The last three Wednesday nights were some of the best attended in recent memory. Everyone was interested in hearing from three outstanding specialists. All three of these physicians came to our church without charge. The arrangements were made through Wake Forest Baptist Health-Lexington Medical Center. I was especially pleased since I serve on the hospital board, both here in Lexington and in Winston at Baptist.
A few weeks ago when I received my hometown newspaper, I couldn’t believe the headlines. The local hospital was closing! For good! When I was growing up the town actually had two hospitals, but one closed a number of years ago. I realized as I read the articles that the same sad story could have happened to us.
When our hospital board first started talking about merging into a larger system, I didn’t know what to think. I didn’t realize how bad things were financially for us until we got into the merger process. The truth is if we had waited much longer, it might have been too late, like it was for my hometown.
I found myself on the merger committee and spent a lot of time a few years ago talking about what our new hospital would look like as a part of a larger system. I also spend a lot of time talking to my good friend, and trusted confidant, Dr. Bob Team. Bob was so happy we were going with Baptist.
There are so many good things about our relationship with Baptist. Jamie Young told me that because our two hospitals are one system, the transfer of their newborn baby Jacob to Brenner’s Children’s Hospital was seamless. I highlight some of the other benefits below.
My newspaper article won’t run for a couple of weeks, but after reading about my hometown hospital going out of business, here is my first draft on my March 3 article:
IT’S ABOUT THE PEOPLE
My mother insists that I receive my hometown newspaper, the “Hartselle (Alabama) Enquirer,” even though I told her that the only names I recognize are those in the obituaries. It was therefore not surprising when I did not recognize the name of Sandra Smelser in a recent front page article that I read in its entirety. She was at a candlelight vigil and was quoted as saying, “It’s the only job I’ve ever had after graduating from high school.” With tears in her eyes she added, “It’s just like losing a family member.”
Sandra Smelser was employed for 43 years by Hartselle Medical Center, my hometown hospital. On January 31 of this year, the hospital closed its doors, going out of business. Several attempts to sell the hospital or merge with a larger healthcare system were not successful. The hospital, that first opened in 1948, stopped admitting patients a week before the end. Signs on the doors announced the hospital was closing. All remaining patients and Emergency Department admissions were shipped to hosptials in neighboring towns on the 31st.
I read the article with great interest, not only because it is a painful tragedy for my hometown, but also because I realized that it could have happened here, in Lexington.
Five years ago, shortly after I went on the Lexington Memorial Hospital Board of Directors, our hospital President, Mr. John Cashion, told the board that he felt it would be good for us to study the opportunities of merging into a larger healthcare system. He understood what I as a new board member did not, that in the rapidly changing world of healthcare, small community hospitals were struggling to survive and it would only get worse. As we spent several months systematically exploring our options, our hospital’s financial situation grew more and more serious. The question was no longer “will we merge?” but “with whom?”
We looked at several viable options. Each one of the larger systems offered us something attractive. But when we sat down for the first time with Donny Lambeth and other representatives from Baptist Hospital, it was like we had come home. There was a sense of immediate trust. We shared core values. It felt like family.
As everyone knows, we made the decision to go with Baptist (now Wake Forest Baptist Health). Have we been disappointed? What do you think!
We have a world-class cancer center, new cardiac and pulmonary rehab services, bariatric surgery, reconstructive surgery, ENT head and neck surgery, and vascular surgery. Over 25 new physicians have been added to the staff, Wake Forest Baptist physicians now staff our much improved emergency department, outstanding specialists see patients in Lexington, the employee base has grown, the financial condition is much improved and we are beginning a major expansion of our Physical Therapy and Emergency departments. Wake Forest Baptist has matched well over a million dollars in foundation funds, the hospital is engaged in the community in a positive way and annual capital expenditures have increased by almost 2 and one-half million dollars. We can be assured of world-class quality health care right here, in our own little town. But even with all these incredible improvements, there is something more important.
At the candlelight vigil that was held on the night my hometown hospital closed, one (now former) employee said, “It’s more than just bricks and mortar. It’s about the people.”
From the first day we sat down with Baptist Hospital we realized that “it’s about the people.” It has been true from day one and it continues to be. I’m thankful that rather than holding a candlelight vigil for what was, we continue to celebrate what will be!
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