Page 4 - 2019 annual report

MESSAGE FROM OUR PRESIDENT
EQUITY FOR THE SOUTH COAST REGION — IT IS TIME
In 2019, Southcoast Health said, “It is time.”
It is time that we, as the largest healthcare system in the South Coast region and the only not-for-profit, do more to help address the root causes of poor health suffered in our communities.
2 Southcoast Health
+ 2019 Annual Report of Philanthropy
Keith A. Hovan PRESIDENT & CEO SOUTHCOAST HEALTH
With the support of people like you, and alongside our community partners, we have continued to build a comprehensive, community-based healthcare system that meets or exceeds the very best work of academic medical centers in Boston or other major cities.
We have done that while contending with changing regulations, shrinking third-party reimbursements and often threatening market forces, because we can see opportunity as well as challenge.
Together, we’re expanding and renovating the Tobey Hospital Emergency Department. We’ve built a new ICU at St. Luke’s, where we’re also establishing a Level II Trauma Center. At Charlton Memorial, the Southcoast Cardiovascular Care Center has emerged as the region’s premier heart hospital, from minimally invasive procedures to major cardiothoracic surgery. And both the Southcoast Cancer Center and Weight Loss Center celebrated major milestones during
a year that saw us recruit many new providers, including primary care physicians and direct patient care nurses.
The value of these investments, year after year, is reflected in the awards we earn. In 2019, Newsweek listed Charlton Memorial, St. Luke’s and Tobey among the World’s Best Hospitals, while US News ranked Southcoast hospitals eighth in Massachusetts — the highest community hospitals on the list.
As important as all of this is, however, it’s not enough to sustain a healthy population. Even our best
efforts fall short if our patients return to unsafe neighborhoods and homes; if substance use disorder makes their future and that of their children uncertain; or if they lack the education to earn a steady living. In fact, inadequate education is associated with the very ailments we see at a high rate in this region, including diabetes, cardiovascular disease and asthma.
Our latest Community Health Needs Assessment highlights these challenges — as well as opportunities for improvement. So we have entered into an agreement with UMass Dartmouth to help us build new paths to community health by creating a Community Health Improvement Plan.
Why are we doing this?
Because, It is time.
It is time that a street address no longer determines that some of our neighbors will live a decade less than the average life expectancy in Massachusetts.
It is time that all our children have access to quality education.
It is time that our regional economy puts us on equal footing with other parts of the state.