HJAR Nov/Dec 2020

HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF ARKANSAS I  NOV / DEC 2020 19 were outstanding at communicating, listen- ing and responding. Mercy Fort Smith has four rural healthcare hospitals in Booneville, Ozark, Paris and Waldron. How are they faring during COVID-19? How are their challenges different from the main hospital? I am very proud of how our rural hospital teams have responded. They really stepped up and are caring for COVID patients who can be appropriately cared for in that setting. At the main campus, we have encountered placement issues as patients need to transi- tion from an acute care setting to post-acute care, and thankfully we have been able to place numerous patients into our swing beds freeing up needed bed capacity at the main campus. The main hospital would have re- ally struggled without our rural hospitals rising to the occasion. It reinforces how im- portant rural hospitals are to our overall delivery system. Do you think some changes made during COVID-19 will be permanent? The silver lining to this terrible pandem- ic is the acceleration of virtual and digital technology allowing us to care for patients in a safer and less costly environment. Sig- nificant advancements have been made in creating easier access to our providers via direct and online scheduling. There has also been much better collaboration and coordi- nation between payors and providers during this pandemic, and I’m hopeful this contin- ues. Our system is inefficient and has tre- mendous waste, so I’m hopeful we continue to pursue ways to align our goals, reduce overutilization of services and deliver care at the appropriate time and place. What was the process like when Mercy Fort Smith began reactivating services? What were the challenges, and what kind of results have you seen? There was a mix of anxiety and excite- ment about trying to regain some semblance of normalcy in a safe, protective environ- ment. Most of our service lines returned to pre-COVID volumes quickly, except the emergency room remains about 10 percent below normal, and some of our screening services remain soft. The screening pro- grams (e.g., mammograms, colonoscopies, lung nodule studies, etc.) are critical for early detection of cancer, so we are continuing to reassure the public it is safe to return to the healthcare setting. What challenges do you see in healthcare as we eventually move forward from COVID-19? How will Mercy Fort Smith prepare for these challenges? I am very worried about the stress and fatigue endured by our co-workers. The healthcare industry had a severe workforce challenge before COVID arrived, and it fur- ther exacerbated the issue. We are aggres- sively pursuing ways to provide much need- ed support and relief while trying to keep everyone informed and overcommunicate Gehrig gets a COVID-19 update from Father Paul Fetsko, vice president of mission, from left, Juli Stec, vice president of operations, and Michael Nolewajka, executive director of logistics.