An area hospitals says it’s upgraded equipment in nearly every area and seen it’s revenue grow by nearly a fourth since an affiliation with a larger healthcare system. J.C. Blair Memorial in Huntingdon also won bragging rights for its services in the state and national arenas in 2016.
It’ll be three years in May, since J.C. Blair Health System partnered with PinnacleHealth, headquartered in the Harrisburg area. Upgrades at the local hospital include telemedicine programs with Pinnacle in neurology, infectious disease, and rheumatology, along with the recruiting of 25 physicians.
J.C. Blair Chief Operating Officer Adam Dimm says “when we hear or we see a need for a certain resource, it’s how do we get this to this community in a cost effective way. It might not look like it did 20 years ago but how do we serve that need there is.”
In 2016, J.C. Blair received a four star rating from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, putting it in top 22 percent of American hospitals. Rankings are based on how well hospitals treat common conditions like heart attacks and pneumonia,
Dimm credits a renewed focus on patients for the high showing. “Everything we do is centered around the patient. I think healthcare sometimes gets busy, gets taxed, gets stressed with the busyness of the day, and we forget that we’re here primarily and solely to take care of our patients,” he explains.
The way the hospital cares for the emotional, as well as the physical needs of patients garnered an Excellence in Care Award from the Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania (HAP).
Shelly Rivello, Director, Integrated Behavioral Health, J.C. Blair Memorial Hospital, piloted the program. She says, “Physical health and mental health go hand in hand and if you don’t recognize that interplay you’re not treating the whole person.”
During a visit to a primary care doctor, the Hope Project: Achieving Healthier Outcomes Physically and Emotionally, gives patients the opportunity to talk to a social worker and a care coordinator about their physical and emotional needs .
Rivello says, “We have been able to see that majority of patients that are treated through the program have either a lower score or at least have stayed the same regarding their anxiety and depression as well as substance use.”
Rivello and Dimm believe that both the HOPE Project award and the four star rating resulted from listening to the patients.
JC Blair officials learned Monday afternoon that the hospital has also been named one of the top 100 rural hospitals in the nation.
UPMC Bedford also made that list.
