BRRH Holds Community Stroke Assessment

Are you or someone you love at risk for a Stroke? Find out at the upcoming Community Stroke Assessment on November 13, 2010 at Blue Ridge Regional Hospital. Stroke is a common disorder, also known as a brain attack. It happens when part of the brain is injured due to a problem with the blood vessels connected to the brain. This can either be due to a blockage where part of the brain suffocates and dies (ischemic stroke) or when a blood vessel breaks causing bleeding in the brain (hemorrhagic stroke). Stroke cripples and kills. In 2008, stroke caused 4,477 deaths among North Carolinians or nearly one death in the state every two hours. It is the leading cause of adult disability in the United States and the third leading cause of death.  Stroke is more common as we get older but it can strike at any age.

BRRH has partnered with Mission Hospital to provide a free stroke assessment screening to members of the community. Screenings will begin at 7:30 AM on Saturday November 13, 2010. Participants in this screening will receive a free assessment, free health information and educational resources as well a counseling session from a member of the Mission Stroke Team. All participants must be pre-registered for their screening. To register for your free Stroke Assessment Screening call the Stroke Assessment Registration Line at 828-766-1769.

“These screenings are vital to the community. They provide risk factors and education on strokes” says Robin Jones, RN Stroke Program Coordinator for Mission Hospitals. “Many people do not realize that they are at risk for a stroke until they attend a screening session. We provide an assessment as well as education on how to reduce your stroke risk.” The screenings will include a height, weight, blood pressure, BMI, cholesterol, and glucose check as well as a heart rhythm and artery check. Educational resources on health eating, tobacco cessation and community programs will also be available. To find out if you or a loved one is at risk for a stroke sign up for the free screening today by calling 828-766-1769.

Knowing and understanding the signs of a stroke are as important as understanding your risk for a stroke.

Common symptoms of a stroke:

• Sudden weakness or numbness, especially one side of the body

• Sudden difficulty speaking, understanding speech or slurring of speech

• Sudden loss of vision in one or both eyes

• Sudden trouble walking or difficulty with coordination

• Sudden, severe headache of unknown cause

An easy way to remember some of the more common symptoms of stroke is to think FAST:

F – Face weakness and/or numbness (ask the person to smile)

A – Arm weakness and/or numbness (ask the person to raise his arms)

S – Speech difficulty or slurred speech (ask the person to repeat a simple sentence)

T – Time – when did symptoms start and Time to Call 911

Blue Ridge Regional Hospital extends hours in new Women’s Imaging Center

The Women’s Imaging Center in the Radiology Department at Blue Ridge Regional Hospital recently extended hours of operation to provide women in our area more convenience in scheduling mammograms. New hours of operation begin at 7:30 A.M. The Center remains open until 7:00 P.M. at least one day per week. “Longer hours of operation allow us to schedule mammograms for women before or after work so that they do not have to interrupt their work schedule for a mammogram” says Director of Imaging Services Robin Nichols. “We offer convenient appointments and most test results are provided to doctors in as little as one hour. Now there is no reason to travel all the way to Asheville for digital mammography or other imaging services.”

The new Women’s Imaging Center combines the latest equipment and technology with a tranquil healing environment that was designed just for women. The Center includes a new separate women’s waiting room, new private changing rooms, bone density screening room, and an educational resource room complete with hands-on training tools and educational DVDs. But perhaps most importantly, it houses the hospital’s new digital mammography system. Our new system captures images digitally and stores them directly on a computer where they can be viewed in different ways. For example, images can be lightened or darkened, and certain sections can be enlarged so that the radiologist can examine them more closely. The ability to control digital images on a computer makes digital mammography more accurate for some women, particularly those who are perimenopausal, under age 50, or those who have dense breast tissue.

October is Breast Cancer awareness month, and Blue Ridge Regional Hospital would like to raise awareness and remind all women in our area to schedule their annual mammogram with our Radiology Department. It is recommended that women age 40 and over should have a mammogram on an annual basis. To schedule an appointment for a mammogram or for more information on our Women’s Imaging Center contact our Radiology Department at 828-766-1630.

