PORT TOWNSEND—The increased business orientation in health care should not prompt hospitals to forget their original charter, according to a presentation in front of the Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce on Monday.
“The government is going to start reimbursing organizations based on the quality of care they provide,” said Jefferson Healthcare CEO Mike Glenn.
Glenn said if a patient is treated at a hospital and returns with the same ailment within a 30-day period “then the government will assume that we didn’t treat your properly, so readmission comes without reimbursement.”
The system places a stronger emphasis on outcomes and a discharge plan, Glenn said.
Glenn, a former Olympic Medical Center CEO in Port Angeles-Sequim, replaced Vic Dirksen, who had held the position for 33 years, and said he will probably be known as “the new guy” for some time to come.
Glenn lauded the staff that he inherited.
“We have an outstanding team of medical providers,” he said.
“I’m sure every hospital administrator standing in front of every chamber of commerce will say, ‘We got great doctors at our hospital,’ but we really do.”
Glenn said that unlike some other communities, there is no shortage of primary health care providers in Port Townsend.
Dirksen had put together employment packages that attracted young, well-trained doctors, and that benefited the community, he said.
“We are extraordinary fortunate to have that team,” Glenn said of the medical staff.
“I’ve been extremely impressed with how astute they are about their role in what we are trying to do, and they are a great group, although they are a bit young.”
Glenn said he has interacted with doctors throughout his career and was always perceived as “the young geeky guy in the corner, wearing a suit.”
Things have changed for the 49-year-old Glenn, he said, since moving to Port Townsend, where he is known as “the old geeky guy in the suit.”
Glenn said all CEOs say they have an “open-door policy,” but people in Port Townsend take that literally.
“At Jefferson Healthcare, having an open-door policy means that people come through that open door and tell you what they think, what they feel what you’re doing right and occasionally tell you what you are doing wrong, ” he said.
Jefferson Healthcare has a $63 million yearly budget with $36 million of that going toward salaries, including $225,000 going to Glenn.
On Monday, hospital board member Chuck Russell announced the board voted a $10,000 decrease at Glenn’s request.
Glenn said it is easy to say a hospital is first-rate, but he is looking to back up that statement by inviting accreditation bureau Det Norse Veritas.
“We think its important that if I stand up in front of groups like you and say, ‘Quality is job one,’ it’s important that we bring in an outside organization to prove we are backing up what we are saying,” he said,
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Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.