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Local hospitals’ executives set aside time to visit patients, staff

Kettering, Good Sam, Children’s use meetings, hot lines to stay in touch.

After analyzing the results of an employee survey, executives, department heads and directors at Miami Valley Hospital started devoting four hours per week to making rounds and getting in touch with hospital workers to increase employee communication. Respiratory therapist Rick Matin is greeted by MVH chief operating officer Bobbie Gerhart (left) and president and CEO Mary Boosalis during employee recognition rounds.

Staff photo by Ty Greenlees After analyzing the results of an employee survey, executives, department heads and directors at Miami Valley Hospital started devoting four hours per week to making rounds and getting in touch with hospital workers to increase employee communication. Respiratory therapist Rick Matin is greeted by MVH chief operating officer Bobbie Gerhart (left) and president and CEO Mary Boosalis during employee recognition rounds.

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By Marc Katz, Staff Writer 1:00 AM Saturday, September 19, 2009

Hospital rounding is part of the culture, not only for doctors, but management as well.

Miami Valley Hospital — the area’s second-largest employer next to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base – has been doing extensive executive rounding for nearly two years and has been pleased with the results.

Most other hospitals do it too.

“We have been doing that for quite some time,” said Joan Swenson, Kettering Medical Center’s chief human resources director. “That’s part of who we are at this organization.

“Whether it’s rounding on our employees or rounding on our patients, our goal whether you’re a patient a physician, a volunteer or employee, your experience here is important to us.”

Swenson said KMC uses quarterly town hall meetings, confidential hot lines and rounding as ways to communicate with its people, and you never know when our CEO is going to show up.”

Frank Perez is president and CEO of the Kettering Medical Network and Dr. Roy Chew is president of KMC.

Kettering has 4,000 employees at its main hospital and about 8,400 in its network.

At Good Samaritan — linked to MVH through the Premier Health Network — a spokesperson said, “We give our executives (including president and CEO Mark Shaker) an assigned region of the hospital. Over a two-week period, they visit that entire region. Depending on their schedule, they’ll do a little bit every day or they may take a half day and do some of it.”

Night rounding is also done weekly and at least once a month on the weekend.

There is also a weekly employee newsletter and a weekly voice mail from the executive team.

“We also have town hall meetings,” the spokesperson said. “We had a set of them in late July and we’re gearing up for another one in October.”

Combined with MVH and the rest of the network, there are about 14,000 employees at Premier, nearly 4,000 at Good Sam.

At Children’s Medical Center, in addition to daily rounds president David Kinsaul makes, the hospital holds quarterly, “scoop” sessions, where members of senior management discuss topics on their agenda as well as any topics other employees have at the institution.

“All employees are invited, and anybody can ask questions,” said a Children’s spokesperson. “We then provide a video of the session and put in on our Intranet. We have another session coming in October.”

Children’s has about 1,800 employees.

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