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2006 was definitely a memorable year for health care and our ministries, our System Office and entire CHE family. For some, it was marked by the realization of opportunities; for others, it was made most memorable by the glimpse of "things to come". For all of us, the past year was one of accomplishment, challenge, and clarity of mission and purpose. We began 2006 with an in-depth, system-wide strategic management process, using environmental assessments and projections, engaging iterative rapid design processes, and reaching out for input from our Sponsors, Board members, CEO's, physicians and colleagues throughout our ministry. The result was the creation of a plan that "begins with the end in mind"; we've envisioned the CHE health delivery model of the future and, working backwards from the year 2017, we've determined how CHE should best position itself NOW and over the next few years to most effectively meet these future needs. All RHCs are now involved in creating their own 10-year plans to help make the Health Care 2017 vision a reality. Our new Vision Statement, created in 2006, ensures that we are all aligned with a singular purpose: Inspired by our Mission and committed to our Core Values, Catholic Health East will achieve excellence in all we do, creating a system that empowers communities and individuals to achieve optimal health and quality of life. We all shared the introspection and evaluation of the ministry assessment process. Some RHCs are in the process of incorporating key recommendations into their 10-year strategic planning process; others continue to analyze options, strategies and weigh changes for 2007 and beyond. In some cases, despite our best efforts, it becomes clear that the Mission of some facilities can best be carried out by others. In 2006, that was the case with Mercy Uihlien Health Corporation (which transferred ownership of its two long-term care facilities to the local hospital) and Pittsburgh Mercy Health System (which plans to transfer ownership of Mercy Hospital of Pittsburgh to UPMC in 2007). In both instances, these decisions were made in order to preserve the facilities and services for the local communities. Our outreach to those less fortunate continues to grow. While final results are not yet tallied, we estimate that our facilities provided nearly $280 million in community benefit programs and services in 2006. And hundreds of volunteers and contributors from throughout CHE helped Global Health Ministry continue its life-saving missions of mercy, sending teams of healthcare professionals to provincial villages and distressed urban areas in Latin America and the Caribbean to help people with little or no access to professional healthcare. Our focus on expanding non-acute care services system-wide is evidenced by the growth of our Continuing Care MSI. Continuing care is an arena of burgeoning innovation and creativity. CHE facilities have been encouraged to be on the cutting edge of development of creative care management programs that link the continuum of services, from acute to skilled nursing facilities to assisted living or home and community-based services, so that continuity of care and seamless information flow are integral to the patient/client experience throughout the process. Resources are now being prioritized to support continuing care programs and services that are home and community-based. Great things happen when people come together with common purpose. When the Institute for Healthcare Improvement's 100,000 Lives Campaign challenged hospitals nationwide to improve patient safety, CHE and our RHCs and JOAs rose to the challenge, outpacing the national average by doubling our "lives saved" goal for the first year of the campaign. The Business Process Redesign (BPR) initiative, a system-wide approach to improving operations in Supply Chain, Financial Management, and Human Resource/Payroll through the use of best practices and standardization and improvements in business processes, has been initiated at several RHCs and is now being implemented at the CHE System Office. Information Technology Shared Services took major steps forward in 2006. In addition to completing and servicing critically important Meditech and Siemens installations at several RHCs, planning continues for the introduction of the Medication Barcoding initiative throughout CHE in 2007. ITSS staff also organized and initiated workstation migrations into Active Directory; 16 facilities, representing 11,000 workstations and 25,000 users, have been involved to date. Also initiated in 2006 was CHE's Productivity Improvement Program, which spearheads a system-wide focus on operating performance improvement in an effort to ensure that funds necessary for future capital improvements throughout our RHCs are realized. The goal is to achieve budget in productivity indicators at each RHC. This Program has shown some promising results and will be continued in 2007. While 2006 was a year of mixed operating results—our JOAs and some RHCs made or exceeded budget, while others fell short—our overall financial results were bolstered by strong investment income in 2006, as well as savings realized through our Stella Maris insurance programs. Employer of choice and Diversity initiatives continue to gain traction and flourish throughout CHE. Our continued commitment and successes in these areas, supported by our Values in Practice initiative, promise to strengthen our recruitment and retention efforts ministry-wide, as well as enhance our capabilities of delivering healthcare solutions that meet the diverse needs of our patients and families. As we enter 2007, we indeed face many familiar challenges. Reimbursement restrictions. Increased legislative scrutiny. Imperatives to improve quality and productivity. The need to continually increase patient, resident, colleague, and physician satisfaction measures. I am confident that, with your energy, ideas, and support, our ministry will continue to meet these challenges…and fulfill our Mission of being a transforming, healing presence in the communities we serve.
Sincerely yours,
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