~ Press release provided by Valley Health
WINCHESTER, Nov. 7 — At its semi-annual meeting [on Tuesday], members of the Valley Health Corporation were updated on the health system’s clinical recognitions, finances, and advances in robotic surgeries.
Valley Health’s Corporation is composed of regional leaders representing business, education, healthcare, government and community service who provide valuable oversight and engagement to the nonprofit system’s Board of Trustees and leadership team.
Valley Health President and CEO Mark Nantz acknowledged the departure of Mary Sas, Vice President, Chief Nursing Officer at Hampshire Memorial Hospital in West Virginia, who retired at the end of September.
Nantz introduced Valley Health’s new Chief Nursing Officer at Winchester Medical Center, Kris Maddalena, RN, MSN, NE-BC; Heather Sigel, Vice President, Operations at War Memorial Hospital and Hampshire Memorial Hospital; and Carmen Stewart Clipper, Vice President, Planning and Growth.
Nantz shared recent recognitions for clinical excellence, most notably:
- Winchester Medical Center and Warren Memorial Hospital again earned “A” grades for hospital safety from the Leapfrog Group, making them the highest graded facilities in the Northern Shenandoah Valley/Eastern Panhandle region. The Fall 2023 Hospital Safety Grades are the first to reflect hospital performance post-pandemic and represent WMC’s eighth straight “A” rating, and WMH’s fourth in a row.
- Valley Health was recognized as a Wellbeing First Champion by the American Medical Association for prioritizing caregiver wellbeing, reducing physician burnout and promoting purpose.
- Warren Memorial Hospital received recognition for nurse empowerment, engagement by the American Nurses Credentialing Center.
- Valley Health Urgent Care and Valley Medical Transport celebrates 30 and 35 years of service, respectively.
The go-live of Valley Health’s upgraded version of Epic, the electronic medical record, launched on Saturday, bringing new features, accessibility and convenience to community users, as well as robust capabilities for the clinical team.
Nantz reported that after the lawsuit settlement with Anthem earlier this year, there has been positive progression towards a new agreement before the contract term expires on December 31, 2023. Nantz also summarized 2023 key financial and operational statistics, including a positive trajectory post-COVID.
Following Nantz’s presentation, general surgeon Jorge Posadas, MD, provided an update on the growth of the robotic surgery program at Valley Health. Posadas shared that Winchester Medical Center acquired two new surgical robots in September, bringing the total to five da Vinci Xi surgical robots at the facility. The medical center has exceeded 5,000 robotic surgery cases at the facility since the inception of the program in late 2016.
Neurosurgeon Charbel Fawaz, MD, discussed the addition of new robotics, planning and imaging technology in Valley Health’s minimally invasive spine surgery program. Winchester Medical Center added the Mazor robotics system, paired with O-arm imaging and Stealth S8 planning technology in October. The tools allow Valley Health’s neurosurgeons to perform minimally invasive spine procedures with extremely accurate hardware placement, requiring significantly less time in the operating room for the patient, and resulting in “the smallest footprint” — often an incision less than a thumb’s width in size.
Valley Health is a nonprofit health system serving a population of more than 500,000 in the Northern Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, the Eastern Panhandle and Potomac Highlands of West Virginia, and western Maryland. The system includes six hospitals, more than 60 medical practices and Urgent Care centers, outpatient rehabilitation and fitness, medical transport, long-term care, and home health.
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