WWRHCC and Members in the News
Here you can find news and press surrounding the work we do as the Collaborative as well as updates from our member hospitals.
CAH HIT Grant Implementation Updates
October 2, 2008
An official kick off for the CAH HIT Grant project began in August 2008 with chosen vendor, Orion Health. Since this time, Forks Community Hospital has taken the place of Whidbey General Hospital. Forks Community Hospital (Forks, WA) will join Jefferson Healthcare (Port Townsend, WA) and Morton General Hospital (Morton, WA) to implement the health information exchange. Orion's Edmonton, Alberta team and New Zealand team have met with the WWRHCC's IT members on a weekly basis to achieve several milestones. Progress thus far includes a completed VPN, creating the building blocks of our network design, and hardware that is now received and set up. During this time, we have also succeeded in bringing together physicians and staff members of each Critical Access Hospital for a series of Webcast demonstrations. According to Orion Health:
After a recent, successful three-day meeting held in Port Hadlock, WA, we are on our way to meeting the November deadline. More updates to follow in the coming weeks!
“The Western Washington Rural Health Care Collaborative project is well underway. The requirement confirmation documentation is 95% complete... planning on being onsite in Port Hadlock on Sept 22-24 to finish requirements review and start work on the design documents.”
After a recent, successful three-day meeting held in Port Hadlock, WA, we are on our way to meeting the November deadline. More updates to follow in the coming weeks!
DiPalo perfect fit for OBH
August 12, 2008
Ocean Beach Hospital is a perfect fit for new CEO Joe DiPalo.
“My wife and I always wanted to be part of the great Northwest,” the New York State native said. “There’s something pristine about the area.” DiPalo and his wife, Carol, an art teacher, have two daughters in college and the time was right for a move across the country to the West Coast. “We’ve been warmly welcomed here,” he said. “My wife is looking forward to volunteering in the schools and with civic organizations.”
And, after a month on the job, he’s settling in at a hospital that’s a “mirror image” of his position as CEO at Margaretville (N.Y.) Memorial Hospital.
“There were similar challenges at Margaretville,” DiPalo said. “Both hospitals have celebrated their 75th years, both have two clinics. The importance of the hospital to the community is very big. OBH is the biggest employer on the Peninsula and, with payroll dollars being spent here, has an important economic impact on the area. Peninsula residents deserve a hospital of reliable quality with affordable care.”
Originally from La Grange, N.Y., DiPalo, 57, said he has “a passion for small communities and the role and importance of the hospital to them. It was easy to say ’yes’ to the hospital board after recruiters contacted me about the job here.” He says his strengths as a hospital administrator are financial management, staff development and physician recruitment and retention.
“Ocean Beach Hospital has a skilled and dedicated workforce,” he said, “with excellent doctors and a modern and well-equipped facility. There are good people here, motivated to achieve the mutual goals of providing the community with health care and the medical services needed.”
After a less-than-favorable audit a couple of years ago, interim CEO Bill Buck was working hard last year to bring the facility’s financial picture up to snuff and DiPalo is continuing Buck’s work. “It’s an ongoing process,” he said. “The goal is to be financially solvent with a positive profit margin. I’ve been reviewing policies and processes to ensure fiscal responsibility and accountability with prudent management to achieve financial goals. OBH today enjoys strong and dedicated senior management.”
To that end, DiPalo has hired Scot Attridge as the hospital’s chief financial officer. Attridge, from Omak, was CFO at the Omak hospital for five years. He has also hired a new human resources director, Kary Holloway.
The physicians, physicians’ assistants and nurse practitioners on the staff at OBH are competent and highly qualified, DiPalo said, adding that he’s currently recruiting personnel for expanded women’s health services at the clinic and physicians who specialize in urology, cardiology and pain management to complement current specialties in general and orthopedic surgery, internal medicine, family practice, dermatology, oncology, radiology, pathology and emergency medicine.
The clinic is expanding, DiPalo said, and, within a couple of months a new orthopedic “center of excellence” will open in the former Red Cross building across the street from the hospital. “We will continue to implement best practices to achieve excellent outcomes at the clinic and hospital,” he said. “Within three to six months, we’ll be hiring additional family practice and internal medicine physicians.”
DiPalo began his hospital career when he was a young man working as an orderly. “I knew then that working at a hospital was what I wanted to do,” he said. “I was very comfortable and sensed the hospital was an environment I wanted to be part of.” He received his master’s degree in business administration with a concentration in health care at Wagner College in Staten Island, N.Y., and was an administrative resident at St. Francis Hospital in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., before becoming vice president of operations at a large New Jersey hospital. He moved to the West Coast for the first time when he worked for a for-profit health care company, then was recruited as executive vice president of integrated health care delivery systems at Margaretville.
“Small rural hospitals require a special passion and commitment to the community and the rural character,” he said. “I roll up my sleeves, I flip hamburgers, I’m a hands-on manager and will protect the safety of the hospital’s patients and employees. I’m direct, thorough and fair and will consistently choose goals and objectives that best serve the residents of the Peninsula. That’s what I achieved in the other communities I’ve served. I know my strengths and weaknesses.”
Source: Chinook Observer, May 28, 2008, story by Nancy Butterfield
“My wife and I always wanted to be part of the great Northwest,” the New York State native said. “There’s something pristine about the area.” DiPalo and his wife, Carol, an art teacher, have two daughters in college and the time was right for a move across the country to the West Coast. “We’ve been warmly welcomed here,” he said. “My wife is looking forward to volunteering in the schools and with civic organizations.”
And, after a month on the job, he’s settling in at a hospital that’s a “mirror image” of his position as CEO at Margaretville (N.Y.) Memorial Hospital.
