SCHA Weekly Update, September 26, 2011

2011 Distinguished Hospital Trustee

Baptist Easley Hospital Recognized as Gold Star by Working Well Initiative

SCHA Solutions Adds a New Partner

Become a South Carolina IHI Open School Mentor

Wiles to Retire from Novant Health

Education

2011 Distinguished Hospital Trustee

Boyce Tollison, MD, of Baptist Easley Hospital received SCHA's highest honor in hospital leadership at the 2011 TAP Meeting held in Hilton Head. Tollison, a trustee of Baptist Easley Hospital since 2009 currently serves as vice-chairman. He also serves as chairman of the hospital's quality and patient safety committee. Read more.

Baptist Easley Hospital Recognized as Gold Star by Working Well Initiative

Baptist Easley is the second South Carolina hospital to be recognized by the Working Well initiative, a collaboration between the SCHA and North Carolina Prevention Partners, for providing the highest standard of excellence for the tobacco cessation programs offered to their employees. Laurens County Health Care System received this recognition in August. Read more to learn how Baptist Easley accomplished this goal.

Learn more about the Working Well Initiative. For more specific questions, contact Kendyl Schultz at (803) 744-3531.

SCHA Solutions Adds a New Partner

Will your hospital be positioned to assure compliance with all government requirements and maximum reimbursement to the hospital? No matter how talented your IT team is, there is a very good chance that they are overwhelmed. Perhaps they would welcome assistance. 

SCHA Solutions has partnered with Immedion, a SAS 70 Type II certified company that specializes in working with businesses that are outgrowing their IT infrastructure or power/AC capacity but want to avoid expansion or construction costs. With locations in Greenville, Columbia and a third site being built in Charleston, Immedion is South Carolina’s best resource for enterprise-class data center services.  In South Carolina, Immedion is  proud to be supporting valued clients like the Cancer Centers of the Carolinas and, most recently, Georgetown Hospital System.

As more and more aspects of the healthcare industry become technology based, it is imperative for healthcare providers to ensure critical systems are accessible and patient information is secure.  We hope you will consider working with Immedion.

Become a South Carolina IHI Open School Mentor

The SCHA has partnered with the South Carolina Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) Open School network to create the SC IHI Open School Mentor Program, designed to develop relationships and to encourage the skills and attitudes that will lead the next generation of health care professionals to a successful entry into the health care industry. Learn more about the program and how you can become a mentor.

Wiles to retire from Novant Health

Paul M. Wiles, longtime president and CEO of Novant Health, will retire at the end of 2011. Carl S. Armato, currently the organization’s senior executive vice president and chief operating officer, has been named to succeed Wiles.  Armato will assume his new role on January 1, 2012.

Wiles and the board of trustees began a process more than one year ago to plan for his retirement. Today’s announcement finalizes that process. Wiles will be retiring after 41 years of dedicated service to the not-for-profit health system and to the hospitals and organizations that preceded the formation of Novant Health in 1997. Armato has served in leadership positions with the organization for the past 13 years and was promoted nine months ago to his current position.

“As chair of Novant Health’s board of trustees, I’m excited about this news on two levels,” explained Lisa S. Evans, MD. “Over the next three months, we all will have the opportunity to honor and celebrate Paul’s strong and visionary leadership of Novant Health and his many contributions to the healthcare industry, and to wish him all the best during retirement. In addition, we are very excited about Carl’s appointment as the system’s next president and chief executive officer."

Education

View additional educational opportunities on the SCHA Calendar.

Webinar Discussion: Best Practices for Implementing Leadership Development Strategies in Health Care Industry

As leaders in the health care industry, we know that it is time to start developing succession plans to prepare the future leaders in this state.  Effective succession plans include planning, mentoring, and coaching.  We have an opportunity to join Brian Krehbiel, Southeast Regional Vice President, and Mark Madden, Practice Leader and Senior Executive Search, with B.E. Smith, on September 28 to learn best practices for implementing leadership development strategies in the health care industry.  B.E. Smith, an SCHA sponsor, consistently ranks at the top of Modern Healthcare’s top executive search firms.  Brian Krehbiel and Mark Madden have more than 40 years of combined experience in the healthcare industry and healthcare recruitment.  Listen as they will enable us as professionals in healthcare to step away from our organizations and focus on leadership development.  This webinar will teach tactics that will reduce turnover, minimize risk, and improve financial performance, quality care, and satisfaction scores.  Download the brochure and contact Erin Watson to register.

Prescription Drug Summit

LECC-US Attorney’s Office for the District of SC, together with other state and federal agencies, are offering a one day Prescription Drug Summit on November 16, 2011, at the Koger Center in Columbia, SC.   The purpose of the Prescription Drug Summit is to address the exponential growth of prescription drug abuse and addiction.  The one-day summit will address all aspects of prescription drug abuse, from the standpoint of public policy, health and medicine, pharmacological impact, and the law, and will bring together key stakeholders for a frank exploration of the problems and solutions to these problems.  Our target audience is doctors, pharmacists, nurses and other health professionals, pharmaceutical industry, third-party payors, state and federal legislators, regulators and law enforcement.  We believe that the more people who are aware of the problem and ways to address it, the better results we will have.  If you have questions, please feel free to call Becky Plyler of the US Attorney’s Office at 803-929-3009.