During my short time at Regional West, I’ve learned that there are many good people within this organization. We have excellent physicians and a highly educated ancillary team. However, some processes need to be changed to provide the best patient experience, and we're doing it.

The number of nurses who have returned to Regional West is amazing – excellent, quality nurses. Employees sense the culture change in the other ancillary departments, so they’re excited and willing to return to give it a chance. I encourage the local healthcare professionals who have left the organization in the past to visit with us about returning.

Over the past few months, we have visited other regional hospitals to help re-establish communication lines in the best interest of serving patients and assisting in receiving great care. As the state’s only Level II Trauma Center west of Kearney, Regional West plays a major role in providing that care.

It is essential for Regional West to focus on improving our core services and concentrate on providing an excellent patient experience. For example, Regional West is taking action to become more efficient. One change in regional services you’ll see is Regional West no longer providing ambulance service through Regional West Emergency Medical Services in some outlying communities. Instead, we are working to transition the service back to the local communities and counties.

Currently, we are focusing on quality, hospital cleanliness, and addressing finances to continue to be a vital healthcare resource for the region.

We have implemented a more robust “safety huddle” – a daily review of everything that has occurred within the organization over the previous 24 hours

that was not anticipated – and to look at problems and processes that need to be addressed. This huddle has resulted in changes to around 90 Regional West processes. The administration team also added interdisciplinary team meetings to assess quality of care, issues presented by families, and the next steps to a healthy discharge for patients.

Our revenue cycle teams are working diligently to correct processes and improve the customer experience.

To be successful, change within must extend from top to bottom. This begins when patients first arrive at Regional West and continues with every employee being available to assist patients and visitors to their destinations within the facility. Each step plays a part in providing exceptional healthcare, from helping patients get the appointments they need to educating them on their discharge orders and following up with their aftercare. When we go the extra mile in small things, we succeed in great things.

Great things happen at Regional West every day. Physicians, providers, nurses, and support employees provide exceptional care for our patients. We appreciate the public’s support. We want people to realize that we’re transitioning to a better culture, and it will take some time. Be patient with us, and give us feedback, but realize that we all care about the people of the community and the region and want to do what’s right for them.

The CEO perpetrates the culture of an organization by helping craft a culture focused on safety, quality, finances, and respect throughout the organization.

We look forward to the future of Regional West. Thank you for coming on this journey with us!