In 1996, Tobey Hospital joined with Charlton Memorial Hospital and St. Luke's Hospital to form Southcoast Health System.

The benefits of the merger were immediate and varied. Southcoast has invested more than $7 million in capital improvements and new health care technology in Tobey.

Kristine Tavares, RT(R)CT, prepares a patient for a CAT scan.

Access to managed care contracts, group purchasing agreements, additional physician specialties, health education and outreach programs top a long list of post-merger improvements:

• A new, state-of-the-art CT scanner records more information and better images in less time than the old scanner.
  
• A new Outpatient Center provides easy access and a patient-friendly environment for people throughout Southeastern Massachusetts and upper Cape Cod.
  
• Diabetes education programs are now available for community members living with that condition.
  
• Outpatient laboratories and the capability to do in-home blood draws throughout the community make access to care easier than ever.
  
• Monthly visits by the Southcoast Mobile Health Van to local businesses and Wareham High School have made a major impact on the area by increasing the availability of health care.

All have served to enhance community participation in Tobey's success, resulting in dramatic increases in admissions, emergency room visits, surgeries and outpatient visits.

Eye screenings are just one of the free services available to locat patients with diabetes.

New prevention programs have been developed to improve the health of residents throughout the Southcoast region. Southcoast invested over $100,000 to fund a health-needs assessment for the Wareham and New Bedford communities. The study revealed that 25 percent of area residents have high blood pressure, 23 percent have high blood cholesterol and 26 percent report being overweight. In addition, coronary artery disease is 24 percent higher in the Southcoast area than the Massachusetts total.

In response, Southcoast created programs such as Change of Heart, which helps members of the community combat and prevent heart disease.

Previous to the merger, patients requiring cardiac catheterizations were sent to Boston. Today, a significant number of these patients undergo the procedure at St. Luke's Hospital or Charlton Memorial Hospital, much closer to family and friends. Now, Southcoast is readying itself to provide the next level of care to these patients, should they need it. Southcoast is developing a cardiac surgery program at its Charlton location - the first of its kind in the area. As early as the spring of 2002, Tobey Hospital's cardiac patients will be able to receive life-saving services closer to home, rather than traveling to Boston or Providence.

	"The renovations we propose for Tobey Hospital will take place in direct response to the specific growing health care needs of the people who count on Tobey being there. These improvements are essential for the hospital to continue its pledge of caring for the health of the community." Ronald B. Goodspeed, MD, MPH President & CEO Southcoast Hospitals Group