Hi Team –

 

Last week, we witnessed in shock, the wrath of Hurricane Ian as it ravaged coastal southwest Florida and the Carolinas. One of the most powerful storms to ever hit Florida, its impact has been devastating for millions of people whose homes and livelihoods have been destroyed – many of whom are our own friends and relatives. 

 

Once again, as a nation, we will join together to help our fellow Americans rebuild, restore, and renew in whatever way we can. At TriHealth, we will contribute to recovery efforts through the American Red Cross – an organization our own Dr. Bryan Strader, President of TPP, serves as Board Chair of its local Cincinnati chapter. For those who’d like to donate, we have set up a special TriHealth portal, which you can access by clicking here. Thank you, as always, for living our values, as we send our prayers and support to so many in need during this time of catastrophic loss.

 

Getting Healthcare Right for our growing population of patients is largely about providing convenient access to the right care in the right place for the right cost to achieve the right and best health outcomes. One vital way we are doing this is by investing in the growth and development of our fully integrated network of hospitals, ambulatory sites, clinical centers of excellence, and physician practices.

 

For 170 years, Good Samaritan Hospital (“Good Sam”) has served as an anchor for our Greater Cincinnati community by caring for generations of patients, while simultaneously training and equipping future generations of healthcare professionals and scientists. To help ensure that Good Sam continues these traditions of excellence in patient care and clinical training for another 170 years and beyond, TriHealth announced in 2021 a bold plan – the Good Sam Master Facility and Modernization Plan or MFP –  to transform the Good Sam campus into one of the region’s most technologically advanced, comprehensive healthcare hubs, with state-of-the-art inpatient and outpatient facilities, along with a new Emergency Department. 

 

An important part of getting healthcare right is providing patients the care they need in the most appropriate and convenient setting (“right care, right place”). Increasingly this care is being delivered in outpatient settings; however, for the most advanced and complex care, hospitals often remain the most clinically appropriate and safest setting. With that in mind, our innovative MFP design integrates both inpatient and outpatient clinical services at Good Sam to allow for seamless delivery of care in the right part of the continuum as patient needs evolve. This $240 million, five-year investment will result in construction of a new five-story, 168,000-square-foot outpatient care center – modeled after our destination Thomas Comprehensive Care Center on the Bethesda North Hospital Campus. This world-class care facility will bring together many of Good Sam’s “destination” Centers of Excellence, including the Cancer Institute, Women’s Health Institute, Neuroscience Institute, and Heart Institute in one convenient location. By doing so, we will “reimagine” and enhance access and patient experience for all of our outpatient services, including infusion, medical oncology, precision medicine, bone marrow transplant and cellular therapy, mammography, imaging, cardiac testing, pulmonary rehab and function testing and women’s health. The new facility will also house the relocated and expanded Emergency Department, radiology, labs, and other departments.

 

Additionally, improved access and wayfinding are critical parts of this project. Future phases will reposition Good Samaritan Hospital’s main entrance from Clifton Avenue to the intersection of Dixmyth Avenue and Martin Luther King Drive, which will provide patients with even more convenient access to and from I-75 and I-71. And, renovations inside existing buildings will make the facility easier to navigate for patients and visitors.

 

And, I’m excited to share that yesterday we achieved another important milestone on our Good Sam MFP journey! I was joined by Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval, TriHealth trustees and Good Sam physicians, leaders, and team members (see pictures to right) for the “official” groundbreaking ceremony to launch the first phase of this transformative project, starting with construction of our new team member parking garage. Preparations for the MFP actually began in 2021 with the demolition of the old Hebrew Union dormitory, enabling the new garage to be completed late next year. In the meantime, existing renovations to the Dixmyth front entrance are expected to be completed this fall.

 

Thanks to YOU, our One Campaign is off to a great start! Just over two weeks into our campaign, we are already seeing broad team member and physician participation across the system. And our local leaders and their teams are doing an excellent job of putting the “FUN” back into fundraising with a number of entertaining and high-spirited local events and activities, including “tailgate” parties, prize baskets, raffles, and so much more!

 

Don’t forget, all those who donate online – in any amount – are entered into a system raffle where a new winner is selected each week to win a really cool prize! Last week’s winner – Ginger West, Coding Specialist for Hospice of Cincinnati/HOC Navigators – won a pair of tickets to an upcoming “Broadway in Cincinnati” show. This week’s featured prize is a pair of tickets to a Bengals game! And at the end of the campaign, one lucky winner will be drawn to receive the grand prize of $2,500! So, if you haven’t done so yet, please consider donating to the One Campaign to positively impact the lives of our team members and the community we serve!

 

We remain encouraged by the continued trend of lower and more stable new case rates in the region and at TriHealth. Over the past week, we’ve had 26 COVID inpatients with just one patient on a ventilator at TriHealth, and a 13.6% COVID positivity rate for symptomatic patients. And, yet another encouraging sign, the weekly case rate has dropped below 100/100,000 population – now at 97/100,000 (see sidebar graphic for details).

 

Bivalent COVID boosters are now available for team members at our Good Sam and Bethesda North (BNOI) Employee Health Clinics. We will expand the booster offering to our McCullough-Hyde Clinic, once inventory of the new vaccines increases. Click here to learn more and schedule your appointment. 

 

Mark your calendars to join us next Tuesday, October 11 from 12-1pm on Bridge for our October Team Member Town Hall livestream. We will celebrate system wins, provide current COVID updates, and share more about how we are advancing our journey to get healthcare right. And, as always, we will provide plenty of time to answer your questions – with some great TriHealth prizes available to those who join the conversation! 

 

Thank you, as always, for who you are and for all you do to Live Our Values as we fulfill our mission – ONE Team, TriHealth STRONG – to improve the health status of the people we serve!