Marshall Browning board attends annual small & rural hospitals meeting

Key Du Quoin hospital and city leaders attended the Small & Rural Hospitals annual meeting on June 20-21 in Springfield, which addressed important issues in rural health care, including the opioid epidemic, emergency preparedness, unconscious bias and health care consumerism.

"Our board of directors look forward to this conference each year," said Richard Haines, president of the Marshall Browning Hospital board of directors.

Haines and the board - Dan Eaves, Marshall Browning Hospital CEO; Kathy West, board vice-president; and Don Hoffman, board treasurer; Du Quoin Mayor Guy Alongi, board member; and City Clerk Andrew Croessman, board member - joined more than 100 small and rural hospital leaders at the Illinois Hospital Association's annual meeting.

"It's a great opportunity to network with other hospital leaders and learn new ways to better serve the patients in our communities," Haines said.

The meeting, BE HERE: Innovations in Rural Healthcare, featured national and local experts who offered new insights and strategies for rural hospital and health system leaders.

Gloria Goins, former chief diversity and inclusion officer at Bon Secours Mercy Health System in Cincinnati, Ohio, delivered the keynote address, "We See What We Believe: The True Cost of Unconscious Bias," which explored the impact of unconscious bias on patient safety, quality of care and mortality, and why cross-cultural competency is a "must-have" skill.

Christopher K. Lake, executive director of Community Resilience at the Nevada Hospital Association identified how hospitals can better prepare for any emergency or disaster by sharing lessons learned from the worst massive shooting in America on Oct. 1, 2017 in Las Vegas.

Dr. Heather Bell and Dr. Kurt Devine of CHI St. Gabriel's Family Medical Center, in Little Falls Minnesota, along with Dr. Michael Wahl of the Illinois Poison Center led a special two-part session focused on the opioid epidemic in rural America. They shared a rural primary care's successful response to the epidemic and strategies for administering opioid alternatives.

Ryan Donohue, corporate director of program development with the National Research Corp. in Lincoln, Nebraska, discussed what drives consumer perceptions and behavior and how hospitals can engage health care consumers to support patient health.