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In This Issue:
The BWH Strategic Plan
In November, BWH rolled out its new Strategic Plan designed to guide the hospital through the challenges of the next decade. Essential to the organization’s continued focus and success, the plan provides a structural roadmap with specific goals and objectives.
One of the key areas of focus is the Faulkner integration. In order to continue to integrate services with Faulkner Hospital in a way that makes sense to both Faulkner and BWH, there are specific goals over the next several years to fortify this affiliation that took place in 1998.
According to Margy Hanson, RN, senior vice president of Network Development at BWH, the goals fall into three categories—Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates (HVMA) and BWH primary care physician (PCP) integration into Faulkner; BW/F physician integration; and Faulkner capacity planning. Hanson and leaders at Faulkner have been working together to produce thoughtful ways of attaining these goals.
The HVMA admissions to Faulkner have been on a steady climb since the integration began at Faulkner in 2001. Nonetheless, to meet the goals of the BWH Strategic Plan, HVMA and BWH PCP-directed admissions should grow to 2,900 on an annual basis. Currently, there are approximately 2,000 HVMA and BWH PCP annual admissions.
As the Departments of Medicine and Surgery have paved the way for solid physician partnerships between BWH and Faulkner, more and more divisions and departments, are moving forward to combine efforts to deliver service to BW/F patients. The next phase of integration involves Radiology (see “Partners in Progress” article), followed by certain PCP (practices that are expected to open offices at Faulkner starting in May. Other steps to move this component of the plan forward include:
Capacity planning at Faulkner has been underway since the BW/F 1998 affiliation, but more expansion potential still exists. Currently BWH and Faulkner are developing a three to five year space capacity plan at Faulkner to support BWH’s and Faulkner’s volume growth. The opening of a ninth OR at Faulkner at the beginning of this year will lead to further surgical expansion for BW/F. In addition, plans for additional parking are in process and new MRI and CT scanners will be used for patient care beginning in the spring (see “Improving Our Image).
“It’s an exciting time for the BW/F collaboration. We have made fundamental progress since the initial affiliation and we are now looking forward to working together with Faulkner to determine what areas are best to grow based on patient needs,” said Hanson.