Vidant Bertie and Vidant Chowan Hospital’s Participate in ‘Lean Culture’ Collaborative

May 28, 2013 - PRLog -- Contact:          Brian White, Supv., Community Relations and Marketing,          Vidant Chowan Hospital

252-482-6271, brian.white@vidanthealth.com

Vidant Bertie and Vidant Chowan Hospital’s

Participate in ‘Lean Culture’ Collaborative

Vidant Bertie and Vidant Chowan Hospital’s are participating in the Carolinas Rural Hospital Lean Culture Transformation Collaborative, an innovative program created to help improve quality of care and financial performance at small and rural hospitals in North Carolina and South Carolina.  The three-year initiative is funded in part by a        $5 million grant from The Duke Endowment.

Vidant Bertie and Vidant Chowan Hospital’s are focusing on its operations and how it can be improved.  The hospitals named Christy Dozier as its Performance Improvement Coordinator late last year.  She has been a familiar face to hospital staff members from her previous role as a nurse in the Specialty Clinic at Vidant Bertie.  Additionally, she served as event facilitator for the Process Improvement team for both facilities.    

In her new role, Dozier leads the implementation of Lean, a business improvement philosophy and practice widely used to identify and improve business processes.  The Lean approach was first used by manufacturers and is now being successfully applied to improve hospital operations.  Researchers have recommended hospitals apply management strategies from manufacturing and technology industries to produce high-quality outcomes according to JAMA Internal Medicine.    

“With all of the upcoming changes in Healthcare Reform, it is imperative that we embrace the lean initiatives that will enhance efficiency and effectiveness of our hospitals,” said Dozier.  “Ultimately this will allow us to provide better care for our community.”

Work has been done to improve operations in the Emergency department and ancillary support departments.  Dozier helps hospital employees and leadership look at the overall picture and identify processes that can be improved, streamlined or eliminated.

As Vidant Bertie and Vidant Chowan embark on the lean journey, their focus will be on providing the best possible care to the community they serve.  Staff will apply new methods to their daily work as they continuously make small adjustments to their operational processes for improvement.  Patience is asked as they implement these changes.  Feedback from patients and visitors will be greatly appreciated to ensure that they have enhanced the overall patient experience.    

“Lean methodology focuses on providing value to customers,” said Matt Gitzinger, director of clinical and support services for Vidant Bertie and Vidant Chowan Hospital’s.  “We will enhance the value to our patients and reduce waste in our processes, such as time spent waiting.  I'm confident we'll be successful because of the multidisciplinary teams working to improve each value stream, the input of Patient-Family Advisors, the expertise offered through the North Carolina Hospital Association collaborative and the leadership of Christy.”

North Carolina hospitals that have already joined the initiative include; Chatham Hospital, Scotland Heath Care System, Vidant Bertie Hospital, Vidant Beaufort Hospital, Vidant Chowan Hospital, Vidant Pungo Hospital, Vidant Roanoke-Chowan Hospital, Wake Health, and Murphy Medical Center.

For more information, contact Dozier at 482-6307.