FROM THE CHAIRMAN

by Michael Gregory, M.D., Chairman

Are WE this Good?

September 5, 2008

Hello everyone. I find myself some 17 miles southwest of Oklahoma City and about eight miles above it headed for Jackson, TN. So far I have gotten no less than three reminders that my newsletter article is due so here goes.

I hope all of you and your families had a great summer. I know our children did. However, there was a small glitch in ours. While playing on monkey bars, my oldest son fell and broke his arm. I can tell you that there is nothing in five years of general surgery residency that will prepare you for seeing your four year old covered in blood with two bones sticking through his little arm. Everything I knew about composure under pressure went out the window at that instant.

We happened to be in Jackson, WY at the time. One of the local physicians (a Urologist) recognized me, and firmly said “Michael, calm down, take a deep breath, and drive your son to the hospital...slowly!” Her words were amazingly effective. I ran the four blocks to our car faster than I have ever run four blocks in my life. About four minutes later I carried my son into the ER, where I found that my favorite Urologist had already called and told them we were coming.

It took about 30 seconds, to get to the room. An amazing nurse started an IV, in one single expertly choreographed move; into a vein that I swear was the invisible vein. By the way, that IV lasted throughout my son’s four days in the hospital; a big deal to a four year old. Literally simultaneously, the ER physician was taking a history while the X-ray equipment was being wheeled into the room. Within the next five minutes, the images were displayed on the mobile monitors and the orthopedic surgeon was explaining the injury and the plan of care. In all of this, I couldn’t help but notice that EVERY single person that touched my son asked me his medical history and if he had any allergies. Further, every person checked his ID band, and confirmed with me that he was in fact “Speed Gregory.”

I was allowed to hold my son’s hand all the way to the OR. As my wife and I sat in the waiting room catching our breath, I looked at my watch; his time from injury to first dose of antibiotics was less than 15 minutes and his time from injury to incision in surgery was less than 40 minutes. I couldn’t help but to thank God that we were in Jackson when this happened. I cannot tell you, in my experience, that any hospital I worked at in metro Phoenix would his care been as good or expeditious.

At that point, I went back to the ER to thank the doctors and nurses who cared for my son and noticed a series of three small plaques at the nurses’ station. For three years in a row, the ER in this tiny town of 9,000 people had been recognized as having better patient satisfaction than 99% of ALL hospitals in America. Having won the award, three years in a row put them in a group of about a dozen, out of over 4,000 hospitals nationwide.

Needless to say, I was not surprised. When my Press- Gainey survey comes, I plan on telling them that these people “walk on water.” Over the years, I have heard many complaints about the inaccuracy of Press-Gainey and other survey tools. And, while I acknowledge that any survey is just a tool and no tool is perfect, with hospitals like St. Johns in Jackson, WY, I can understand why many hospitals are so far down the list.

Ask yourself, are WE this good? Why not? What are WE doing about it?

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