CCH’s Affiliation With UCHealth Already Paying off One-year In

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CCH’s Affiliation With UCHealth Already Paying off One-year In

GILLETTE, Wyo. – Oct. 18, 2022 – Campbell County Health (CCH) has officially been an affiliate partner of UCHealth for one year. Since the launch of the partnership in 2021, CCH has already seen significant cost savings among many other benefits from its affiliation. CCH is looking forward to exciting milestones and initiatives moving forward that would not be possible without the resources and support of UCHealth.

CCH officially launched its affiliation with UCHealth in September 2021 to improve efficiencies and enhance patient care to move towards realizing its vision of becoming the first choice in Wyoming for healthcare and wellness. The partnership allows CCH to receive services from UCHealth while remaining an independent, locally managed health care provider.

“Through this partnership, CCH can reduce costs and access many of the resources of a larger health care system. UCHealth’s support and resources will help us improve patient care and keep more patients here at home,” said Matt Shahan, CEO.

Here are a few of the notable highlights of the affiliation in its first year:

• CCH saved an estimated $600,000 by tapping into UCHealth’s larger group buying power and taking advantage of significant discounts when purchasing supplies, pharmaceuticals, and equipment.
• CCH was able to recruit and hire a new CEO with support from UCHealth, saving an estimated $200,000 by not using an executive search firm. UCHealth is now helping CCH recruit two additional executives – a chief financial officer and a vice president of human resources.
• CCH conducted a comprehensive Community Health Needs Assessment with support from UCHealth and compiled a report to help guide strategic planning to address the Gillette community’s most concerning areas of need. The top health issues facing the community highlighted in the report are behavioral health, access to care, substance abuse disorder, suicide prevention, and chronic diseases and conditions.

These highlights of year one are only the beginning, and there is much more to come.

Next year, CCH will complete implementing the Epic electronic health record system with the help of UCHealth. This advanced medical record system is a significant investment that many small, independent health systems cannot afford to make on their own. Epic will help CCH improve care coordination, patient outcomes, and patient participation, among other benefits. One exciting element of Epic is a patient portal where patients can view test results, access their medical records, track and pay bills, and quickly schedule appointments.

Later this year, CCH will launch a new telestroke program with UCHealth to speed treatments for patients and improve outcomes while avoiding unnecessary transfers. Through this program, the team at Campbell County Memorial Hospital will be able to immediately connect a patient with a nationally recognized stroke expert at UCHealth using a robotic device mounted on wheels. The neurologist will appear on a screen and talk with the patient and care team on-site to assess the patient’s condition. This interaction will help the neurologist identify patients who need treatment or need to be moved to a higher level of care immediately, which will save lives. The neurologist will also identify patients who do not need a high level of care - hopefully keeping more patients close to home at CCH.

CCH will continue to have access to all of UCHealth’s experts, training opportunities, clinical expertise, policies, and other resources as the affiliation moves forward.

“Our affiliation is off to a tremendous start,” Shahan said. “CCH is still very much a locally owned and independent hospital – but with the benefit of having a partner with a wealth of resources and experience by our side to support us.”

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