“There were similar challenges at Margaretville,” DiPalo said. “Both hospitals have celebrated their 75th years, both have two clinics. The importance of the hospital to the community is very big. OBH is the biggest employer on the Peninsula and, with payroll dollars being spent here, has an important economic impact on the area. Peninsula residents deserve a hospital of reliable quality with affordable care.”
Originally from La Grange, N.Y., DiPalo, 57, said he has “a passion for small communities and the role and importance of the hospital to them. It was easy to say ’yes’ to the hospital board after recruiters contacted me about the job here.” He says his strengths as a hospital administrator are financial management, staff development and physician recruitment and retention.
“Ocean Beach Hospital has a skilled and dedicated workforce,” he said, “with excellent doctors and a modern and well-equipped facility. There are good people here, motivated to achieve the mutual goals of providing the community with health care and the medical services needed.”
After a less-than-favorable audit a couple of years ago, interim CEO Bill Buck was working hard last year to bring the facility’s financial picture up to snuff and DiPalo is continuing Buck’s work. “It’s an ongoing process,” he said. “The goal is to be financially solvent with a positive profit margin. I’ve been reviewing policies and processes to ensure fiscal responsibility and accountability with prudent management to achieve financial goals. OBH today enjoys strong and dedicated senior management.”
To that end, DiPalo has hired Scot Attridge as the hospital’s chief financial officer. Attridge, from Omak, was CFO at the Omak hospital for five years. He has also hired a new human resources director, Kary Holloway.
The physicians, physicians’ assistants and nurse practitioners on the staff at OBH are competent and highly qualified, DiPalo said, adding that he’s currently recruiting personnel for expanded women’s health services at the clinic and physicians who specialize in urology, cardiology and pain management to complement current specialties in general and orthopedic surgery, internal medicine, family practice, dermatology, oncology, radiology, pathology and emergency medicine.
The clinic is expanding, DiPalo said, and, within a couple of months a new orthopedic “center of excellence” will open in the former Red Cross building across the street from the hospital. “We will continue to implement best practices to achieve excellent outcomes at the clinic and hospital,” he said. “Within three to six months, we’ll be hiring additional family practice and internal medicine physicians.”
DiPalo began his hospital career when he was a young man working as an orderly. “I knew then that working at a hospital was what I wanted to do,” he said. “I was very comfortable and sensed the hospital was an environment I wanted to be part of.” He received his master’s degree in business administration with a concentration in health care at Wagner College in Staten Island, N.Y., and was an administrative resident at St. Francis Hospital in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., before becoming vice president of operations at a large New Jersey hospital. He moved to the West Coast for the first time when he worked for a for-profit health care company, then was recruited as executive vice president of integrated health care delivery systems at Margaretville.
“Small rural hospitals require a special passion and commitment to the community and the rural character,” he said. “I roll up my sleeves, I flip hamburgers, I’m a hands-on manager and will protect the safety of the hospital’s patients and employees. I’m direct, thorough and fair and will consistently choose goals and objectives that best serve the residents of the Peninsula. That’s what I achieved in the other communities I’ve served. I know my strengths and weaknesses.”
Source: Chinook Observer, May 28, 2008, story by Nancy Butterfield
FLEX CAH HIT Grant - Vendor Selected!
July 21, 2008
In July 2008, a vendor for the CAH HIT Grant was chosen. We proudly announce that Orion Health will be working with the three WWRHCC Critical Access Hospitals, Jefferson Healthcare (Port Townsend, WA), Whidbey General (Coupeville, WA), and Morton General (Morton, WA) to implement a health information exchange. Over the course of the coming months, Orion Health will be utilizing their expertise to bring this exchange to life. If you would like to know more about Orion Health, please visit their web site at http://www.orionhealth.com.
FLEX CAH HIT Grant Update
June 30, 2008
FLEX CAH HIT Grant Update
In September 2007, the WWRHCC was awarded the FLEX CAH HIT Grant in the amount of $1.4 million dollars on behalf of the Washington State Department of Health – Office of Community and Rural Health. The primary focus of this grant will be to build a health information exchange between three of the WWRHCC Critical Access Hospitals and each of their respective Rural Health Clinics for the purposes of Telepharmacy and to provide elect information to Harborview Medical Center (Seattle, WA). The three Critical Access Hospitals (CAH's) chosen were Jefferson Healthcare (Port Townsend, WA), Whidbey General (Coupeville, WA), and Morton General (Morton, WA).
By the end of 2007, official requests for presentation were sent out and in February of 2008, through evaluations and the gathering of information, vendor presentations were conducted and the number of finalists narrowed to three. Throughout the months of April and May, three site visits were carried out which brings us to our current place in time – determining a final candidate. Stay tuned for details on the chosen vendor and next steps to implementation!
In September 2007, the WWRHCC was awarded the FLEX CAH HIT Grant in the amount of $1.4 million dollars on behalf of the Washington State Department of Health – Office of Community and Rural Health. The primary focus of this grant will be to build a health information exchange between three of the WWRHCC Critical Access Hospitals and each of their respective Rural Health Clinics for the purposes of Telepharmacy and to provide elect information to Harborview Medical Center (Seattle, WA). The three Critical Access Hospitals (CAH's) chosen were Jefferson Healthcare (Port Townsend, WA), Whidbey General (Coupeville, WA), and Morton General (Morton, WA).
By the end of 2007, official requests for presentation were sent out and in February of 2008, through evaluations and the gathering of information, vendor presentations were conducted and the number of finalists narrowed to three. Throughout the months of April and May, three site visits were carried out which brings us to our current place in time – determining a final candidate. Stay tuned for details on the chosen vendor and next steps to implementation!
aerial view of Mason General Hospital
