The ability to care for those most in need while continuing to improve services and garner awards for quality and patient satisfaction were cause for celebration during Mount Desert Island Hospital’s 2010 annual meeting.
Despite providing $3.8 million in free and uncompensated care to patients unable to afford it, Mount Desert Hospital was able to add and enhance a broad spectrum of services.
| 2010 MDI Hospital Employee of the Year Meg Carroll accepts her award from Board Chair Terry Musson (left) and President/CEO Art Blank. |
This was due in large part to a shared commitment by donors, according to Vice President of Finance, Brad Perkins. “Our history of generous community support continued to be strong in 2010,” said Perkins. Nearly $1.6 million in donations helped the Hospital fulfill its caring mission.
The addition of Psychiatrist Silvio Saidemberg, MD and Psychologist Dr. Stephen Koscherak “significantly increased our ability to provide support to school-age children and adolescents and continue to expand access to integrated behavioral medicine services to patients of all ages,” said Hospital President and CEO Arthur Blank during opening remarks.
Blank also highlighted other clinical service improvements, including the addition of Dr. Stuart Davidson to the MDI Orthopedics, which strengthens coverage for orthopedic emergencies. Acupuncturist Devereux Hopkins who began practicing out of the Community Health Center in 2009 begins “our program to make available complementary services for our patients who look for alternative approaches,” said Blank.
Technological advances included a camera that allows the Breast Center at MDI to more effectively detect breast cancer in its early, most treatable stage. A new 64-slice CT scanner “significantly improves diagnostic capability while reducing radiation and improving patient comfort,” said Blank.
A new monitor that helps diagnose potentially deadly heart rhythms and a computer that allows people with memory loss to stay in touch with loved ones and hold onto memories were other advances.
Blank also praised Hospital employees for their contributions to the quality of care. “At the end of the day, it is the outstanding team throughout our organization I have the pleasure to work with that makes such a difference in our community and is worthy of celebration,” said Blank.
The Hospital’s eighth consecutive Overall Best Performer award, given by the research and consulting firm Avatar International Inc., “is more evidence of a longstanding commitment to quality throughout our organization,” said Blank.
The Hospital also received awards clinical quality from health plan Harvard Pilgrim and the New England Rural Health Roundtable.
Keynote speaker for the event was United States Congressman Mike Michaud of Maine’s second congressional district. The evening also featured election of new Board member Vince Messer, Ph.D.
Rob Shea, outgoing Chair of the Mount Desert Management Company Board of Directors and Birch Bay Retirement Village Board of Trustees and current Chair of the Hospital’s Quality and Safety Committee, was presented with the Hospital’s Volunteer of the Year Award. The evening culminated with the presentation of the Employee of the Year Award to Meg Carroll, a unit secretary on the Hospital’s Med/Surg floor and a Certified Nursing Assistant at Birch Bay Retirement Village.