Phoebe announces $250 million investment and new quality and safety initiative
Over the last three years Phoebe has reduced the number of adverse patient incidents by 61 percent
Staff Photos: Scot Morrissey
By Alan Mauldin
[email protected]
ALBANY — Phoebe Putney Health System’s $250 million investment in southwest Georgia includes the grand, major renovations in buildings and health care delivery and five new clinics, as well as smaller projects addressing community needs such as a community garden offering fresh vegetables.
Phoebe President and CEO Scott Steiner on Monday announced the Phoebe Focus initiative, designed as an “evolution” in health care for the region, during a morning news conference.
In his six months in Albany, Steiner said he has listened to the community and has depended heavily on that input as he looked to make improvements that focus on providing safe and expanded health care.
“People ask three things of us: to protect their health, to heal them and to be nice to them,” he said. “I promised in my first six months to listen. I’ve had more than 500 meetings.
“I have met with hundreds of community and business leaders, elected officials, health care industry colleagues, physicians, patients and Phoebe employees to learn more about the needs of the communities we serve.”
Plans are for Phoebe Focus to be “our new strategy, philosophy, plan and approach that will guide our entire health system into the future, helping us better meet the needs of all those we serve. Phoebe Focus is our path and promise to deliver the best care for our patients.”
Over the last three years Phoebe has reduced the number of adverse patient incidents by 61 percent. As part of the overall plan, Phoebe will seek to become a High Reliability Organization, or HRO, with the goal of zero accidents or adverse incidents.
In a session with reporters after the news conference, Steiner likened the effort to that of such high-stakes industries as nuclear power plants. Teams meet weekly and monthly to discuss safety issues, he said.
As part of this effort, medical personnel are provided an environment where they can safely address those issues.
“An important component is that nurses and doctors and technicians, they feel safe themselves, they feel supported,” Steiner said.
That means they can talk about incidents without fear of retribution.
“It’s having that safety to talk that helps (fix things),” Steiner said. “Everybody’s dealing with the same work of improving patient safety. (It’s) care for the caregiver.”
Major focus areas in Phoebe’s overall plan include ensuring every patient has a private room, a new and expanded emergency center that is a state-certified Level II trauma center at Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital, expanding the network with at least five new centers and upgrading all operating rooms.
It also includes renovating the neonatal intensive care unit and women and children’s services, as well as creating a post-acute care campus at the Phoebe North campus.
Steiner also announced that Phoebe plans to hire 200 new employees. That represents “a work force increase of almost 5 percent and a payroll increase of more than $10 million,” he said.
“Additionally, this year we’ve budgeted a 3 percent overall increase in pay and other market-based compensation adjustments totaling $4.6 million, and we’ve put aside $1 million for tuition assistance and student loan forgiveness,” he said.
Steiner said the hospital will work with Albany State University, Albany Technical College and Georgia Southwestern State University to train more medical personnel.
“That will impact our ability to staff, (and) that will impact how efficiently and quickly we can grow as an organization,” he said.
A partnership with Flint River Fresh will provide fresh produce to those who do not have access to it, with Phoebe providing land for the community garden. Studies show that lack of nutritious food during pregnancy is a primary driver of low birth weight babies, Steiner said.
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