Health care and the hospital system in Northern Kentucky are moving forward on a groundbreaking and regionally focused path with the completion of the merger of
St. Elizabeth Medical Center with the St. Luke Hospitals last fall. Northern Kentucky now has the opportunity to both reinvent and improve health care in the region with all parties – hospitals, physicians, and in- and out-patient facilities – working together to revolutionize the continuum of care for the 400,000 residents in our region.
The recent merger also represents an opportunity for collaboration among life science companies in the region as St. Elizabeth/St. Luke identifies its primary initiatives. This centralized regional model helps new and existing companies in this sector advance their efforts in the health care arena through a single source.
There are many facets of the long-term success of the regional approach now underway – major upgrades in technology and services, new facilities under construction, and a strategic focus on addressing the most common health care issues in our community are all integral to our success.
One of the first steps of the long-term plan is already underway with investments and improvements in technology. The first important upgrade included the purchase of a new 320-slice CT scanner, the most powerful X-ray imaging device of its kind in the world. The second considerable upgrade involved the ability to offer digital mammography services throughout all of the St. Elizabeth/St. Luke facilities – the first in the tri-state to use this life-saving state-of-the-art technology, superior to standard film mammography and more accurately able to detect early signs of cancer.
The new Aquilion One 320-slice CT scanner was installed at St. Elizabeth’s Edgewood emergency department. No other hospital in the Ohio, Kentucky or Indiana tri-state region has this groundbreaking technology. The new CT system helps doctors diagnose stroke and heart disease in mere minutes, rather than in hours or days. St. Elizabeth serves more than 300 stroke patients annually and is the first community hospital in the United States to install this revolutionary technology in an ER setting.
Longer-term components of the plan – notably upgrading the regional system to a higher level of state-of-the-art capabilities – include a $60-$70 million electronic medical records project underway with Northern Kentucky University’s College of Informatics. Once deployed, a patient will be able to go to any health care facility in the system – hospitals, physicians, and in- and out-patient facilities – and have one record that shows what medications he or she is taking, the care received, pre-existing conditions and family history. Having one record for any point of service in the region will improve the patient’s experience, increase patient safety and result in fewer errors.
The health care workforce in Northern Kentucky is top-notch, and critical to the success of our continuum of care. St. Elizabeth is one of five U.S. hospitals named asa "Destination for Nursing" hospital, signifying our reputation as an outstanding place for nurses to work and excellence in patient care. We are working to make sure the region’s future workforce needs are met by partnering with the region’s colleges and universities, such as Northern Kentucky University, Gateway Community and Technical College and Thomas More.
The newest facility in the system, currently under construction on 12th Street in Covington, will be the largest center for diabetes in the tri-state with the addition of new technology and six endocrinologists. We have committed our care and expertise to the residents of our community and the health issues they are facing. Within the system, our strategic focus will be on cancer, cardiac and diabetes prevention, care and treatment.
"We are dedicated to providing the best and most technologically advanced health care to our community. Our partnerships with the educational institutions in the region – and our colleagues across the river in Cincinnati, including internationally renowned Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center and University Hospital – are critically important to our success now and in the future. The opportunity for collaboration and advancement of Northern Kentucky’s life science sector in concert with our single-source health care system will continue to build our community’s success as the national model for regional, coordinated and state-of-the-art health care."
Joe Gross is CEO of St. Elizabeth Medical Center, a position he has held for 23 years. He led the merger of the St. Elizabeth and St. Luke hospital systems in 2008. He received the Business Courier’s 2009 Health Care Hero Lifetime Achievement Award. St. Elizabeth Medical Center is an award-winning medical facility:
- The first hospital in the tri-state to be designated a magnet hospital by the American Nurses Credentialing Center in 2006
- Named to the Business Courier’s Best Places to Work Hall of Fame
- Named among just five U.S. hospitals as a "Destination for Nursing" hospital
- One of the “Top Ten Best Places in America to Have a Baby” compiled by Fit Pregnancy magazine
- “America’s 50 Best Hospitals Award” three years in a row by U.S. News & World Report
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