By Dr. Ferrell Miller
JC Breakfast Optimist Club
The guest speaker at the January 11 “Gathering of Optimism” meeting was Deb Yocum, Vice President of Strategic Direction for Stormont Vail Hospitals. Deb stated that she is a “trained CPA who began work 36 years ago as the Vice President of Clinic Operations, but soon became involved in working through a merger like the recent one in Geary County.
County Commissioners and Geary Community Hospital staff sought ways to keep from losing one million dollars per month. After “looking behind every curtain, we believed we could turn things around. We assessed equipment, staffing, anesthesia machines, IT, billing, communication with patients and more”, she stated.
Stormont Vail Health vision statement embodies the foundation of the new partnership with Geary Community Health Clinic: to provide patients access to safe, high-quality health care services close to home. They are committed to integrating the Geary Community operations.
She went on to tell the Optimists that “Stormont continued all services that were at Geary Community except the Sleep Studies unit.” Additions may include cataract surgery, cardiology, an additional OB-GYN doctor and perhaps others. When considering staff, “they look for people who are nice” with strong people skills. People who show kindness.
Deb will be retiring soon and shared that “Tim Bergeron will retire from the US Army in April and has had extensive hospital management experience. He will be working with the team at Stormont Vail in Junction City. Tim served at Irwin Army Community Hospital in 2017.”
Deb encourages everyone to enroll in My Chart as an easy access communication tool to use with your health care team. “Whether you need to request a prescription refill, want to schedule a physical, check your medical records or you just suspect you have a cold and want to communicate with your physician, My Chart is a great resource. Patients can view medical information by reviewing medications, allergies, immunizations, and medical history, receive test results online and review health education topics and discharge instructions. Patients can also request their next primary care physician appointment, view details of past and upcoming appointments and receive important health reminders. My Chart also makes it possible to communicate securely and quickly by emailing your physician and medical care team. Prescription renewals can be made by notifying Stormont Vail of changes to your postal and email address, access your records and link you family’s accounts to yours for convenient access to appointments, immunization records, growth charts and more.“ For more information contact www.stormontvail.org/mychart or call 785.354.5430.