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Message from the CMO

Children's Hospital of San Antonio

National APEX Quality Award Winners

CME Calendar

Greetings!  

Please take some time to read the important information provided in the articles below.  Thank you again for being our physican partners!

The impact of the initial phases of healthcare reform is already being felt to varying degrees by both physicians and hospital systems. While national election outcomes this fall may influence current policies, the desire by government and private insurance companies to simplify their payment policies, reduce reimbursement for care and services, and demand more individual quality accountability does not appear to be slowing down.

San Antonio health systems are experiencing continued financial pressure. If Governor Perry continues to promote his stance of no increase in Medicaid coverage, then the projected loss of government funds from currently existing programs like disproportionate shares will not be balanced by the increase in "funded" patients, and all of our hospital systems will suffer.

At the same time, Clinical Integration initiatives continue in all systems. While each system has its own philosophy of approach, CHRISTUS Santa Rosa is clearly focusing on developing a strong and "highly valued" primary care infrastructure, as well as a governance model requiring both physician input and leadership in decision making. Nationally, only those systems which implement physician leadership have been successful, and this approach has not been lost on CHRISTUS Santa Rosa.

Read On

Effective at midnight Saturday, September 15, 2012, CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Children's Hospital officially changed its name to Children's Hospital of San Antonio.  In addition, in lieu of the University of Texas' decision to accept the Vanguard/Children's Hospital of Philadelphia proposal presented by the University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio, we have entered into a non-binding agreement with Texas Children's Hospital, the top-ranked children's hospital in Texas and fourth in the nation, and Baylor College of Medicine, one of the nation's premiere medical schools, to explore an academic affiliation in pediatrics with CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Health System.

We are excited about raising children's health care to the highest level here in San Antonio and South Central Texas.  We have already begun construction on several floors and you will see signage reflecting our new Children's Hospital of San Antonio logo.

We are committed to doing everything possible to make this a smooth transition and we thank all of our physicians, associates, and volunteers for your hard work and dedication to the children and families we serve.

To follow our story please visit www.ourchildrenwillbefirst.com. 

As we are committed to the continuous improvement of our relationships with our physicians, we feel it is crucial to gather your feedback on an annual basis. This year, we have begun an exciting new partnership with the Advisory Board to gauge our physicians' satisfaction. 

The Advisory Board's survey tool will ask targeted questions of two key physician groups, those who are closely affiliated with our facilities and those who are independent from our organization. With such precise information, we will be better able to address and serve the unique needs of these two groups. 

We are eager to begin gathering data and plan to launch this year's survey Monday, October 8, 2012. Data collection will remain open for five weeks and will close Friday, November 9, 2012. 

We encourage you to complete a survey during this time as your insights are critical to our future success. You'll be able to do so online and will receive login information at the start of data collection. Survey findings will be made available in early December. 

We look forward to the resulting changes we hope this process will bring about as we strive to provide you with a superior place to practice medicine, and, in turn, higher quality care to our patients. Thank you in advance for your support of this effort. 

We are pleased to announce that CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Physician Ambulatory Surgery Center (CSR-PASC) - New Braunfels and CSR-PASC - Medical Center San Antonio have won the national APEX Quality Award for excellence in patient satisfaction for 2011/2012.

This honor recognizes outstanding health care organizations nationwide that demonstrate high levels of excellence in patient satisfaction, and has been achieved by

CSR-PASC - New Braunfels the past four years.

Read On

The new CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Emergency Center - Alon officially opened its doors to the public on Thursday, August 30, 2012.  The Center will offer area residents convenient access to emergent care in an area where such services were not immediately available.

Consistent with our 142-year tradition of providing high quality patient care and accessible health services, this new facility offers a full range of around-the-clock emergency services to adults and children in the North-Central area of San Antonio, which has not previously been served by a hospital emergency department.

• This Center is fully equipped and will operate just like a hospital emergency department, including comprehensive imaging services. Outpatient imaging and laboratory services will be available as well.
• CHRISTUS Santa Rosa, in collaboration with Emergency Service Partners (ESP), will staff the facility with highly trained emergency room physicians, and provide overall medical management.
• The Center will be open 365 days a year, 24 hours per day, and will handle all types of emergencies from chest pain to stroke symptoms and high blood pressure - to general children's emergencies.
• The Center will be directly linked to CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Hospital - Medical Center (CSRH-MC) and any patient requiring hospital admission for inpatient services will be quickly and efficiently transferred to CSRH-MC for follow-up care.

We extend our sincere thanks to the physicians, Associates, and contractors for working together to help make this new facility, our first freestanding emergency center, a reality.  As the only not-for-profit
Catholic health system in San Antonio, we are proud to extend our healing ministry to this area of the city.

The ACE Unit, operated in partnership with physicians from UTHSCSA, relocated to CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Hospital-Medical Center with a blessing and open house held on July 27 with physicians, Associates, and guests in attendance.

The ACE Unit is specially designed to meet the needs and improve health outcomes for adults over age 65. Outfitted with special floors, lighting, furniture, and a nursing staff trained in the needs of geriatric patients, this is a dedicated unit where patients receive specialized care. The ACE Unit is designed to avoid hospital-related complications in elderly patients.

ACE originally opened in June 2010 at CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Hospital - City Centre, and was relocated as part of the City Centre closure.

Click here for the October CME Calendar

Update on CHRISTUS Santa Rosa's Efforts Towards Clinical Integration: Thursday evening October 4/6:30 - 8:00 PM.  Speaker: Patrick Carrier, President/CEO, CSRHS.  Click here for more information.

Visit our CME website: www.christussantarosa.org/cme