Cullman Regional CEO James Clements delivered a strategic message on the future focus of Cullman Regional Wednesday during the annual State of the Hospital address. The strategy is simply to bring additional healthcare resources to the community in order to allow community members to stay home for healthcare. Clements explained that “resources” included both facilities and people.
Review of Recent Additions:
- Women’s Diagnostic Center:
- ABUS Ultrasound: added in September of 2016
- 3D Mammography: added in September of 2017
- 30-Bed Expansion: added March 2018
- Urgent Care & Imaging Center: added June 2018
- 128-slice CT with cardiac imaging
- MRI – OVAL
- da Vinci Surgical Robot: added September 2018
- Mako Robotic-Arm Assisted Orthopedic Surgical Robot: added July 2019
Benefits of added Technology:
- ABUS Ultrasound Technology:
- Same-day ultrasound testing for women with dense breast tissue
- Better view of dense breast tissue
- 3D Mammography:
- Reduces false positives
- Better image quality – gives three-dimensional image of tissue which allows your physician to view breast tissue like they are flipping through pages of a book.
- 30-Bed Expansion:
- Increased availability of private rooms
- Decreased wait time for beds in our ER during high volume times, i.e., this time of year when we see more patients who need to be admitted to the hospital
- Reduces ER wait times because patients are moved to beds more quickly.
- Urgent Care:
- Improves access to care for the community by offering extended hours convenient to the consumers
- Online Check-in to allow patients to wait from home
- Urgent Care has been well received by the community and averages over 1,000 patient visits per month.
- Outpatient Imaging Center
- Added new technology not previously available in the community:
- 128-slice CT which offers improved imaging technology, i.e., cardiac calcium scoring and Cardiac CTA
- MRI – Oval which accommodates larger patients and provides Breast MRI capability.
- daVinci Surgical Robot:
- Reduces post-operative pain, less need for pain medication after surgery
- Very small incisions with little to no blood loss
- Quicker recovery
- Mako Robotic-Arm Assisted Orthopedic Surgical Robot:
- More Precise Implant Placement
- Less bone & soft tissue damage
- Less time in the hospital
- Less physical therapy after procedure
- Faster recovery
In addition to the technology upgrades, Cullman Regional is focusing on providing easier access for healthcare consumers with new services, such as:
- Urgent Care Online Check-in:
- Allows patients to select a time that works better for their schedule and wait from home.
- Online Appointment Scheduling for Cullman Regional Medical Group
- Allows patients to schedule appointments with physicians, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
- Currently, 57% of appointments are scheduled after regular business hours.
- Virtual Care:
- Recently added this service, and we have 4 local providers that rotate providing this service, Monday – Friday, 7 am – 6 pm.
- Examples of when people might need this service: suspicious rash or if you are the 2nd person in the home with the flu.
Cullman Regional Medical Group:
- Cullman Regional now has an employed physician group. This group includes a variety of physicians to help provide services that the community needs.
- The group currently has 22 providers. The most recent addition to the group is the team of Surgical Arts general surgeons and Dr. Phillip Kravetz, minimally invasive spine surgeon.
- A complete list of physicians can be found by visiting CullmanRegionalMedicalGroup.com
Cullman Regional Medical Staff:
- With the addition of new services, Cullman Regional Medical staff has also grown.
- From 2014-2019, 52 physicians have been added to the medical staff.
- In addition, Cullman Regional opened 5 new physician clinics.
Physician Recruitment:
- Cullman Regional is excited to announced the success in recruiting new physicians to the community in order to help meet two of the most consistent questions they receive from the community:
- Improved access to care
- Ability to see specialty physicians locally
- Clements outlined current recruitment efforts to include the following:
- 10 primary care physicians and pediatricians
- 11 specialty physicians
- 9 hospital-based physicians
- Total of 30 new physicians will be joining the community by the end of 2020.
- Clements outlined the physicians who have already started or will start by the end of Summer 2020. The list included 10 employed physicians and 10 independent physicians.
Community Outreach:
- Clements outlined how important the community support for the hospital was to the success the hospital has seen over the past several years.
- Outlining the success of the Annual Trunk or Treat event. “There are people who may ask why we have a trunk or treat. The reasons are that it is a positive time for our community to visit the hospital and it is a great team building opportunity for our employees. I think you can see the spirit of our community and team in these previous slides.”
- Clements also highlighted comments received from the community including:
- “We will be back – worth every minute!!”
- “Thank you for hosting this event and for giving back to our community”
- “Thank you . . . We have come every year since my daughter was 3 months old. We have lots of fun!”
Our People:
- Clements said the success of the hospital is due to many things, but most importantly, our team members. Once again, Cullman Regional hosted their annual Breakfast with Santa event for employees and their families.
- “This is a great opportunity for us to show our team members how much we appreciate their contributions to the growth we are experiencing.”
Growth
- Cullman Regional has experienced a lot of growth fueled primarily by local consumers selecting the hospital and the expanded outpatient service offerings for their care.
- These expanded outpatient offerings include Urgent Care and the employed physician group, Cullman Regional Medical Group.
- All outpatient areas continue to see steady growth each year.
- With the growth, the hospital has seen an increase of nearly 70% in physicians and physician extenders added to the medical staff since 2014.
- The hospital’s ability to grow and add services is due to our improved business performance which has seen Cullman Regional generating revenue since 2014. This revenue allows Cullman Regional to continue adding new technology, new services and new providers to the community.
- Clements outlined the $40 Million in expansion projects:
- 30-bed expansion: $14 Million investment – addition of 100 jobs
- Urgent Care & Imaging Center: $6 Million investment – addition of 50 jobs
- Addition of new imaging equipment (ABUS, 3D Mammo, Nuclear Medicine, etc.): $1.2 Million
- daVinci Surgical Robot: $2 Million investment
- Addition of Physician Practices: $1 Million – addition of 53 jobs
- Mako Robot: $1.4 Million investment
- $14.4 Million in various technology improvements for improved patient care
- Clements emphasized that none of this would be possible without the contributions of key stakeholders and gave special thanks to the following:
- “Thanks to our stakeholders for their contributions to our success – hospital team members, physicians, board members, hospital foundation, but most of all our local community for selecting us for their healthcare needs.”
$30 Million Expansion Project:
- Clements announced that the hospital was excited to announced that on January 15, 2020, the Certificate of Need or CON was approved for the $30 million expansion project.
- Clements explained that in the State of Alabama, the certificate of need is an approval process through the state that is required as the first step in any significant hospital expansion.
- The expansion will allow Cullman Regional to increase the Critical Care Unit by 50%, add 14 treatment rooms to the Emergency Room, and create an outpatient behavioral health program.
Cullman Regional is proud to say that over the past 24 months, they have created an annual economic impact of almost $250 Million, added 203 jobs to the local community and have just received approval for another $30 Million expansion project.
Clements invited the guests to learn more about the numerous projects discussed by visiting the various information booths around the room, and thanked everyone for coming.
