Officer |
| Ex Officio: Brent Watson, MD; Chief of Medical Staff |
Roane General Hospital Foundation
Roane General Hospital is a nonprofit institution serving Roane County since 1970. Formed by community leaders in 1995, the Roane General Hospital Foundation supports the hospital’s mission and helps meet community health care needs every day.
The Foundation gives the public an opportunity to support healthcare services in Roane County. Without public support and community involvement, access to healthcare services at the local level would be diminished or even lost, forcing individuals to either go without services or to travel to other communities to get the care they need. With an increasing number of senior citizens in our community, travel is not always an alternative.
Individual contributions to the Foundation are always welcome and deeply appreciated. Contributions are tax-deductible, may be made in honor of or memory of someone special, and may be mailed to the following address: RGH Foundation, Inc. 200 Hospital Drive, Spencer WV 25276. If you would like additional information about becoming a supporter of the RGH Foundation, please call or email Louise Ward at 304-927-6201 or laward@rghwv.org.
Roane General Hospital is an excellent place to begin or advance your career. At RGH, we are always looking to recruit and retain outstanding physicians, medical staff, and hospital administrators. Our hospital and our community offer an environment that nurtures professional growth as well as quality of life. Someone is always available to speak with you about your interest in a career with Roane General Hospital; if you have questions or would like to talk to someone about our opportunities, please call our Human Resources department at 304-927-6370.
We encourage you to download and complete an employment application or submit a resume to:
Roane General Hospital
Attn: Human Resources Department
200 Hospital Drive
Spencer, WV 25276