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July 1, 2008 It’s now official! Beginning today, the caregivers of Madrona Medical Group have joined the caregivers of St. Joseph Medical Group and are working together under the new name of PeaceHealth Medical Group. Thanks to the diligence and incredible dedication of hundreds of people over the last nine months, today I have the honor of welcoming over 400 additional caregivers to the PeaceHealth Whatcom Region. This is an exciting time for PeaceHealth and for our community. We embarked on this journey in order to strengthen our ability to fulfill our mission, vision, and values for the people of Whatcom County. With this new combination of talent, we will be able to provide a better patient experience and more seamless, coordinated care. This combination also achieves better utilization of healthcare resources. I want to extend a special welcome to the exceptional caregivers who are joining us today from Madrona Medical Group. It has been my pleasure to get to know many of you, and I look forward to getting to know you all. I am so impressed with your dedication, your talent and your commitment to patient care. From the bottom of my heart, thank you – and welcome to PeaceHealth! For all of us, it’s important to realize that change has only just begun. Our focus since last August has been on the necessary legal and organizational steps to acquire Madrona Medical Group. We now begin the exciting challenge of becoming a regional referral center and an integrated healthcare delivery system, providing exceptional care on a larger scale in the physician office setting, as well as in the hospital setting. For now, we can assure our patients and the community that all the same Medical Group services will continue in the same locations, with the same providers, and even the phone numbers are the same. Before I close, I want to thank absolutely everyone in the organization, whether you worked on the transition directly, or carried out your normal caregiving role so others could take time to be on transition teams. Your energy and dedication will make this endeavor, as well as our future endeavors, successful for each other and for our community. Below are updates on several of the specific work areas related to the transition. We will continue to keep you updated as PeaceHealth Medical Group – and indeed our entire region – works toward our Vision 2012. Thank you.
Nancy J. Steiger Madrona Medical Group providers and employees celebrated the clinic’s 13-year history and achievements at a “Madrona Moments” party yesterday morning. This occasion was dedicated to the clinic’s legacy of excellence in patient care and the accomplishments of Madrona Medical Group. Sixty-three Madrona Medical Group (MMG) providers have joined PHMG. This is all but two, who relocated outside our area. Almost all employees were hired by PeaceHealth to work in the Medical Group or in other departments in the region such as Human Resources, Patient Financial Services, the Center for Healthcare Improvement, etc. A small number whose Madrona position overlapped with a PeaceHealth position have been hired into a Transition Department, where they will support the transition over the next six months or so. Human Resources will be actively working to match these employees with other positions that become available, and to arrange for retraining where appropriate. A part of Madrona Medical Group will continue temporarily to operate the Ambulatory Surgery Center (ASC), which provides endoscopy services. The four gastroenterology physicians also will stay with Madrona Medical Group temporarily, while the ASC undergoes a necessary Certificate of Need process with the State Department of Health. The ASC has been in service since the late 1990s, however, it does need to receive CON approval before it can be operated by a hospital organization and become part of PHMG. There will be no interruption in ASC or gastroenterology services to patients. In June, Madrona Medical Group’s network infrastructure, e-mail and device/user setup migrated from HInet to PeaceHealth. The July 1st technical systems transition will include the Flowcast program (registration, appointment scheduling and billing), and the Xcelera program (cardiovascular imaging). The on-site imaging center will transition to Mount Baker Imaging, using the Imagecast program. The Carecast application will continue to be used for clinical data retrieval, with optional additional functionality available including patient list management (PLM) tools and various patient data display tools. On July 7th, the on-site laboratory will transition to Oregon Medical Laboratories (OML - NWRL), using the Antrim program. In addition to the applications, there will be many other transitions including interfaces, reporting, internet/intranet content and functionality, and other web applications. Names
Communication about PeaceHealth Medical Group – The Bellingham Herald published an article yesterday. Advertisements highlighting the successful transition to PeaceHealth Medical Group and including the names of all providers, will be published tomorrow and Sunday in the Bellingham Herald, and tomorrow in Lynden Tribune, Westside Record-Journal, Blaine Northern Light and in Skagit and San Juan county newspapers. Mounted, poster-size versions of the ads will be on display at all clinics later this week. Radio ads featuring the voices of Nancy Steiger and Erick Laine will be broadcast next week. The MMG and SJMG websites migrated to a new PHMG website today. New brochures with the PHMG name will be provided to key service lines including Pediatrics and Moh’s Surgery. Brochures for St. Joseph Medical Group will be rebranded in the near future. Stationery and forms have been rebranded for PHMG. Imaging services - Imaging will continue to be on-site at PHMG’s Cordata site and will be run by Mt. Baker Imaging, which is a joint venture of Northwest Radiologists and St. Joseph Hospital. Nine Madrona imaging employees will join the staff of Mt. Baker Imaging. These services will include MRI, CT, DEXA, general x-ray and ultrasound. Vascular ultrasound and echo will be on-site and operated by St. Joseph Hospital. Nuclear Medicine will move to St. Joseph Hospital. Patients can also have nuclear medicine studies at North Cascade Cardiology. Lab services - Approximately 13 Madrona lab employees joined Northwest Regional Lab, which is providing services at PHMG’s Cordata South site (the former Specialty Branch). For
questions please contact PHMG Administration at 738-2200, ext. 3116. |
