Leading A top-ranked hospital to adapt and expand during an unprecedented year
To say that 2020 was a challenging year for most hospitals is putting it mildly. For Thibodaux Regional Health System, add in a few hurricanes and the slumping oil and gas industry. Regardless, CEO Greg Stock sees a lot of good things that came out of the year.
“During critical times, you can go to `The sky is falling’ end of the spectrum,” he observed. “We tried to do the opposite and say, `We haven’t seen this before, what can we learn from it?’”
Opened in 1929 as St. Joseph’s Hospital, a 26-bed operation, Thibodaux Regional now occupies a state-of-the-art, multifacility campus with 180 beds. Remarkably, its ongoing growth continued during this difficult year.
“We entered the year moving along pretty well with our patient-centered wellness initiatives,” recalled Stock. When the demands of managing COVID-19 struck, among TRHS’s responses were building out a new, 30-bed critical care unit in just 45 days. It was a feat Stock called “unheard of in our industry.”
This happened while TRHS was already building a new cancer institute, which remains on schedule despite the challenges of obtaining equipment, supplies and a workforce in the middle of the pandemic.
“A key word for us was adaptability,” said Stock, “followed by innovation. The ability to remain calm and cool under very stressful circumstances is a reflection of the culture of the organization.”
This capacity was further challenged by the multiple hurricanes that hit Louisiana in 2020. The facility remained open during the storms, as it always does, and Stock noted that the experience of dealing with past hurricanes actually helped prepare his staff for managing the pandemic.
“Everybody was challenged during the peak of the coronavirus,” he recalled. “Every day was a different day. But we have an organization that can adapt and bounce back quickly.”
During COVID-19 the hospital also combined its ICU and step-down units into a single operation. This increased staff efficiency while providing patients with better continuity of care.
Throughout the pandemic, TRHS has maintained its status as a five-star hospital. It is currently ranked in the top 5% nationally for patient safety by HealthGrades and is considered one of the top 50 cardiovascular hospitals in the country by IBM Watson Health.
“We bring quality medical care closer to home for people in our region,” said Stock. “That’s our responsibility to the community.”
