We’re Now KentuckyOne Health

January 27, 2012 3 Comments   

January 27, 2012
Vol. 1, No. 1

 

In this issue:

• We’re Now KentuckyOne Health
• Merger Brings Few Immediate Changes to Work
• Meet Ruth Brinkley, KentuckyOne Health CEO
• Answers to the Questions You’ve Been Asking

We’re Now KentuckyOne Health

With broad smiles and a sense of urgency, our leaders took the podium Jan. 6 to announce and celebrate the merger of Jewish Hospital & St. Mary’s HealthCare and Saint Joseph Health System to become KentuckyOne Health, the state’s largest health system.

“Our purpose is unique, forward-thinking and life-changing,” Ruth Brinkley said in her opening remarks as the CEO of the new organization. “I invite each of you to join me as we create a health system unlike any other this state has seen.”

The merger is retroactive to January 1, 2012.

The announcement comes at a time when the Commonwealth faces health issues that make delivering health care to our citizens particularly challenging. We have a shortage of health care workers and we have poor health indicators in a number of diseases, including cancer, heart disease and obesity. The problem is enormous and the challenges are complex.

 

Merger delivers expertise, quality statewide

By coming together, we bring our collective expertise and quality to patients and their families, both in rural and urban areas. The people of Kentucky need and deserve increased access to high quality health care.

To make a difference in our communities, we have to change the blueprint. “We’ve built our heritage; today we begin building our future,” said Gerald D. Temes, M.D., board member, KentuckyOne Health, and board chair, Jewish Hospital HealthCare Services. “We must all adapt to new technologies, to new procedures and to new relationships.”

Brinkley acknowledged that bringing together our different cultures and processes will take time. “I ask you to continue working in the spirit of collaboration that reflects the tremendous reputation of the legacy organizations,” she said.

With the merger now complete, decisions can be made and implementation can begin. Some decisions and changes may occur fairly quickly, others may take years.

“This new organization will raise the bar and set new standards in basic and advanced care, service delivery, prevention, wellness and the innovative use of technology,” said Michael Rowan, executive vice president and chief operating officer, Catholic Health Initiatives

Exciting opportunity to build on our history

This opportunity to build upon the strong heritage of care and service represented by Jewish Hospital & St. Mary’s HealthCare and Saint Joseph Health System should not be underestimated. The history of service and excellence of these organizations provides a wonderful foundation for health care delivery for the future.

“The vision of this new entity is one of the most exciting opportunities in health care today, and I’m honored to lead the organization on behalf of the board of directors, the partners – and the citizens of Kentucky,” Brinkley said.

 

Merger Brings Few Immediate Changes to Work

Now that the confetti has settled, what does it mean for us to be KentuckyOne Health? You probably won’t see a lot of changes right away because of the merger. We now enter the integration phase, sharing our strengths and adopting best practices. It’s a lot of work that will take time. Some changes and new opportunities may occur fairly quickly. Other changes may take a few years.

A few things won’t change right away:

• For nearly all employees, there will be no immediate changes in your jobs.
• The benefits you learned about and signed up for during open enrollment in fall 2011 will remain the same in 2012. The merger does not affect your relationship with your doctor. Insurance coverage will be honored as it is now.
• There will be no immediate effect on base pay for each job description and pay category.
• You won’t lose any paid time off that you have accrued.
• Your years of service before the KentuckyOne Health effective date will count toward your eligibility and accrual level of certain benefits.
• Your current organization is still your employer, which is now a part of KentuckyOne Health.

The following changes are now in place:

• Position postings now include opportunities throughout KentuckyOne Health.
• Some policies and procedures have been developed, such as job posting, transfers and service recognition.
• HR staff will contact employees who work for more than one KentuckyOne Health organization; a new dual employment process is in place.
• Before an employee transfers between organizations, HR staff will share details of new policies and procedures.

