Commonwealth Health: A Successful 2014 More to Come in 2015

12/29/2014

We at Commonwealth Health are doing what most people do at this time of year – reflecting on the past year and setting goals for the new year. We are proud of our accomplishments in 2014 and excited about our plans for 2015.

Our mission as the region’s largest health care provider is to touch as many lives as possible and to improve the quality of life in the communities we serve. We do this by expanding our services at our six hospitals and our outpatient and satellite centers; by introducing new treatments and procedures; by striving for excellence in the care that we deliver; and in supporting local communities as a major taxpayer.

Each year we deliver more than 30,000 babies, perform nearly 40,000 surgeries and attend to more than 2 million people in outpatient and emergency room visits. We instituted a 30-minute-or-less pledge in emergency rooms at Berwick Hospital Center, Tyler Memorial Hospital in Tunkhannock and Wilkes-Barre General Hospital.

Commonwealth Health invested $42 million into local hospitals and provided $81 million in charity and uncompensated care.

The $11 million-plus we paid in tax revenue helped to fund your children’s schools, police and fire departments, and supported quality-of-life projects such as playgrounds, roads and other public works projects.

We launched a TeleStroke program in Berwick that uses the wonders of modern technology to bring the expertise of a team of highly skilled neurosurgeons from the Penn State Hershey Medical Center into our Columbia County hospital. This allows stroke patients to be treated close to their homes and families. We brought the same program to Wilkes-Barre General and will be launching it soon at Regional Hospital of Scranton, improving the level of care to thousands more of our friends and neighbors. The TeleStroke program complements our advanced Primary Stroke Center at Moses Taylor.

Another collaboration between Penn State Hershey and Commonwealth Health is what we call the “dynamic duo” with Hershey Children’s Hospital providing round-the-clock pediatric hospitalist coverage at Moses Taylor Hospital.  

Orthopedic programs throughout our network are outstanding. This year Regional Hospital became the first in Pennsylvania to be certified by The Joint Commission in hip, knee and shoulder replacement. Wilkes-Barre General earned the same certification a few months later, offering proof that you don’t have to travel outside of Northeastern Pennsylvania to receive the finest in orthopedic care. Our orthopedic program is offered at all of our hospitals so if you live in the Berwick or Tunkhannock areas, you can have your surgery performed in your hometown hospital.

This year we expanded our medical transport services, both in scope and geographic reach. Commonwealth Health Emergency Medical Services added a helicopter and introduced three critical care ground transport vehicles, a first for this region. By extending our service area and expanding our fleet and workforce, we are now the region’s largest and most advanced provider of basic and advanced lifesaving services and emergency transportation, serving more than 1.1 million people in an 11-county area.

We are always seeking to bring you the latest in medical advancements including our offerings in robotic-assisted surgery. This year we invested in new robots at both Regional and Wilkes-Barre General and our surgeons have already accomplished many firsts in this field.

We’ve opened an outpatient clinic at Mid Valley in Blakely Borough and a full medical center in Nanticoke. Many of our service lines have been certified or have earned high distinction among prestigious health care and medical organizations.

We have much to look forward to in 2015 as we continue to expand, renovate and improve our health care programs and our commitment to providing superior treatment and patient care.

We will continue to recruit more doctors and health care professionals into our Commonwealth Health family. You’ll see more of our highly successful Health Talks, along with our continued investment in the community through sponsorships and support of charitable organizations such as the American Heart Association, American Cancer Society and the March of Dimes.

All in all, we touched more than 2 million lives in 2014, quite an impressive number. Still, our goal is to work even harder in 2015 to make this beautiful community an even greater place to live, work and play.

Editor’s Note: Cor Catena is CEO of Commonwealth Health which includes Wilkes-Barre General Hospital; Regional Hospital and Moses Taylor Hospital, Scranton; Tyler Memorial Hospital, Tunkhannock; Berwick Hospital Center; and First Hospital, Kingston.

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