Pomerene Hospital leaders spend day with Balderson
Ohio State House Rep. Troy Balderson, right, meets with Pomerene Hospital CEO Jason Justus, left, and Pomerene board member Jane Graven before sitting down with a contingent of hospital staff members to learn more about the hospital’s operational procedures and the hospital’s dreams for the future.
Before talks even began between Troy Balderson’s staff and several key members of Pomerene Hospital’s staff in an afternoon meeting at the hospital on Monday, Feb. 13, Ohio State Rep. Balderson, representative for Ohio’s 12th Congressional District, let it be known he didn’t want to do the talking but instead would become the listener as the hospital staff shared their vision, insight and challenges about healthcare in a post-pandemic world.
Balderson and his entire staff listened as Pomerene Hospital CEO Jason Justus opened the meeting and delved into the various programs the hospital offers and the way it is transforming healthcare and taking innovations in technology to the next level.
“There’s not a better opportunity to talk face to face with a legislator who represents our community and many others,” Justus said. “To be able to transcend that distance and talk about the issues facing us today and for him to be able to walk back into Congress and remember what he learned here today is so valuable. We can’t thank him enough for taking the time to sit down with us to hear our thoughts.”
Balderson said these types of moments where he can meet with everyday people in everyday communities who are striving to meet the needs of their communities is what every legislator should strive to do, noting in the end it’s the people who make successful communities happen and not legislators.
It’s been an eye-opening experience,” Balderson said of the visit.
While broaching a multitude of topics, the conversation eventually settled into how the hospital works in a cohesive way to serve both English and Amish communities and some of the various ways hospital staff members Julia Klink, Laura Schlabach and others have helped lead the hospital into serving the Amish community.
“Because of the unique situation we’re in here with our Amish community, we have to do things a little differently, but it’s just a matter of awareness and being familiar with your own community and what the needs are,” Justus said.
He then went on to tell Balderson about some of the challenges they are facing including Medicare programs, managing expenses and dealing with growth issues.
Pomerene has received numerous awards and accolades for its service in the healthcare industry, and while Justus said those are nice, they don’t want to rest on their laurels but instead are seeking ways to create an even better experience for families who put their services to use.
“Our top challenges are sustainability and people,” Justus told Balderson. “There’s plenty of challenges facing small, rural hospitals, which we are. We will continue working on changing our trajectory through growth, reliability, excellence and staffing, and we have to continue to focus on growing regionally. If we stay too small and too Holmes County-centric, there’s no way for us to survive as a small hospital. We have to continue to change the game, and we’re taking steps to do so.”
Justus eventually touched on some innovative ways the hospital has worked to keep costs down while offering some unique pay opportunities to the Amish community. In addition, he spoke about the challenges for not just the hospital, but also for healthcare providers in general to find quality, capable people to fill vital roles that can extend the quality of care.
According to Justus, part of trying to fill those voids is to change the mind-set of hiring tactics in a competitive healthcare world.
“We’ve had to change our kind of Holmes County-centric mentality in hiring from within the county,” Justus said. “We’ve had to open the doors more to look outside the county because it has become such a competitive effort in the healthcare industry to find people.”
“We have a pretty robust hiring campaign that spreads out pretty far outside of the county,” said Katie Wright, chief nursing officer at Pomerene, noting social media is becoming more relevant every day in hiring. “We believe our wages are competitive and our quality is top-notch. There’s a lot of opportunity for growth here.”
Justus told Balderson Pomerene Hospital is comparable to the book, “The Little Engine That Could.”
“We’ve got a top team, we do things a little differently, and while we aren’t always perfect, if you give us a little, we are going to make it work and get the job done,” Justus said.
After listening and hearing everything Pomerene Hospital is doing to present the best possible care to people, Balderson said Pomerene is doing some great things that other healthcare facilities could learn from.
In the end Balderson and Justus agreed on one commonality both his office and the hospital had in common.
“We both want to do what is best for our communities and do what is best for Holmes County and its people,” Balderson said. “Our main objective in being here to meet is to figure out how we can best work for you as a hospital to help you serve your community to the best of your ability.”