First anniversary

New uniforms.

New equipment.

New evaluation systems.

Much has changed at the local hospital as it has shifted from a county-owned entity to a cog in the largest health network in the state.

Today marks the one-year anniversary of the integration of Jay County Hospital and Indiana University Health.

In the midst of all of the change, leaders both locally and regionally, say that despite the inevitable challenges the transition as a whole has gone well.

“I think ‘journey’ describes it the best,” said Dave Hyatt, former CEO of Jay County Hospital and now IU Health’s president of critical access hospitals for the east central region. “Every journey has its ups and has its downs.

“Overall, I truly believe that our board of trustees … has well-served our community. IU Health Jay … is poised for success when so many rural facilities across the country are struggling. We’re trying to figure out, how do we grow.”

That’s not to say there still aren’t challenges for the hospital that has been around for 110 years.

Finances were the driving force that led Jay County Hospital Board to seek out a new path. Jay County Hospital had financial losses of nearly $8 million for fiscal 2017.

Those difficulties have not gone away. 

Beyond that, there was a hiccup with phones and internet service on the first day of the integration. And hospital employees have had to get used to new procedures, including a new electronic medical records systems and a shift in the way business office functions.

“IU Health did things a little bit different than Jay County Hospital did,” said Hyatt, who now overseas both IU Health Jay and IU Health Blackford.

“That’s probably been the most challenging part, trying to find out how to operate in a very large system. It’s a great system. But it’s a big system. And it’s changing the way we do things.”

The transition to IU Health has also brought an estimated $7 to $8 million in new equipment to the facility. That includes a new MRI, mammography machine and hospital beds.

There has also been a push for more training and a change in how the hospital measures its performances when it comes to its priorities — compassion, team, purpose and excellence. The goal, Hyatt said, is to provide employees with the tools and knowledge to improve service to patients on a daily basis.

Being a part of IU Health has offered opportunities that would not have been available otherwise, such as spending time visiting sister hospital IU Health Tipton during the training process. And the hospitals in the east central region have worked together, including in the form of IU Health Jay extending surgical and anesthesia services at IU Health Blackford.

Dr. Jeff Bird, president of IU Health’s east central region, Hyatt said he believes the partnership has proven beneficial for all three hospitals in the region.

“We knew there was a great team at Jay,” said Bird. “In the last year, that’s proven to be true.”

He pointed to better communication and sharing of patient records now that all three hospitals are under the same umbrella. He added that the behavioral health services available in Jay County are one of its major assets to the group as a whole.

“There were just so many good things that were happening at Jay,” said Bird. “There are a lot of opportunities for us to partner ... to benefit the East Central Indiana.”

Hyatt has utilized the hospital’s membership in a larger health network as a form of motivation. He’s likens IU Health’s seven critical access hospitals — Jay, Blackford, Tipton, Frankfort, Bedford, Paoli and White — to an athletics conference. The goal is to “win the conference” in terms of patient satisfaction scores.

While there has been a lot of change at IU Health Jay in the last year, the process is not complete. Hyatt said he is looking forward to continued partnerships between the hospitals in the region. New opportunities in terms of telehealth are also on the way, he said. There are also continuing efforts to add new physicians.

Overall, the goal is to redefine rural healthcare, with technology as a key factor, in order to keep costs down while still improving access.

The integration a year ago was the culmination of more than a year of planning that began when the hospital board, facing the financial losses, decided to partner with Quorum Health Resources for strategic planning. That process involved meeting with staff, local leaders and community members to set priorities, with the board then visiting other rural hospitals to gather information about potential partners. By August, Jay County Hospital Board and IU Health approved a letter of intent to integrate, with final approval coming from the hospital board, Jay County Commissioners and Jay County Council on Nov. 20.

Just over three months later, at the stroke of midnight on Feb. 28, Jay County Hospital officially became IU Health Jay.

Hospital employees have celebrated with activities and contests throughout this week in order to both reflect on the changes of the past year and look forward to what still lies ahead.

“I think the future is bright for IU Health Jay,” said Hyatt. “I think we are part of the best health system in the state of Indiana. There’s a lot of great hospitals across the state, but there’s only one academic health system.

“For the large part, it’s been a ton of work, but all of the things that made Jay County Hospital special are still here. … You can put a different name on the building, but it’s the people inside who make the difference.”