Healthcare trends and transformation in the year ahead

Stephanie Shomin, The Record-Eagle, Traverse City, Mich.
·5 min read

Apr. 28—In just a couple of weeks it will have been one year since the lifting of the COVID-19 public health emergency. While our community has in many ways seen a return to life as it was before 2020, the pandemic has created changes and challenges that endure across the healthcare industry in our state and nationwide.

Navigating the headwinds that persist in healthcare and transforming the way we deliver care to meet the evolving needs of our patients in this new landscape will continue to drive our work in the year ahead. This begins with a sharp focus on recruitment and retention of our workforce, continued improvements in patient experience and expanding and elevating the level of care we provide to keep our patients closer to home in northern Michigan.

Staffing

Staffing remains a top priority for health systems across the country. There are currently more than 25,000 open healthcare positions in Michigan alone. Among the root causes of this are an insufficient pipeline of new talent to replenish the workforce and the challenges of attracting out-of-market candidates to northern Michigan. Issues of this magnitude require an industry-wide effort and Munson Healthcare is committed to re-energizing people about healthcare's noble mission and fostering a culture of support and recognition for our employees. Strong partnerships with educational institutions and building personal relationships with candidates will be key to attracting the next generation of talent.

Munson Medical Center (MMC) is a teaching hospital that in the last six months has hosted more than 150 nursing students as well as residents from Michigan State University. These personal relationships, in addition to outreach by managers as part of our early-hire program, will remain key recruiting strategies, particularly in clinical areas. We are also forging new partnerships with Traverse City Area Public Schools and the Career-Tech Center to engage with students about future careers in healthcare.

Equally important will be the ongoing work around a culture of support, recognition and development for our healthcare team. For example, the Nurse Residency Program at MMC, now in its fourth cohort, has exceeded industry benchmarks for retention of first-year nurses through mentorships that build confidence, reduce stress and help welcome these new members of our team.

A new rewards and recognition program that acknowledges both years of service and commitment to Munson's core values (excellence, exceptional experiences, positivity creativity and teamwork) is being launched in phases over the next year. There is much work to be done in recruiting and retention, but we feel these efforts will make great strides to fortify Munson as a top place to work and build a career.

Ensuring exceptional patient experiences

The patient is at the very center of everything we do, and your feedback is a significant driver of the Regional Care Transformation Plan. Emergency medicine is among the most complex in healthcare and an area in which every hospital seeks to improve. It is particularly challenging in our region, given that our population nearly doubles in the summer months. We saw 55,000 patients last year in our emergency department at Munson Medical Center alone. The emergency department at MMC is — and will be — hard at work implementing new processes to improve efficiency and patient experience.

Emergency departments are designed to prioritize patients with traumatic or life-threatening conditions. However, many patients with less urgent or serious issues come to the ER because it might be the only option at the time. A new Quick Care Zone is scheduled to open in June and will add five new spaces to the emergency department for low acuity patients, which could include anyone experiencing a sore throat to a sprained ankle or needing stitches.

Additionally, amenities like blanket warmers will be installed with each of these efforts meant to reduce wait times and increase the level of comfort for our patients. Behind the scenes, process improvement is ongoing to more quickly move patients to a nursing unit in the hospital and open beds in the ER for the next patient. Progress is being made and life in the emergency department can change from day-to-day, hour-to-hour, but our dedicated emergency services and trauma teams stand ready at all times to meet the increasing healthcare needs of the community.

Improving access to new services

The Regional Care Transformation Plan will enter its second year across the region, which will mean Traverse City's continued growth as a hub for specialty care. A historic step was taken just before the New Year as we opened the Witham Family Comprehensive Stroke Center, the first and only in northern Michigan.

In the year ahead, multiple neurologists and neurosurgeons are slated to join Munson Medical Center, further expanding access to northern Michigan's highest and most comprehensive levels of neuro-care, allowing patients to remain closer to home.

With a third Cardiac Cath Lab now upgraded with the latest cutting-edge technology, patients from around the region have access to world-class cardiac care.

Theranostics and BiTE therapy are underway at Cowell Family Cancer Center with plans to add to the services provided as we head toward 2025.

We've also added dozens of primary care providers across our entire service territory — including at Foster Family Community Center, Cedarwoods Internal and Geriatric Medicine and Elmwood Primary Care here in Traverse City.

There is no doubt that the road ahead will present challenges and changes, but that has always been the case in healthcare.

We are grateful for the support of this community and an incredible healthcare team that is equal to the task and poised to transform the delivery of care to meet the needs of our region for the next 100 years.