Two national awards for excellence, more free and uncompensated care than ever before, and technology improvements are just some of the past year’s accomplishments the Mount Desert Island Hospital Organization highlighted at Monday’s Annual Meeting.
In addition, the meeting featured keynote speaker Edison Liu, MD, president/CEO of the Jackson Laboratory, who presented a vision of the future of medicine that will be brought about through increased understanding of genetics and genomics.
MDI Hospital President/CEO Arthur J. Blank told the audience of nearly 150 that MDI Hospital received its 10th consecutive Overall Best Performer Award for patient satisfaction by Avatar International and was one of only 10 critical access hospitals in the nation to earn the VHA Leadership Award for Clinical Excellence. “Each of these awards is direct recognition of the compassion and commitment our team members share with our patients at every opportunity.”
In addition, Blank said that the hospital provided nearly $4 million in free or uncompensated care. MDI Hospital’s prescription assistance program also achieved a significant milestone this fiscal year by accessing more than $1 million in free medications to patients in the community since the program began in 1997.
Looking ahead at the upcoming year, Blank pointed to the new Women’s Health Center at MDI Hospital as a prime example of the community coming together to meet the health care needs of the community. A capital campaign is underway to fund construction of the new facility that was kicked off this summer with a $50,000 gift from the MDI Hospital Auxiliary.
Now in its second year, the collaboration between MDI Hospital and Penn Medicine is becoming a national model for both expanding patient access to the latest advances from academic medicine and expanding learning opportunities for clinicians in training. In addition to continuing education programs for medical staff, the initiative brought physicians, residents, and nurses to the emergency room for eight weeks this summer. The medical staff exchange program was also expanded to the field of behavioral health. This summer, psychiatry residents from Penn Medicine practiced at MDI Hospital’s Behavioral Health Center to experience how mental health services are delivered in a rural environment.
The role of technology in medicine continues to expand. This year, MDI Hospital introduced the electronic medical record in most areas of the organization to provide improved access to patient information.
Monday’s meeting concluded with the announcement of the MDI Hospital Employee of the Year. This year’s recipient is long time electrician Domingo Alvarado, who was selected by his fellow employees for his dedication and commitment to the organization.