Guidelines for using our new name:

• Continue to identify yourself as working for your current organization. Titles have not changed.
• If the name of your organization is included in your email signature block, you may add “Now a part of KentuckyOne Health” below it. Email signature guidelines will be issued soon.
• In external communication, please use the full name, KentuckyOne Health, on first reference. You may use KentuckyOne in subsequent references and when speaking. Please do not abbreviate our name outside the organization.

Staffing levels stay the same for now

It’s too early to tell the effect of the merger on staffing, but we don’t expect staffing levels to change right away. We will work to match staffing to the number of patients we are seeing. We’ll also efficiently provide support services for patient care and other functions.

We expect new opportunities and roles to emerge, and having the right talent is important to our success. We will stay in touch frequently about how changes may affect staffing.

We honor our heritages

KentuckyOne Health is a nonprofit charitable organization that honors its longstanding Jewish and Catholic heritages for the benefit of the people of Kentucky. Historically Jewish facilities will remain Jewish and historically Catholic facilities will remain Catholic.

If you have questions about how the merger affects your job, benefits or workplace environment, please talk with your manager or your Human Resources staff.

CEO Celebrates Return to Kentucky

The KentuckyOne Health CEO is back in familiar territory. Previously with Catholic Health Initiatives, Ruth W. Brinkley, FACHE, served as president and chief executive officer of Memorial Health Care System in Chattanooga, TN, senior vice president for performance management for the national health system, and Louisville group vice president, leading regional strategy development and operations improvement for six health care systems.

“This is an exciting and important era for health care in Kentucky,” said Brinkley. “The organizations have come together as KentuckyOne Health because they recognize that continuing to function as we have is not going to solve the issues. We must change to more effectively meet the health needs of those we serve.”

Brinkley’s background is an exceptional match for KentuckyOne Health. You will find she has experience and vision. A nurse, she is dedicated to improving the health of people and communities. She describes herself as being pro-physician. “It’s in my DNA,” she says.

Most recently Brinkley was president and chief executive officer of Southern Arizona’s largest health care system, Carondelet Health Network, part of Ascension Health. Employing more than 5,000 staff and associates, the Catholic, nonprofit network includes four hospitals, a neurological institute, 20 primary and specialty care offices, and two ambulatory surgery centers. At the same time, Brinkley served as one of eight Ascension Health ministry market leaders. In this role, she was also responsible for overseeing operations in Idaho and Washington.

Her academic medical experience includes serving as associate executive director/chief nurse executive and associate dean, clinical practice, at the University of Alabama at Birmingham Hospital, Alabama’s largest and most comprehensive academic medical center.

Earlier in her career she served in various nursing management and staff roles at the University of Chicago and Michael Reese Hospital, the former Chicago teaching hospital.

Brinkley is a registered nurse and holds bachelor and master of science degrees in nursing from De Paul University in Chicago. She is a fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives; a founding member of the Women Business Leaders of the U.S. Health Care Industry Foundation; and a frequent speaker on both health care and broader leadership issues.

Modern Healthcare magazine recognized Brinkley as a top 25 minority health care executive for 2010.

Brinkley, 59, is a Georgia native and has two grown children.

 

Answers to the Questions You’ve Been Asking

Do you have a question for Integration Update? Submit your question here.

Q. How should I answer the phone?
A. For now, continue answering the phone just as you always have. Your facility name has not changed.

Q. When will I see changes due to the merger?
A. You should expect changes and perhaps new opportunities — although not overnight. The legal merger is just the beginning of integrating our organizations.

The goal is to share our strengths and adopt the best practices of each partner to most effectively provide health care to our patients and communities. This will take a great deal of planning — and time. Some changes may occur fairly quickly, others may take three or more years. For specifics, please talk with your manager.

Q. Will University of Louisville Hospital join us later?
A. We spent two years working on a merger that would have included University of Louisville Hospital | James Graham Brown Medical Center. It was a great disappointment that the governor did not approve University Hospital being part of the merger. KentuckyOne Health will continue to look for ways to work with University Hospital. We are also very committed to working with the University of Louisville School of Medicine to further academic relationships.

Integration Update