It is again our pleasure to share
our Annual Report for the 2018-
2019 fiscal year. This has been
another busy and successful year
for Good Shepherd Health Care
System (GSHCS).
I would like to highlight a few of this
year’s major accomplishments.
We have had an exceptionally
successful year in professional
recruitment. I would invite you
to review the page featuring the five new physicians and
two advanced practitioners that have joined us this year –
expanding the depth and breadth of services that are now
available within our community.
This year, our Urgent Care expanded coverage to 7 days
a week – adding Sunday coverage. We opened the Good
Shepherd Medical Group Family Health Center – adding
a Family Practice clinic to our medical group, which will
expand access to primary care. This year, GSHCS took over
the Hermiston School District Wellness Clinic. We are excited
about our partnership and look forward to expanding clinic
hours (as necessary) to meet the school district’s needs.
Earlier this summer, GSHCS expanded our Home Health &
Hospice Services to meet needs in the Pendleton and Pilot
Rock area. Extending these services enhances continuity of
care and has improved economies of scale. We are pleased
to offer these services in a more regional outreach.
One of our most visible projects is our new Diagnostic
Imaging/Laboratory waiting and processing areas. Many of
you attended the open house on September 19. Again, we
appreciate your consideration during our building phase. We
think the new area will offer significantly more comfortable
accommodations.
Our biggest challenge this year was the implementation of a
new Electronic Health Record (EHR), Epic. This was a major
undertaking that required two years of pre-planning, a major
time commitment in education for all users and significant
support as we went live with the new system last November.
We did this in partnership with Legacy Health System out
of Portland. While there were some initial “bumps”, our
use and mastery of the system is increasing. This EHR is
far more robust and offers enhanced compatibilities to
capture data necessary for quality purposes, governmental
requirements and third party payer reporting. Most major
hospital systems in the Northwest are on Epic. Therefore,
this makes transmission of records between facilities much
easier. I am very proud of our team and our efforts in making
this major transition – which will benefit both hospital and
patients going forward.
This year, GSHCS has adopted LEAN practices – including
daily huddles in our departments which focus on ways to
improve patient satisfaction, quality care and efficient
operations. So far, we have seen improvements in customer
ratings and declines in complaints.
This report again reflects a positive operating margin and
a stable financial picture. We are very blessed, as many
hospitals in Oregon struggle to maintain their mission. We
are very appreciative of our supportive community.
I want to thank my Administrative Team, our medical staff
officers, department managers, physicians/practitioners,
wonderful employees and volunteers, and our very
supportive board for making GSHCS one of the finest rural
hospitals in the country!
I hope you will take a moment to read more about our
accomplishments this past year. We look forward to your
comments and deeply appreciate your confidence and trust
in allowing us to serve you.
From the President & CEO
Dennis E. Burke
President & CEO I Good Shepherd Health Care System
PICTURED ABOVE:
The Good Shepherd Health Care
System Executive Team (Left to Right) VP Nursing
Theresa Brock, VP Good Shepherd Medical Group Troy
LeGore, COO Jim Schlenker, President & CEO Dennis
E. Burke, VP Human Resources Kelly Sanders and CFO
Jan Peter.
PICTURED AT RIGHT:
The Service Excellence Council
members were responsible for planning, coordinating,
implementing and communicating strategies
necessary to create a continuously-improving
customer and employee-driven culture during Year III
of our Service Excellence Initiative journey.