Special Publications

Tehama County Medical Guide- 2014 3 Community Health Has Been And Always Will be Our Priority St. Elizabeth Community Hospital has been providing care for the community of Tehama County and surrounding areas for over 100 years. In fact, in 2007 at our 100 year Anniversary Celebration, we were amazed at the catalogue of changes that our hospital has been through; from providing care out of a residence in downtown Red Bluff to the two story facility on Sycamore Street, probably considered state-of-the-art at the time. Then there was the infamous relocation of the Coyne Center building (funded by the Coyne Family thus the name) and the groundbreaking for the new facility on Sister Mary Columba Road. Those of us who have been around a while have an indelible image of Sister Mary Columba sitting on the back hoe as construction began on what is now an extensive medical campus home to 10 medical office buildings and our Imaging Center. This time travel that has produced numerous changes in our cosmetic appearance and location has also provided several mainstays critical to our existence. The first, our people; our team of doctors, employees and volunteers have remained true to their service to this community. The second, we have always focused on providing the highest quality, compassionate care, even when the rain buckets were catching water in the hallways so many decades ago, our hearts were in it to provide the best possible care to the patient and support to their family and loved ones. Now as a part of the Dignity Health system and supported by our regional partners, Mercy Medical Center Redding and Mercy Medical Center Mt. Shasta, St. Elizabeth Community Hospital has the strength in numbers to offer exceptional care such as the Telestroke program now offered in our Emergency Department. I am honored to work side by side with many team members who have lived this time travel with me. As a 28 year member of this team, I work with others who have dedicated their lives to health care and much of it in this facility such as Joanne Heffner, Chief Nurse Executive and Penny Costa, Senior Director of Patient Care or Nancy Shilts, Director of Obstetrics, Education and Risk who have committed over 40 years of service. I am especially honored that our hospital has sustained the tradition of mission and remain grateful to Sr. Patricia Manoli for her commitment as the Senior Director of Mission Integration and Spiritual Care. There are many others who make up the exceptional caring team who stand to service you and have been recognized for it. Our recognition and award acknowledgements are overwhelming and too numerous to mention. However, we are most honored to be a Truven 100 Top Hospital in the Nation for seven consecutive years (2007 - 2013) and plan to continue to strive for this award again. We have been a Truven Best Place to Work and hold Five-Star rankings in orthopedics, gastrointestinal surgery and patient safety from Healthgrades. These are just a few of the examples of recognized quality care your local community hospital has achieved and will continue to do so. Our desire to serve will continue as we look forward to expanding our services to direct patient care in the south county areas and bringing wound healing and hyperbaric medicine to our campus. We continue to recruit specialists to our area to bring access to healthcare closer to home and look forward to launching our nurse navigator program to assist those who are unfortunately facing breast or lung cancer. In closing, I thank Tehama County for continuing to choose St. Elizabeth Community Hospital, St. Elizabeth Imaging Center and all other services. We look forward to being your provider of choice for the next 100 plus years. Todd Smith President Mercy Medical Center Redding | St. Elizabeth Community Hospital | Mercy Medical Center Mt. Shasta

• Cover