As a new chapter at Bradford Regional Medical Center starts with
the expansion project, officials took time Tuesday morning to
expound on what the medical center offers today as well as what it
is doing to “create tomorrow.”
Each speaker took a chapter out of BRMC’s book to discuss the
future, the medical campus, communication, connections and
collaboration. BRMC’s annual meeting was held at the University of
Pittsburgh at Bradford.
“As the region’s premiere health care system, BRMC has a
long-standing tradition of doing just that – creating what tomorrow
will look like – from its facilities and services to its standards
of excellence and quality care,” BRMC Board Chairman Dr. Richard
McDowell said.
McDowell also talked about how this year has been a special year
for the facility.
“When the history of (BRMC) is written in this new century, the
year 2005 will undoubtedly be among the most memorable,” McDowell
said. “We’re a place that’s invested in your past, that cares about
meeting your present needs and that’s preparing for another
lifetime of care.”
George Leonhardt, president and chief executive officer at BRMC,
spoke about the past, which included medical center officials
discovering a handwritten volume of past hospital meetings, held in
such places as the St. James Hotel, the Bradford Oil Co. and law
offices in Pompelon Hall.
“While the hospital’s first board members may not have had any
better glimpse of the future than we do today, what we have in
common is our shared responsibility to create it,” Leonhardt said.
“How forward looking these men and women must have seemed at the
turn of the last century when, with fewer resources than they might
have liked, with the best technology of the day and the most adept
professionals available, a medical community was born in Bradford,
a legacy that has lasted well into this new century.”
BRMC’s past is also a reflection of its future.
“What the earliest hospital records show is that leaders in that
day had a keen sense of timing and the knowledge to know that – in
spite of and, perhaps, because of prevailing conditions – it was
the right time to take such risks,” Leonhardt said.
Terry Palmer, the chief information officer at BRMC, touched
upon this by elaborating on how the hospital has advanced.
When Palmer spoke at a meeting a few years ago, he took the “I
Have a Dream” approach when discussing the hospital’s vision for
technological advancement. Part of this is a bar code system that
allows hospital workers to know vital information about each
patient. This also is important to expedite patient care.
“I’m proud to say this morning that what once was a dream, a
shared vision, a medical necessity, a fiscal imperative, is
becoming a reality,” Palmer said. “The plan we once had for
technological advancement that could place BRMC in the finest
company among the most prestigious health care systems in the
country is here now.”
Part of that is in the hospital today.
“Now, thanks to our cutting edge Picture Archiving Communication
System – or PACS -ðthe waiting is over … the most sophisticated
technologies used in only a handful of hospitals across America
today. It’s all here at BRMC now,” Palmer said.
And while the original BRMC officials never imagined such
technology, they did play a part in what happens.
“While these words weren’t even part of the landscape in our
founders’ day, the impulse to create, build, mend and heal was,”
Leonhardt said. “It’s what we’ve carried into this new century from
our past that we build our new foundation on to create a medical
campus as advanced as we’ve ever witnessed in our region.”
Communication is also a big component of the facility, which has
extended into the launch of a new Web site earlier this year, a new
on-hold message system for callers and participating in emergency
preparedness with other area agencies.
“When I think of creating communication, I think of the hospital
network as a stream of people who need to reach each other for
various purposes, using sophisticated equipment that can react to
our changing environment with sensitivity and security for the
benefit of our most important audience – the patient,” Palmer
said.
Deborah Price, senior vice president of patient care services,
continued with the connections the medical center has made with the
community through a variety of programs, including Healthy
Beginnings Plus with the March of Dimes.
Hospital employees also participate in community activities such
as WalkAmerica, Relay for Life and the Alzheimer’s Association
Memory Walk.
The relocation of the McKean County Dental Health Center doubled
the size of the facility and enabled the addition of a new dentist,
Price said, adding the success of the Diabetes Center is another
major accomplishment this year.
“Over the past year, we’ve been more than what people might call
a community icon,” she said. “More than just one of McKean County’s
largest employers.
“We’re an integral part of the community, woven as tightly as
thread through the fabric of time, stitched seamlessly by the
scores of medical professionals who’ve traveled countless miles
down our hallways though this past century.”
The importance of volunteers in BRMC’s scheme was part of the
topic Debbie Allison spoke about.
The Bradford Hospital Auxiliary president said “Where would we
be without our volunteers? It’s an answer we can’t even begin to
imagine, as the roles, responsibilities of the volunteers expand
each year.”
More than 225 volunteers contribute more than 16,000 of their
time at the hospital, she said, lauding past president Bev Gallup
for her work in fund-raising efforts.
“For each of us, there is a common tie that binds,” Allison
said. “We are connected through a single thread -ðwe believe in
BRMC.”
Sandra McKinley, Bradford Hospital Foundation Board chairman,
reported the Employee Ask Campaign has reaped more than $182,000
for the expansion project.
She also noted that donations can be made on BRMC’s new Web
site.
“We invite you to share in our vision of health care for the
future as we create a medical campus of today and tomorrow,”
Leonhardt said.
