Recent hospital meetings explained

Odessa Memorial Healthcare Center held a series of discussion groups on December 9 and 10 to listen to community members and help with understanding of concerns and perceptions regarding the services provided. Each discussion group started with a brief presentation on the current state of affairs regarding rural health care in America and locally. The discussion groups were hosted by the Washington State Hospital Association (WSHA) and facilitated by Jody Carona and Mattie Osborn from Health Facilities Planning & Development (HFPD), consulting experts on rural health issues.

Invitation calls were made by HFPD at random to Odessa area residents. Once the four scheduled discussion groups were filled, no further calls were made. Carona said her staff had an extraordinarily high response rate. Nearly 60 people indicated a willingness to attend, and ultimately nearly 40 attended. The discussions were guided by Carona, and all comments from the participants will be reported in a summary format such that no personal information about any individual attendee will be included. In addition, OMHC thought it important to solicit the perceptions of its employees and held a separate session strictly for employees to learn and share.

>The presentation included background information on rural health systems and specific data about Odessa Memorial Healthcare Center and the community it serves. Facilitators then conducted an open discussion with each group. The preliminary feedback from the facilitators was that the dialogue was very constructive and provided an excellent perspective of community views about the district.

>A final report is expected early this week. Hospital District administrator Mo Sheldon expects the information gleaned from the discussions will also provide the district with useful discussion content for community meetings tentatively scheduled for January 8 at a time still to be determined and January 13 at 5 p.m.

Sheldon says this effort has multiple objectives. First, it is intended is to gather feedback from the local community in order to help guide OMHC’s actions in the future. Second, it is to provide information to the community on rural health care issues. Last, but importantly, it is to help policy and advocacy efforts at the state (and even national) level related to rural health care. HFPD has been working with WSHA for three years to drive rural health system sustainability.

>Along with several other rural hospital administrators, Sheldon was part of a state task force earlier this year which developed recommendations to the governor with the intent of creating a clear proposal for how health care in rural communities might change to better meet the needs of each community while responding to health care reform. The work of the task force recently culminated in the release of a report entitled “The New Blue H” and was presented to legislators and policy makers to help guide efforts to make rural health care delivery systems more sustainable.

Sheldon also credited WSHA for their assistance in arranging these meetings. “The Hospital Association has agreed to absorb the cost of this initiative and is very supportive of efforts to sustain Washington’s rural hospitals,” she said. Representatives from WSHA and the Department of Health, along with Jody Carona and others are engaged in a recently initiated work group designed to assist in developing solutions for those WA rural facilities most at risk in the foreseeable future. Sheldon, along with administrators from other vulnerable facilities, sits on that committee.

Sheldon invites community members to attend the community meetings tentatively scheduled for January 8 and January 13 for further discussion and information on the future of the district. Watch The Odessa Record for further details.