August 26, 2025

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Hi Team —

Labor Day weekend is just around the corner, signaling the end of summer is nearly here. And what a summer it has been at TriHealth as we’ve celebrated in so many ways all we have accomplished together to Get Healthcare Right over the past ten years. And the “grand finale” of our summer-long celebration is less than two weeks away! On Sunday, September 7, our entire TriHealth team will gather at Kings Island for our Annual Summer Celebration, and more than 15,000 tickets have already been ordered by TriHealth team members. If you haven’t ordered your tickets yet, visit Bridge today! And that’s not all…

As I unveiled at last week’s Town Hall livestream and later in a follow-up email, we are offering every TriHealth team member, volunteer, and physician this special commemorative TriHealth quarter zip jacket, compliments of TriHealth! This celebratory gift will more permanently commemorate the 10-year milestone on our journey to transform healthcare for the better, as well as help us proudly launch the NEXT decade of our continued legacy work of building a healthier community for ALL those we serve. To place your order, simply click this link and complete the brief online order form. The deadline to place your order is Friday, September 5. Visit Bridge for all the details.

LDI and Annual Safety Summit Highlights and Next Steps

• Last week, our 800+ TriHealth leaders, including physician leaders, came together to participate in our 33^rd Leadership Development Institute (LDI) and 7^th Annual Safety Summit. Click here to see a photo recap of the LDI.
• This Safety Summit continued the conversation which began three weeks ago with our system-wide Safety Stand Downs. Its purpose was to prepare our leaders to support you in the next phase of our Journey to Zero Patient Harm.
• While we have built an industry-leading, best-in-class culture of safety at TriHealth over the past eight years, we know that even one serious safety event is one too many. And that is why this LDI and Safety Summit was dedicated to:
• Examining opportunities for continued improvement in safety and reliability, including strengthening care teaming and peer checking, as well as enhancing situational awareness and local learning systems.
• Leader training on our evidence-based safety tools and practices so leaders can, in turn, train and further support team members in achieving consistency and proficiency in our safety practices.
• Celebrating our impressive progress, while redoubling our efforts to achieve zero serious harm for the thousands of patients and families who entrust their care and their lives to TriHealth.
• Expect to hear more from your leaders in the coming weeks about our Safety Summit and the next phase of our safety and reliability journey, including the work underway to:
• Address team member suggestions and feedback from our system-wide Safety Stand Downs.  
• Reinforce our universal safety practices and behaviors with ALL 14,000 TriHealth team members and providers through the following three “training waves,” which will span the next four months:
• Wave 1 (Aug. – Sept.): ARCC, STAR, Validate & Verify 
• Wave 2 (October): 3-Way Repeat Back, Phonetic Spelling, Number Clarification, SBAR 
• Wave 3 (November): Continuous Use and Reference Use
• Hardwire and strengthen local learning systems, such as huddles, rounding, and stoplight reports, to identify and correct potential system or training weaknesses that could lead to harm or a breakdown in reliability.
• Strengthen care teaming, peer checking, and psychological safety, and elevate our preoccupation with failure.

TriHealth Heart & Vascular Institute Team Honored at LDI

• As part of our LDIs, we regularly recognize leaders and teams that are leading the way in transforming care for the better.  
• So, at last week’s LDI and Safety Summit, the TriHealth Heart & Vascular Institute (THVI) Team was presented the Florence Nightingale Ax Award in recognition of their extraordinary servant leadership and clinical transformation, all in the name of better serving our patients and community.
• In 2018, THVI embarked on a bold vision to build the region’s premier and most preferred destination for heart and vascular services.
• And bringing that vision to life required the difficult, but necessary, decision to combine our two good cardiac surgery programs at Good Sam and Bethesda North to create one great TriHealth program. This allowed us to concentrate our most advanced clinical resources in one location, and thereby elevate the care provided by our world-class providers, nurses, and other clinicians, including cardiac surgeons, intensivists, perfusionists, and more.
• And what followed is nothing short of extraordinary! Since that time, this bold vision has become an undeniable reality, as evidenced through countless accomplishments and achievements, including: 
• Establishment of the Harold and Eugenia Thomas Heart and Vascular Center.
• Recognition as a Three-Star program by the Society for Thoracic Surgeons (STS) – the highest possible rating – placing TriHealth in the top 8% of all programs in the US and Canada, and the only such program in Southwest Ohio!
• Performing the first Left Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD) procedure in 2022. Since then, the LVAD team has implanted 37 LVADs with impressive survival rates.
• Launching the Mechanical Circulatory Support program, including ECMO and Impella platforms.
• Forging an Alliance with Cleveland Clinic Heart, Vascular, and Thoracic Institute, the nation’s leading heart program.
• Implementing market and industry-leading programs, including Pulse Field Ablation, CTO, Watchman, Cardiac Imaging, and more.
• Congratulations to physician leaders, Drs. Asimul Ansari, Najamul Ansari, Gaurang Gandhi, Sateesh Kesari, Stephen Lewis, William Martin, Patrick Muck, Kathryn O’Keefe, Steven Park, Craig Sukin, and Marshall Winner, and the THVI leadership team led by Lisa Lockhart, RN, Interim Vice President of THVI, and Pamela Smith, RN, Bethesda North Director of Nursing, as well as the many leaders, team members and physicians who have brought this work to life to benefit those we serve. 

Visitor Management Policy Update

• At last week’s Town Hall Meeting, we shared plans for strengthening our workplace and care environment for patients, team members, and providers by making adjustments to our visitor management policy and practice.
• Informed by team member and physician feedback, coupled with a deep appreciation of the importance of visitors in the recovery and healing process, we are modifying our Visitor Management Policy and general visiting hours as follows:
• Effective September 1, 2025, our new general visiting hours will be 5:00 AM to 9:00 PM daily at Bethesda North Hospital, Good Samaritan Hospital, Bethesda Butler Hospital, and McCullough-Hyde Memorial Hospital.
• Between the hours of 9:00 PM to 5:00 AM, each patient will be permitted one approved visitor.
• Additionally, many lobbies across TriHealth hospitals will now be closed and entrance doors will be locked outside of general visiting hours. 
• Exceptions for these visiting hours apply to Maternity Services/LDR, Adult Behavioral Health, and Hospice, and those approved by the care team, house supervisor, and Protective Services onsite leadership. Click here for policy details.
• While we recognize the positive and healing impact that visitors provide for patients and their families, adopting reasonable controls to maintain a safe workplace and care environment in our hospitals remains our highest priority for those we serve and those we serve beside.

August Team Member Town Hall Recap

• Last Wednesday we hosted our August Team Member Town Hall.
• If you were unable to participate, click here to view a video recording of the Town Hall where we celebrated system wins, discussed the work and challenges ahead in FY26, showcased our amazing people and clinical service lines, and answered team member questions.

I hope you have a safe, fun, and relaxing Labor Day weekend with your family and friends! And as always, a BIG thank you to all of our team members and physicians who will be stepping up to work the long holiday weekend to care for every patient in need!