Board Chooses Nationally Respected Healthcare Innovator Dr. Ronald Paulus to Lead Mission

ASHEVILLE, N.C. — The Board of Directors of Mission Health System has selected Ronald A. Paulus, M.D., MBA, to be the new president and CEO of Mission Health System and Mission Hospital. Dr. Paulus, who has achieved national recognition in his role as Executive Vice President, Clinical Operations and Chief Innovation Officer at Geisinger Health System in Pennsylvania, will be the first physician to assume the top executive position at Mission and the first in N.C. to lead a community-owned, not-for-profit health system.

According to Mission Board Chairman George Renfro, Dr. Paulus' appointment will be effective by September 1, 2010. Dr. Paulus, who will succeed interim CEO Carleton T. Rider, was chosen by Mission's community-based Board after a national search.

Board Vice Chair Janice Brumit, who led the search committee, said they found in Dr. Paulus "a true innovator in healthcare, someone who has not only the proven track record but also the vision and passion to lead Mission toward even higher levels of patient-centered service and quality in this fast-changing healthcare environment."

Dr. Paulus, 47, has been at Geisinger since 2005, where he currently serves as executive vice president for clinical operations and chief innovation officer. That health system gained national attention during the recent healthcare reform debate as one of the country's leaders in delivering high quality, cost-effective care. While at Geisinger, Dr. Paulus had responsibility for more than $1 billion in clinical operations including two hospitals, more than 40 clinics and over 8,000 employees.

During his tenure at Geisinger, he was responsible for developing numerous system-wide innovations, led Geisinger's participation in the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services Physician Group Practice Demonstration and planned conversion to an Accountable Care Organization, created Geisinger's Accelerated Performance Program designed to dramatically improve clinical quality and operating efficiency and introduced numerous technology and care model innovations such as Geisinger's ProvenCare® acute bundled payment care model, dubbed by the New York Times as "Surgery with a Warranty." He has published and lectured extensively at the national level on the topics of physician-hospital partnerships to improve clinical care, engaging patients in actively managing their own health and in novel uses of healthcare data and technology.

Dr. Paulus said he is eager to join Mission – a system that, like Geisinger, has been held up as a model for combining high quality and low cost. "I see Mission's future as one of America's leading health systems, serving patients in new ways that result in better health outcomes for this entire region," he said. "I'm excited to begin to work alongside the physicians, nurses, other clinicians and staff at Mission who have built such an outstanding health system."

"One of the things that attracted me to Mission Health System is the long history of collegiality and cooperation among the hospitals and physicians in Western N.C. to provide the best care close to home. This is one reason why the region continues to be ranked as among the nation's best for providing high quality, low cost care. I look forward to getting to know the physicians and my fellow hospital CEOs personally and learning from them how we can work together to improve the health of the region," Paulus said.

Brumit commented that one of the reasons Dr. Paulus emerged as the Board's choice was the fact that his 20 year healthcare career has included leadership in a variety of settings. "He has a broad perspective, having been an executive with for-profit and not-for-profit healthcare organizations and has worked both successfully and extensively with both private practice and employed physicians," she said.

"As a physician executive, Dr. Paulus will bring a refreshing and welcomed perspective to the Mission Hospital administrative team," said William Hathaway, M.D., a cardiologist with Asheville Cardiology and incoming Chief of Staff at Mission Hospital.  "His breadth of experience and success in prior endeavors is impressive and exciting. This choice exemplifies the commitment that the Board, the administration and the physicians at Mission have to the provision of world class health care for the patient's of Western North Carolina."

Dr. Paulus earned his M.D. degree from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in Philadelphia, PA, receiving the school's highest graduation recommendation: "outstanding." He completed his internship in Internal Medicine at the U.C.L.A. Medical Center in Los Angeles, CA. In addition to his medical degree, Dr. Paulus holds an M.B.A. with distinction from the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School with a concentration in Healthcare Management, and graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Science in Economics from The Wharton School with a concentration in Health Policy.

Dr. Paulus said that he and his wife, Lori, and three children, ages 8, 11, and 13, are eagerly looking forward to relocating to the Asheville area.

Blue Ridge Regional Hospital recognized as a Community Value Five-Star Hospital

Blue Ridge Regional Hospital (BRRH) was recently recognized as a top-ranked Community Value Five-Star Hospital by Cleverley & Associates. The hospital also received this award in 2006, 2007, and 2008. This designation is based on an assessment of the hospital’s performance in four areas:  financial strength and reinvestment, cost of care, pricing, and quality. Five-star hospitals stand apart from the rest because, while some hospitals may perform well in one or two areas, they have achieved strong performance in each of the four areas.  Cleverley + Associates is a leading healthcare financial consulting firm specializing in operational benchmarking and performance enhancement strategies located in Columbus, OH.

