July Specialty Clinics

Inpatient Unit Open House

Nichols Resigns as CEO

Horn Memorial Hospital CEO Chris Nichols announced last week that he has accepted a position as CEO of Fillmore County Hospital in Geneva, Nebraska.  Nichols informed the Board of his decision
on Tuesday and the Board accepted his resignation and contract release effective August 11^th, 2017.

Before a new CEO is named, the Board has a CEO succession plan that will place shared administrative responsibilities of the hospital on Chief Financial Officer, Marcia Fehring, and Chief Nursing Officer, Jo Hayes.  The Board has already initiated a search for a new CEO.

Board Chair Randy Carpenter comments, “We wish Chris and his family well and are grateful for the leadership he has provided the hospital and community.  The hospital is on very stable ground with Marcia and Jo providing leadership seamlessly until we find a replacement for Chris.”

Nichols just finished his fourth year as CEO of Horn Memorial.  He and his wife, Jaci, and their three children, Garrett (14), Abby (13), and Ali (8), moved to Ida Grove in May of 2013 from Grand Island, Nebraska.  Under Nichols’ leadership, the hospital enjoyed a period of financial success and will have completed a new Inpatient Room project by the time he leaves.  Several key staff have also been brought on board, including physician, Sharon Vande Vegte and Chief Nursing Officer, Jo Hayes.

Nichols comments, “We are excited but at the same time so sad to leave a place we have come to love.  The opportunity to return home to within an hour of where we both grew up, closer to our family and long term friends, was too good to pass up.  It’s a similar sized community to Ida Grove and a similar sized hospital to Horn, but nothing can replace the people we’ve met here.  This place will be a part of us forever.  I want to thank the community, the school system, and the hospital staff for being so great to my family.  We will truly miss this place.”

Programs Help Seniors and Families Purchase Fresh Produce at Farmers’ Markets

The Ida Area Farmers’ Market in downtown Ida Grove is up and running for the season.  The market is open every Thursday from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. June 1 through September 28, 2017.

Some of the vendors at the market participate in the Farmers Market Nutrition Programs (FMNP). These programs have the dual purpose to provide Iowa WIC (Women, Infants & Children) Program participants and low-income seniors with fresh fruits and vegetables to improve their diets and to expand the awareness, use of, and sales at farmers markets.

Vendors who participate in FMNP accept both WIC checks and Farmers Market Vouchers. 

Seniors who may be eligible for the vouchers must:

·         Be age 60 or older on the day they pick up the vouchers

·         Have a gross monthly income of no more than $1,859.21/month for individuals or $2,503.66/month for married couples

·         Live in Ida, Cherokee, Monona, Plymouth or Woodbury counties

Each senior meeting eligibility guidelines will receive 10 - $3.00 vouchers for a total value of $30.00 to be used to purchase fresh, Iowa-grown produce and honey.  Vouchers can be redeemed at local Farmer’s Markets with vendors who accept these checks. Checks cannot be pre-signed, as seniors must sign checks when the purchase is made.

To pick up the vouchers, beginning June 7, eligible seniors can go to the Ida Grove Community Hall at 403 3^rd Street from 9:30 a.m. until noon. There is a limited supply of vouchers, available on a first come-first serve basis.

Horn’s New Quality Boards Highlight Success with Patient Satisfaction and Quality

Over the past several months, Horn Memorial Hospital has made an increased effort to post quality scores and patient satisfaction scores around the hospital.  Following the lead of the Iowa Hospital Association, posting this information is part of a national effort for hospitals to be more transparent so that the public is more aware of patient perceptions and quality of care.  The information that Horn posts is about patient satisfaction for Inpatient Hospital Care as well as various quality initiatives tracked by the Emergency Department.

Currently there are two Quality Boards located in the main hallway at Horn, one right next to the information desk and one right outside of the X-Ray waiting area.  The board located next to the information desk shares three patient satisfaction scores for entire calendar year of 2016.  Measure #1 tracks overall patient satisfaction on the Inpatient Unit: “Patients who gave Horn a rating of 9 or 10 on a scale of 0 (lowest) to 10 (highest).”  Horn’s average score for the year was 87%, meaning that 87% of patients rated their care a “9” or “10”.  A patient could rate their care an “8” and it would not count as a favorable score for Horn.  Horn’s average of 87% is well ahead of the state of Iowa average of 77% and the national average of 72%.  Measure #2 reports on the percentage of patients surveyed who would “Definitely Recommend” the hospital.  Horn scores high on this measure as well, at 72%, which is slightly below the state average of 75% and right on target with the national average of 72%.  Measure #3 reports on “Patients who reported that their room and bathroom were always clean.”  Horn excels in this area, scoring 92%.  State average for this measure was 80% and national average was 74%. 

Horn CEO Chris Nichols comments, “Our housekeeping staff is widely recognized for providing an extremely clean facility, not only in the inpatient area, but all areas of the hospital.  For overall satisfaction, a patient could rate us an “8” out of “10”, which is a good score, but doesn’t count in our favor.  For nearly 90% of our patients to give us a rating of 9 or 10, it’s a remarkable accomplishment.  It’s a team effort led by our dedicated nurses and providers, but every single department plays a part in the patient experience.  Our success goes back to an entire organization that puts great emphasis into providing the highest quality and compassionate care to our patients.”

The quality board that is located next to the X-Ray waiting room highlights projects that the Emergency Department has taken on since 2016.  The first measure listed is the “Average time patients who came to the Emergency Department with broken bones had to wait before receiving pain medication.”  Horn’s average time for this measure is 22 minutes, well ahead of the state of Iowa average of 45 minutes and the national average of 52 minutes.  The second measure listed is “Average number of minutes before patients with chest pain or possible heart attack received an electrocardiogram.”  Horn’s average is 6 minutes, which is below the state and national average of 7 minutes.  Quality Director Heather Gann comments, “For over two years we’ve been working hard to improve certain processes in the Emergency Department.  The success we’ve had, particularly with beating state and national averages for “door to EKG time”, is a credit to the team really embracing a challenge to improve.  We’ve learned from best practices as well as what other hospitals were doing to have success at this.  We’re very proud of these quality scores – it speaks to a very strong Emergency Department that’s committed to improvement.”

Horn plans to implement additional quality boards at other locations in the hospital and clinics over the next year.  The website  www.medicare.gov/hospitalcompare has additional information on hospital quality and patient satisfaction scores.