:When you drive past Athol Memorial Hospital you will see a facility that, on the outside, has not changed significantly in the past few decades.  The hospital, which opened its doors in 1950, has had only two major building expansions in its almost 57 year history.  If you step inside, however, you will find state-of-the-art technologies and a proficient, highly qualified staff.  Athol Memorial Hospital’s maintains a critical edge in providing healthcare services to the community and looking at some of the many changes and improvements of the past year illustrates how the hospital anticipates and meets the demands of an ever-shifting healthcare environment.

Athol Memorial Hospital’s Board of Trustees welcomed healthcare attorney David Spackman; Larry Estelle, Vice President of Lending at Athol Savings Bank; and JoAnn Piedrafite, RN, Executive Director of Quabbin Valley Healthcare, in December.  Their expertise, combined with the experience and knowledge of the other trustees, will guide the hospital’s vision and mission, and help implement the strategic plan.  Additions to the hospital’s medical staff include Board Certified Anesthesiologist; Robert Sprague, MD; and Board Certified Family Practitioners Stephen Martin, MD, Paul O’Braonain, MD, and Ann-Katrin Weischedel, MD.  

A Pain Clinic, to treat back pain, post-herpetic neuralgia, intercostals neuralgia, reflex sympathetic dystrophy, myofascial syndrome, and other chronic pain conditions, has been established at the hospital by Dr. Sprague, Chief of Anesthesiology.  Dr. Martin is affiliated with the Desmond Callan Community Health Center, located at the hospital’s West River Health Center in Orange.  His practice, in conjunction with the other providers at the Desmond Callan Center, provides long anticipated healthcare and dental services for the area’s uninsured and underinsured.  Drs. O’Braonain and Weischedel, a husband and wife team, relocated to this area from Pennsylvania to join North Quabbin Family Physicians, and bring with them fifteen years of family practice experience, including obstetrical care.
Athol Memorial Hospital maintains a relationship with the team of Board Certified Radiologists from St. Vincent’s Hospital in Worcester.  Team members, under the direction of Paul Sabel, MD, Chief of Radiology at Athol Memorial and St. Vincent’s, are on site here during weekdays and are available for reading coverage 24 hours a day via electronic image transmission.

Athol Memorial Hospital was designated as a Primary Stroke Service.  This means that patients exhibiting symptoms of stroke can be quickly diagnosed and treated in the hospital’s Emergency Department, within the critical window of time to be most effective.   Making this possible is the state-of-the-art “Brain Saving Technologies” telemedicine and videoconferencing system, which allows a consulting neurologist to see patients 24 hours a day, and in real time, evaluate and diagnose their symptoms. 
 
The Emergency Department Team of nurses and physicians maintain certification in Advanced Cardiac Life Support and Pediatric Advanced Life Support and attend special training courses, repeated every two years, to qualify.  Additionally, all nurses are in the process of completing Trauma Nursing Core Certification Courses.
Currently the Emergency Services Department is implementing  “Project Assert,” a program to help identify and assist substance abusers in receiving treatment.  ASSERT stands for Alcohol, Substance Abuse, Services Education Referral Treatment.  This innovative program, developed at Boston Medical Center, uses health promotion advocates to screen patients who indicate a substance abuse issue and assist them in accessing services, if desired.  The $270,000 grant funding for the program was awarded to Athol Memorial Hospital, in collaboration with Heywood Hospital, by the Massachusetts Bureau of Substance Abuse.

A state-of-the-art Picture Archiving and Communications System (PACS), has been installed in Athol Memorial Hospital’s Radiology Services Department.  Currently the hospital is using this digital image technology, instead of hard films, for ultrasound, fluoroscopy, CAT scan and MRI results.  The images are captured in electronic form and then directly transmitted to a physician for review.  Benefits to the physician and patient include immediate and readily accessible results.  Images are stored for future reference and can be quickly recalled and electronically sent, or written to a disk, thereby eliminating retrieval and transportation waiting time needed for standard films.  Athol Memorial Hospital is looking forward to transitioning all radiology diagnostics to this system in the future.
The Rehabilitation Services Department expanded to include an Aquatic Therapy Program, held three times a week at the Athol Area YMCA and led by Department Manager Tina Kelley, PT.  

This conditioning and strengthening program can help patients experiencing back problems or recovering from injuries, and can assist persons with certain chronic illnesses maintain mobility.  Another enhancement to the Rehabilitation Services Department is the recent hiring of Denise Renzi, OT, certified hand therapist.  This addition brings a highly specialized level of care into the hospital community.
Successful recruitment efforts by the hospital placed nurses in open positions thereby increasing capacity for inpatient services.  Relationships with nursing education programs were strengthened and outreach efforts amplified.  

The hospital continued to offer a loan program for advancing healthcare careers, and established a scholarship program for area residents pursuing clinical fields.  Six scholarships were awarded at the end of May. Internships and job shadow opportunities were made available throughout the year and the hospital launched a “Partnership With Schools Initiative” to forge closer ties with local educational institutions.  

One of the most significant achievements this past year was attaining Critical Access Hospital status.  The designation was awarded by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health based on Athol Memorial Hospital’s compliance with stringent patient safety requirements, clinical processes, quality assurance measures and specific critical access criteria.  With the certification came a more favorable Medicare reimbursement rate and increased access to government funding and grant opportunities.

The most heartening, and perhaps telling, aspect of this past year are the responses Athol Memorial Hospital is seeing in the Patient Satisfaction Surveys.  The CARE (Customers Are Really Everything) Initiative was in the development stages just over a year and one half ago.  Roll out included manager and staff training and aggressively improving methods of Patient Satisfaction Survey distribution.  Ongoing Patient Care Recognition Awards, given to the individual and the department with the most positive responses for a given period, were established.

Since the inception of the program, the number of patient responses has dramatically increased.  Two years ago, on an average month, thirty to forty  (30 to 40) patient surveys were returned to the hospital by patients treated here.   Completed surveys, by the third quarter of calendar year 2006, climbed to a high of one hundred seventy three (173) in one month.

More significant was the measure of positive patient responses.  On average, throughout the year, ninety-eight percent (98%) of all patients polled reported “satisfied” to “very satisfied” regarding their experience at Athol Memorial Hospital.  In January 2007, patients reporting high satisfaction levels reached one hundred percent (100%).  Ninety percent (90%) of the surveys returned stated  “very satisfied”, and ten percent (10%) were “satisfied” with the care they received at Athol Memorial Hospital.  The hospital has consistently earned high praises from regulatory agencies and surveyors, but this direct feedback from those we actually serve provides us with a tangible acknowledgement of our efforts.

Athol Memorial Hospital continues to seek and identify new opportunities for enhancing services and maintaining excellence in care.  The hospital, built on a solid financial and clinical platform through proficient leadership, sophisticated technology, and a highly qualified staff, stands poised toward the future and focused on the evolving healthcare needs of our community.