We’re celebrating Healthcare Week from May 12-18 across Ballad Health. It’s a special time to recognize and thank everyone who works in healthcare for the important role they play. It’s because of your hard work and commitment that we’re able to provide healthcare to the people of this region. Doing this takes teamwork, and every team member plays a vital part in the process. Whatever you do, THANK YOU! We’ve got plenty of fun things lined up at facilities around the system. Click here to see the full schedule of what’s going on near you!

This message was sent to Ballad Health team members Tuesday evening from Alan Levine, president and CEO of Ballad Health: I want to share with you this evening that the Tennessee Department of Health (TDH) released its 2019 Certificate of Public Advantage Annual Report [found here]. Our merger and the COPA are an unprecedented effort to preserve rural health care access and improve community health in the region. We greatly appreciate the hard work of the Tennessee Department of Health in its assessment and development of the annual report, and their finding of continued public advantage. The report, in particular, highlights that hospitals that were under threat of closure remain open, there have been fewer layoffs post-merger than had been expected, the Greene County hospital consolidation appears innovative and successful, and that the Tennessee Department of Health is “particularly impressed by the Accountable Care Community that Ballad Health is playing a lead role in establishing…

We’re continuing to integrate our technology across Ballad Health as we move toward our system-wide Epic go-live. We’ve made a tremendous amount of progress on the necessary foundational work on our network, domain and data centers, and these projects will be completed throughout 2019 and into 2020. In order to accommodate this important work, we’ve shifted our go-live dates for the Epic implementation. Our new target go-live dates for Epic are June 1, 2020, for Ballad Health ambulatory care and Oct. 1, 2020, for Ballad Health acute care. WHAT’S HAPPENING Our IT leaders have identified time lines for important technology updates, such as creating one network, one domain and one approach to our data center positioning, and updating all computers to Windows 10. We’ve heard through listening sessions, the system-wide team member poll and in other settings that you are eager for these important changes and we’re confident they will improve your workflow and help…

ERWIN, Tenn. – Six months into operation, Unicoi County Hospital is expanding the services it provides the community by opening a new family medicine practice. The primary care clinic, part of Ballad Health Medical Associates, brings more primary care resources to the community. The clinic will be located inside Unicoi County Hospital in office space that was designated for primacy care when the facility was built. “We envisioned Unicoi County Hospital as a new model for rural healthcare, and as such, we made sure to include additional space for physician offices, as well as resources for increasing primary care utilization and community education,” said Eric Carroll, administrator of Unicoi County Hospital. “The new Ballad Health Medical Associates office is a key component of that plan. Our personal care providers are often starting points for healthcare, and by bolstering that access, we can help our community get on a track to wellness.” The family medicine clinic…

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of 18-year-old Dakota Johnson, who suffered from Duchenne muscular dystrophy and passed away on Friday morning, April 26, at Johnson City Medical Center. Dakota was a student at Science Hill High School; one of his dreams was to receive his high school degree, and he was able to do that in a small ceremony in his room at JCMC two days before his death. Here’s an article and video clip from WJHL-TV about Dakota. His family had special thanks for the Johnson City School System and for the nurses at Johnson City Medical Center. You can also see a short video clip on Ballad Health’s Facebook page of Dakota receiving his degree from Johnson City superintendent of schools Dr. Steve Barnett. It’s an emotional moment.

Please find attached a statement from the Tennessee Department of Health Commissioner regarding the consolidation of Level III NICU services at Niswonger Children’s Hospital. We appreciate the diligent work from the Department of Health to evaluate our Level III NICU proposal, and we believe they made their decision based on what is best for patients. We agree with and will implement their additional recommendations. Improving the outcomes for our most vulnerable children and their mothers is our top priority, and we will continue to work with physicians and nursing staff to provide exceptional women’s and children’s care in Kingsport and the region. We will provide you updates as we move forward.

Around the system, our laboratory teams posed for photos April 21-27 as they celebrated National Medical Laboratory Professionals’ Week, which honors the essential behind-the-scenes work done by lab teams. Medical laboratory testing plays a crucial role in patient care as an estimated 60-70% of all decisions regarding a patient’s diagnosis and treatment, hospital admission and discharge are based on lab test results. Check out the smiling faces from facilities around the system as lab teams enjoyed games, meals and goodies, photo booths, team member appreciation gifts, group dancing and more. You’ll probably see someone you know!

Our “Kudos & Recognition” feature highlights team members and others from across Ballad Health who have earned honors, awards, professional certifications or done other notable things worth recognizing. If you know a team member who might qualify, email information to doug.janz@balladhealth.org. Chris Chamberlain named Greene County Outstanding Team Member GREENEVILLE, Tenn. – Congratulations to Chris Chamberlain, RN, in the Greeneville Community Hospital East (formerly Laughlin Memorial) emergency department, for being named Greene County Outstanding Team Member. A few weeks ago, a critical situation with a patient impacted the staff, other patients, and families for several hours, and Chris went above and beyond in communicating with the patient to trust him and convinced the patient to let him provide care and keep the patient and everyone else in the unit safe.  Chris ended up staying well past his time off because he genuinely cared about the patient’s outcome. Thank you, Chris, for the care and compassion you…