Annual meeting celebrates progress at CVPH Medical Center

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February 2, 2012

Hopeful prognosis for further hospital growth, development

JEFF MEYERS Press-Republican The Press Republican Thu Feb 02, 2012, 06:29 AM EST

PLATTSBURGH — CVPH Medical Center's 2011 accomplishments were the focus of the annual meeting of the CVPH Corp.

Officials also focused on the challenges the hospital faces as it moves forward in an ever-changing health-care environment.

"What a year it was for CVPH Medical Center," said John Masella, president of the CVPH Board of Directors. "Stephens (Mundy, the hospital's president and chief executive officer) and his staff are leading us into the future, and we are in good hands."

Masella, who called CVPH "one of the most wonderful organizations" he has been affiliated with, praised the Emergency Department expansion efforts in 2011, along with the collective agreement between CVPH and Fletcher Allen Health Care in Burlington to work together in providing heart-surgery services to the region.

"Working together will do more good than competing (with one another)," Masella said to approximately 150 in attendance in the Stafford Auditorium at Clinton Community College. "Through this collaboration, we can bring services to the community that otherwise wouldn't be available."

ER UPGRADE

Mundy also praised both projects as he took a few moments to review the hospital's highlights over the past several years.

"I can't say enough about the (Emergency Care Center) and the changes they've made," he said of the recent renovations, which opened 11 new patient beds to alleviate serious overcrowding problems. "We needed it."

The Emergency Department's last upgrade was in the late 1990s, when the facility was designed to serve 33,000 patients. In 2011, more than 50,000 patients were seen in the ER.

MORE PRIVATE ROOMS

The hospital has also taken measures to improve patient satisfaction in several areas, including a move to open more private rooms for inpatients, Mundy noted. In 2007, 46 percent of the hospital's patient rooms were private. Now, 70 percent are single occupancy, he said.

"We've used every nook and cranny we could find to make this possible," he said.

The hospital's future goals are to offer private rooms to 100 percent of patients admitted, he added.

SEVEN NEW DOCTORS

Other highlights in 2011 included opening a third cardiac catheterization lab and, in January, the new Cardiac Short Stay Unit.

CVPH also recruited seven new physicians and six allied health professionals to the staff in 2011. Applications for another six physicians are pending.

The hospital's average daily volume in 2011 included 28 inpatient admissions, 63 surgeries and 136 Emergency Department visits. The average number of inpatients on any given day was at 272, and the hospital's nursery averaged three births per day.

On the outpatient side, the FitzPatrick Cancer Center averaged 60 daily visits, while the CVPH Diagnostic Center saw 149 patients on average.

FIVE-YEAR PLAN

CVPH enjoyed a 2.5 percent operating margin, pulling in $294,824,993, which exceeded operating expenses by $7,469,469.

As the hospital moves into a new five-year plan of growth and development, Mundy said, one major area of focus will be to improve employee satisfaction and continue offering the staff an opportunity to grow with the hospital, including expanded collaboration opportunities.

Officers of the Board of Directors for 2012 remain unchanged, with Vice Chairman Matthew Boire, Treasurer Alice Recore and Secretary Dr. Howard Black working with Masella.

Email Jeff Meyers at: jmeyers@pressrepublican.com