SMC working toward new 3-year plan
Shoshone Medical Center CEO Paul Lewis addresses the crowd during a community input meeting earlier this week at SMC's Outreach Center in Pinehurst. The meeting was to collect input for their upcoming three-year plan.
Photo by JOSH McDONALD
PINEHURST — Shoshone Medical Center has been working diligently over the past few years to improve and add to the services that it offers — these changes and additions are all part of the Kellogg-based hospital’s three-year plan.
The current plan will be ending this year and SMC CEO Paul Lewis is working to finalize the new plan that will go into effect for the 2022-2024 period.
“We develop a strategic plan for Shoshone Medical Center every three years,” Lewis explained. “The plan outlines our strategic priorities and includes goals that help us achieve those priorities. The planning process includes input from our employees, board of trustees, local physicians and practitioners and community members.”
They got some input earlier this week during a meeting at the SMC Outreach Center in Pinehurst where Lewis gathered several influential people from the community, including mayors, Realtors, other medical professionals and had them do a light question and answer session with Stephanie Kimb and Lance Lunceford, the founders of Groundswell Health, an Austin, Texas-based health care strategic marketing and communications firm.
Much of the Q&A session centered around how the community perceived SMC as a whole.
While the discussion was mostly positive, there were discussions concerning how the rural critical access hospital could improve on some of their customer service and communication.
“People don’t come to a hospital because they want to,” said SMC Foundation Director Ashlee Myles. “A little customer service goes a long way.”
Other discussions centered around the rise to prominence of telehealth, particularly during the pandemic, what services are believed to be lacking, as well as the ones that are doing well.
“We incorporate the feedback from these meetings in our updated strategic plan, which will be in place in January 2022,” Lewis said.
In just the past half decade, SMC has remodeled portions of the hospital facility to expand their wound care center, added a pulmonary and cardiac rehabilitation center, upgraded their imaging services, and added endoscopy just to name a few things. They have also added SMC Family Medicine, a by-appointment clinic in Smelterville.
These changes have been part of past iterations of SMC’s triennial strategic plan.