Each December offers an opportunity to reflect on what’s been accomplished and look forward to opportunities for the year to come.
If we travel back a full year ago, the number of COVID-19 inpatients at Munson Medical Center was approximately six times higher than it is today. Those numbers began a slow decline in January and have been stable since March. While we remain hopeful this trend will continue, we remain poised should those numbers increase.
We have started to see the first cases of flu in Traverse City and already know that the southern hemisphere experienced their worst season in five years. As we wait to see what 2023 will bring, there is still ample opportunity to protect those high-risk members of our community and prevent influenza-related hospitalizations by getting your flu shot. It’s not too late, so please schedule your vaccination today.
This past year saw Munson Medical Center’s return to Fortune’s list of Top 100 Hospitals in addition to being ranked among its Top 15 Teaching Hospitals. This recognition was based on data collected by Merative (formerly IBM Watson) measuring a number of different areas including clinical outcomes, patient experience and operational efficiency.
The year ahead will see continued advancement of the care which helped us earn the Top 100 honor. Currently designated as a Primary Stroke Center, Munson Medical Center anticipates receiving accreditation as a Comprehensive Stroke Center in 2023. This past year Gary Rajah, M.D., and our Interventional Radiology team surpassed 200 endovascular stroke interventions, making it the second busiest program in the state. The addition in August of David Rosenbaum-HaLevi, M.D., who is fellowship-trained in vascular neurology and interventional neuroradiology, will further expand access to stroke care, saving valuable minutes and keeping patients close to home.
Just last month, a fixed PET scanner was installed at Cowell Family Cancer Center. This new resource not only offers an effective way to identify cancer but opens the door to new therapies. In the year ahead, Cowell Family Cancer Center will be working toward the launch of Theranostics, which uses a radiopharmaceutical to specifically target cancer cells while leaving most normal, non-target tissues alone. There are only three hospitals in Michigan who currently offer this type of care.
Access to this care requires a talented and highly trained healthcare team so recruiting new staff and retaining existing staff for patient care remains a high priority. Right now, hospitals across the country are experiencing workforce shortages and this is an issue that will endure for the foreseeable future. Munson Healthcare made the largest wage investment in its history a year ago and further increased wages for registered nurses this past fall but labor shortages continue. We will remain committed to attracting new talent and building upon the culture that earned us recognition as one of Forbes Best Employers in the state.
Labor is not the only healthcare industry headwind we’ll need to navigate. It’s anticipated this could be the most financially difficult year for the healthcare industry since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
As a non-profit hospital, operating margin provides the capital to reinvest into our organization through wages, benefits, training, new technology and equipment, facilities and expanding access to services. The next year will require some difficult decisions be made on how to reinvest those limited dollars. Investing in wages to attract talent, redesigning care to meet consumer demands for cost and convenience, reducing overhead and streamlining operations will be in sharp focus to ensure our community continues to have access to the care they need.
Munson Medical Center has served this community for more than a century with roots that go back to the cottage on Eleventh Street provided by Dr. Munson in 1915.
In the time since, this institution has weathered many storms and adapted to challenge and change. The year ahead will be no exception and we remain committed to providing the very best care to our northern Michigan community.
On behalf of our entire healthcare team, we wish you health and happiness this holiday season and in the year ahead.