“Blue Ridge Regional Hospital’s staff has worked hard to provide the high quality of care that our patients expect and deserve at a reasonable cost. We are thrilled to know that, once again, our hard work has been recognized and that we rank in the top twenty percent of hospitals in the nation,” said Keith S. Holtsclaw, president and CEO of BRRH. 

In recent years Blue Ridge Regional Hospital has substantially upgraded its environment of care (a new clinical wing featuring all private patient rooms opened in 2007 and a new Women’s Imagining Center will open soon), range of services, and access to specialty clinics so patients do not have to travel to Asheville for treatment.  The hospital is now implementing LEAN management principles, based on Toyota’s successful production model. This system creates a workforce trained to continuously enhance patient care, improve efficiency and eliminate waste.

BRRH owns Blue Ridge Medical Center—Mayland, Spruce Pine and Yancey Campuses, Blue Ridge Medical Center—Orthopaedics, Blue Ridge Medical Center—General Surgery, Blue Ridge Medical Center—Pain Clinic, Blue Ridge Urology, Blue Ridge Fitness and Rehabilitation Center, and Toe River Children’s Dental Clinic.  With the hospital’s partner, American HomePatient, it owns and manages Blue Ridge Home Care.

BRRH Ranked Nationally Within Top Health Systems

Mission Health System, of which Blue Ridge Regional Hospital is a member,  has been named one of the  51 best-performing health systems in the nation. The ranking was given in the annual quantitative study  called  The Thomson Reuters 100 Top Hospitals: Health System Benchmarks . It was awarded for demonstrating higher quality patient outcomes across all facilities in the system. Mission Health System was the only health system  in North or South Carolina to  receive the designation. 

In all, 255 health systems  were studied.  According to the study,  Mission Health System is among the top 20 percent in the nation for performance. 

In addition to Blue Ridge Regional Hospital, members of Mission Health System are Mission Hospital and Mission Children's Hospital  in Asheville, and McDowell Hospital in Marion.

“Blue Ridge Regional Hospital’s staff is committed to providing the high quality of care that our patients expect and the compassionate care that our patients deserve,” said Keith S. Holtsclaw, president and CEO of BRRH. “That’s why we implemented our successful patient family centered care model several years ago and are now among the first rural hospitals in the nation to implement Lean, Toyota’s successful production model, that develops a self-sufficient workforce trained to continually enhance patient care, improve efficiency and eliminate waste.”

In recent years Blue Ridge Regional Hospital has substantially upgraded its environment of care (a new clinical wing featuring all private patient rooms opened in 2007 and a new Women’s Imagining Center will open soon) and range of services.  The hospital also owns Blue Ridge Medical Center—Mayland, Spruce Pine and Yancey Campuses, Blue Ridge Medical Center—Orthopaedics, Blue Ridge Medical Center—General Surgery, Blue Ridge Medical Center—Pain Clinic, Blue Ridge Urology, Blue Ridge Fitness and Rehabilitation Center, and Toe River Children’s Dental Clinic.  With the hospital’s partner, American HomePatient, it owns and manages Blue Ridge Home Care.

Top performers in the studied health systems outperformed their peers – they provided better care, followed standards of care more closely, saved more lives, had fewer patient complications, made fewer patient errors, and had better overall patient satisfaction scores.

Specifically, the study noted:

 • The top health systems are providing higher quality care and have better patient outcomes.

• Patients treated at hospitals in the winning systems are having better longer-term outcomes.

• Patients treated at hospitals in the winning systems are returning home sooner.

• Patients treated by members of the top health systems are reporting a better overall hospital experience than those treated in other similar hospitals which did not make the top 20 %.

• The top systems perform better even though they treat sicker patients.

The study shows that the leadership of hospital systems can improve quality of care and increase value to the communities. The study group included every system with two or more acute care member hospitals. Like all 100 Top Hospitals studies, it used publicly available data and objective statistical analysis. Performance measures, which focus on clinical quality and efficiency, reflect aggregated data across the entire system, including critical access hospitals.

Other systems named to the list include  Cleveland Clinic,  Kettering Health Network in Dayton, and Scripps Health in San Diego.