Hospital Governance, Process for Openness and Public Participation

As noted above, the Board of Trustees is primarily comprised of up to eighteen citizens of our service area. Members are asked for a commitment of time and focus. The skills looked for in a Board member are both general (such as ability to work with a group and speak up) and specific (depending on the current Board members, these might include technology, legal, health, finance, or entrepreneur).

North Country Health System Board of Trustees

Meetings are on the third Thursday of each month.
For more information, including schedules and agendas of meetings, and how to obtain a copy of the hospital’s annual report, please contact North Country Hospital Administrative Office at 334-3202; North Country Hospital, Administration Department, 189 Prouty Drive, Newport, VT 05855; FAX 802.334.3240; or visit our website at www.nchsi.org.

Summary of Process for Openness and Public Participation
North Country Hospital encourages openness, inclusiveness and public participation. Our strategic planning and decision making considers input from the community on many levels.
The hospital measures satisfaction, not just in the required inpatient areas, but also in outpatient areas and the emergency department. This gives us a constant stream of information about how patients perceive their care. We also track patient complaints and patient compliments.
Our board is made up of people from various parts of our service area. Not only do they bring their own perspective to the board, but also the comments and suggestions relayed by other people in their community.
By far the best community “radar” we have is our employees. Five hundred people work here. These 500 have family and friends from all parts of society. They let us know about comments and needs expressed in their daily life. These 500 also serve on committees, school boards, church groups, bowling leagues, and service organizations. Their reach is wide and fruitful and the response is rewarding.

Opportunities for Public Participation
North Country Hospital, along with all other Vermont hospitals, will continue to update the Community Needs Assessment every two years. Current strategies to receive input from community members regarding healthcare needs, healthcare resources and priorities will continue. These strategies include at least the following:
Results of patient satisfaction surveys, both inpatient and outpatient
An annual public meeting to share and discuss comments on healthcare needs such as the Public Forums held on November 1, 2004, February 28, 2006, and September 27, 2006.
The public is invited to North Country Health System’s  Annual Meeting held the 3rd  Thursday in January .
North Country Hospital’s current participation and collaboration with a number of community-wide partnerships and groups that already focus on a variety of community needs – health, education, economic, social, environmental – just to name a few. Some examples of these partnerships are listed below.
One of the primary mechanisms for receiving input from the community is North Country Hospital’s participation in, and collaboration with, a number of community-wide partnerships that focus on various aspects of the communities it serves. Following is a list of some of these groups. This list is not in any particular order, nor is it all-inclusive:

• Orleans Northern Essex Community Partnership
• Orleans and Northern Essex Emergency Response Teams
• Northeast Kingdom Collaborative
• Health & Traffic Safety Coalition for Orleans and Northern Essex
• Community Action Network for the Lake Region Area
• Newport Rotary
• North Country Chamber of Commerce
• Fit & Healthy O.N.E. (for youth and their families)
• Northeast Kingdom Long Term Care Coalition
• Northeast Kingdom Palliative Care Initiative
• School and Community Crisis Response Team
• North Country Hospital Volunteers and Auxiliary

The hospital utilizes both teen volunteers (Candy Stripers) and adult volunteers. They are involved in everything from greeting patients to shredding documents to delivering flowers. The Hospital Auxiliary is another avenue for participation. The Auxiliary raises funds for the hospital through various events. They also operate the hospital gift ship.