Healthcare Leaders Meet with New London Business, Community Leaders
ThedaCare met Wed., Nov. 11, with business and community leaders at the 2015 New London Community Conversation to discuss changes in health care. Held at Crystal Falls Banquet Hall in New London over breakfast, the annual event is an opportunity for ThedaCare leaders to share information about the past year, look ahead to coming changes, listen to concerns, and take questions.
The theme for this year’s ThedaCare Community Conversations, scheduled into December at seven different sites across northeast Wisconsin, is “It’s About Time.” The theme refers to the health care network’s newly launched branding effort; the organization’s commitment to trauma response in rural areas; the ThedaCare Regional Cancer Center, currently under construction next to Encircle Health in Appleton; and the time dedicated by ThedaCare staff to improving health outside the walls of traditional clinics and hospitals.
The breakfast event was emceed by Dr. Dean Gruner, ThedaCare president and CEO; and featured remarks by Bill Schmidt, president of ThedaCare Medical Center-New London; Dr. Mark Westfall, emergency physician, ThedaCare Regional Medical Center -Neenah and New London; and Dr. Matthias Weiss, MD, PhD, of ThedaCare Regional Cancer Center. “The focus on time refers to a coordinated system. ThedaCare has health care professionals in the field, in the hospital, and in the area’s only Level II Trauma Center,” said Dr.Gruner.
This year ThedaCare implemented a branding effort that involved re-naming some hospitals with the ThedaCare moniker. New London Family Medical Center is now known as ThedaCare Medical Center-New London. “We made this decision to provide clarity,” said Schmidt. “With one name, we represent ourselves as one system. It means that no matter where you live, when you have access to one ThedaCare facility, you have access to all of them.”
The ThedaCare Rural Trauma Team Development Course was designed to enhance trauma response in every corner of ThedaCare’s nine-county service area. “This is when time becomes a matter of life or death,” said Dr. Westfall. “We’ve partnered with police, fire, first responders, and rural hospital staff to be trained and coordinated for an effective response to traumatic events or accidents to give our patients the absolute best chance for survival.”
Dr. Weiss spoke about the team approach to cancer care at the ThedaCare Regional Cancer Center. “Our goal is to provide an integrated, collaborative, multi-disciplinary approach to all our patients presenting with any type of cancer and stage,” he said. “We are sincere about providing world-class health cancer care close to home, in our own communities, so patients and their families don’t need to travel outside the area for care unless it’s absolutely necessary. More time at home, with those you love, helps people heal, too.”
ThedaCare providers and staff spend significant time not only in hospitals and clinics, but in the larger community to improve health. In the past year, the time that ThedaCare employees and providers spent on improving health beyond the walls of traditional hospitals and clinics totaled more than 93,000 hours.
ThedaCare gave back to the communities it serves by providing $39,960,942 in unreimbursed services, including unreimbursed medical care, health professional education, and community benefit activities, to local communities in 2014. In the New London area, that community benefit was $3,048,705.
Anyone wishing to receive a print copy of today’s report can contact Paula Morgen community health manager for ThedaCare, at (920) 830-5848 or paula.morgen@thedacare.org.
For more than 100 years, ThedaCare™ has been committed to finding a better way to deliver serious and complex healthcare to patients throughout Northeast Wisconsin. The organization serves more than 200,000 patients annually and employs more than 6,800 healthcare professionals throughout the region. ThedaCare has seven hospitals located in Appleton, Neenah, Berlin, Waupaca, Shawano, New London and Wild Rose and 35 clinics in 14 counties. ThedaCare is the first in Wisconsin to be a Mayo Clinic Care Network Member, giving our specialists the ability to consult with Mayo Clinic experts on a patient’s care. ThedaCare is a non-profit healthcare organization with a level II trauma center, comprehensive cancer treatment, stroke and cardiac programs, and a foundation dedicated to community service. Construction of ThedaCare Regional Cancer Center in Appleton is underway. For more information, visit www.thedacare.org or follow ThedaCare on Facebook and Twitter.
