What's in a Name?
By David White, Chairman and CEO

Names are important. Names have meaning. Names have value. I remember how excited my wife and I were as we repeated potential names for our unborn child. Since that was 27 years ago, we had to pick two names, for a girl or a boy. And for the better part of nine months, we came up with what must have been a million combinations of first and middle names. Being from the South, we had to be sure about both first and middle names because all our relatives use both right after "bless his heart."

We had the same type of excitement here in Nashville when we considered all the suggestions we received from Park Place and Mid-Jefferson regarding the name for our new hospital. When we listed them all and said them all out loud, the clear-cut winner was "The Medical Center of Southeast Texas." We are proud of our new baby and its new name and logo. Our employees did a great job with the entire naming process, because names are important. Names have meaning, and names have value.

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Employees Name New Texas Hospital

Sharon Molina

Jana McFarland

Before a standing-room only crowd of hospital employees, physicians and invited guests, IASIS unveiled the name and logo for the new hospital being built in Port Arthur, Texas. The Medical Center of Southeast Texas was chosen from nearly 500 contest entries submitted by employees and volunteers of Mid-Jefferson Hospital and Park Place Medical Center. The logo, which includes an EKG waveform, also incorporates elements of the Texas state flag. Winners of the naming contest, who each received a check for $250, were Jana McFarland, a registered nurse at Mid-Jefferson Hospital and Sharon Molina, a special procedures technologist in the Cardiac Catheterization Lab at Park Place Medical Center. The Medical Center of Southeast Texas will open in 2005.

Click here for more on The Medical Center of Southeast Texas.

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How Are We Doing, Doc?

As part of our efforts to measure how we are doing, IASIS has been conducting surveys of patients, employees, and now, physicians. We are currently conducting medical staff surveys at all IASIS hospitals. Results will be available in early Fall and we'll let you know how we did.

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Odessa's Smallest Patient Beats the Odds

In April, Odessa Regional Medical Center welcomed its smallest patient ever, a one-pound baby named Morgan Brooke Kopeck. After three months in Odessa's neonatal intensive care unit, Morgan has gone home, weighing 4 pounds 10 ounces. Perinatologist Dr. Pill Raja performed an emergency C-section to deliver Morgan at just 25 weeks gestation, because the amniotic fluid in mom Heather Crawford's uterus had fallen so low the baby would have otherwise died. "Morgan is a miracle baby," said Dr. Maria Ames, Morgan's neonatologist. "She is a fighter and has done really well."

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IASIS Posts Strong Third-Quarter Results

IASIS recently reported an increase of 16.2 percent in net revenue for the quarter ended June 30, 2003. Net revenue was $278.8 million, compared with $239.9 million of the same quarter last year. Admissions were up 7.7 percent. "All employees should be proud of these results and their contributions to our continued positive momentum," said David White, chairman and CEO. "These financial results, which reflect industry-leading admission growth for the second straight quarter, will help IASIS expand and improve services at our facilities. We believe this will fuel further growth and opportunity for everyone."

Click here to read more about IASIS's third-quarter results.

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Cleanliness is Next to Patient Happiness? A Gallup Poll linking patient satisfaction with a hospital's cleanliness points out the need for all employees to pay attention to the details. The survey group found that a key indicator of low patient satisfaction was when patients perceived cleanliness to be poor. Gallup found three areas that patients noticed the most: If walls are dingy and scarred, they may be perceived as dirty by patients, despite frequent cleaning. If supplies and equipment are stacked in hallways, the clutter may be seen as unclean, even though it is spotless. Floors and ceilings tend to have a disproportionate impact on perceptions of cleanliness, because visitors tend to look down as they walk through hallways and patients spend a great deal of time in bed examining ceilings.

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