CEO Update: Reflecting on a year of progress at CMH

We’ve had a great year in 2023 with a lot of progress and growth. We have been working from a detailed strategic plan that is a framework for our activity this year. The plan gives us direction to fulfill our mission and vision better.

Continue reading or watch the CEO Update video for the highlights of 2023. 

Adding new physicians

We added eight new physicians to our medical staff in 2023. New physicians help us grow and offer quality services to communities. The new physicians are:

• Marcelo Assmann, M.D., emergency medicine
• Katherine Davis, M.D., internal medicine and pediatrics
• Courtney De Souza, M.D., family medicine
• Julie Henson, D.O., family medicine
• Raul Martin, D.O., radiology
• Justin Reed, D.O., rheumatology
• Brian Robinson, D.O., endocrinology
• Scott Swango, M.D., orthopedics

Adding new behavioral health services

We’ve been focusing on growing our behavioral health services. One key element was the development of our Behavioral Health Transitional Clinic. We have served over 1,000 patients this year who otherwise may not have received care. They received timely care because the Transitions Clinic was there to serve them. We’re going to continue to grow the Transitions Clinic as we’re able to get more staff resources.

Improved service in the Emergency Department

I’m excited about the work that we’ve done in our Emergency Department. Our goal was to create a best-in-class experience. We’ve made significant progress toward that. We added a new group of physicians who all work for CMH and are committed to our mission and vision. That’s been a key element in our progress.

Our number of patient visits increased 15-20% in the Emergency Department. We’ve also seen a significant improvement in patients willing to recommend our ED, with a percentage now above the national average. Our “left before being seen” percentage was 5-7% last year and is currently running below 1%.

The Emergency Department team made many improvements this year. Our organization as a whole and the communities we serve are taking notice.

Joining an accountable care organization

In 2023, we had more patients using our population health initiatives. One of the critical things we did was we joined an accountable care organization. As a result, more patients are completing preventative wellness visits. We also are achieving more incentives related to value-based payments from our insurance payers. We improved our ability to take care of patients proactively.

Progress as a high-reliability organization

We’ve also emphasized improving our efforts to become a high-reliability organization. Some of this progress includes improving our daily safety huddle. We’ve made that more relevant and specific to what we see on the front lines. We’ve developed a zero-harm dashboard and added department safety champions. Our vision boards keep staff aware of what is important for providing safe, quality care.

Growing a culture of giving and philanthropy

We are also working to grow a culture of giving and philanthropy and increase grant funding. I’m excited about Club 1982, our employee giving program. In our first year, we have 615 donor members giving back. The donations help with an employee crisis fund, scholarships, patient resident compassion and special projects. We’ve also grown our participation in grant programs, which helped launch the Mobile Integrated Healthcare program in 2023. In the next three to five years, we will see more innovative projects that grants will fully fund.

Hospital expansion groundbreaking

On Sept. 28, we held our groundbreaking ceremony for our CMH hospital expansion and renovation. Since then, we have begun developing the parking lots for use during construction. We expect to start building the tower next spring. There’s a lot still to do with this project, but we made great progress in 2023.

Continued focus on safety and quality

The Leapfrog Group awarded CMH a B quality and safety score this fall. While this is not quite our goal of an A rating, it is significantly better than where we were a couple of years ago. We’re making good progress toward becoming an A-rated Leapfrog quality and safety hospital.

Butterfield Residential Care Center and Citizens Memorial Healthcare Facility received the AHCA Silver Quality Award. Only six facilities in Missouri have received this award, and two of them are CMH facilities. All of our other long-term care facilities have received the AHCA Bronze Quality Award. We are very proud of the achievements of our long-term care facilities.

Successful Joint Commission survey

I want to recognize our hospital team for this year’s successful Joint Commission survey. After an extensive survey, we had no high-risk findings. We have met the Joint Commission’s high accreditation standards until 2026. The survey showed how hard everyone works to provide high-quality care consistently.

A bright future ahead

I want to thank our physicians, staff and volunteers for a really successful 2023. We’ve made a lot of progress toward our goals, and it’s evident we have a bright future ahead. We look forward to 2024 filled with more success, growth and commitment to our mission.

Michael Calhoun shares the latest happenings at CMH in his monthly CEO Updates. He is the CEO/executive director of CMH and the Citizens Memorial Health Care Foundation.