Columbus Regional Health budded in 1836 as a small wood frame structure on the banks of the Chattahoochee River. In 1986, what was previously known as The Medical Center was established as Columbus Regional Healthcare System, a not-for-profit health services organization. The intent was to expand from one hospital serving one county to a comprehensive network of health and wellness services for the region.

Through its strategic growth, Columbus Regional Health has developed into an entity that provides health and wellness services across all stages of life. Health promotion, community outreach and illness prevention are integrated into the organization, as are trauma, emergency and intensive care. From infancy to old age, from perinatal interventions to hospice care, from minor scrapes and bruises to severe injuries, the network of services and providers meets the healthcare needs of a diverse area that crosses the state line into Alabama.

Columbus Regional Health has blossomed exponentially in the 179 years since that wood building was constructed. Facilities now include Midtown Medical Center, Northside Medical Center, John B. Amos Cancer Center, The Children’s Hospital at Midtown Medical Center, Neuroscience Center and MyCare urgent care centers and pharmacies. An innovative partnership with Healthsouth resulted in the formation of Regional Rehabilitation Hospital in nearby Phenix City, Ala. Columbus Regional Research Institute, a partnership between Columbus Regional Health and Southeast Regional Research Group, provides patient access to clinical trials and advances the organization’s research agenda. In addition, family physician and pharmacist education through established residency programs promotes a future of quality comprehensive care for Georgians in general.

The impact is enormous. Midtown Medical Center, the region’s only tertiary care facility, admitted 16,502 patients in fiscal year 2014. The Children’s Hospital’s pediatric ER saw 23,257 patients in the same time period, plus 326 admissions to the neonatal intensive care unit and 157 admissions to the pediatric ICU. Serving a 13-county area, Midtown Medical Center has the region’s only level II trauma center, and the hospital’s Emergency and Trauma Center reported 69,860 visits in FY 2014.

Financial investment in its network of services and the citizens of Columbus and surrounding areas is equally significant. “We’re a locally controlled entity. Our healthcare decisions and dollars stay local,” says Scott Hill, president and CEO. As a not-for-profit organization, Columbus Regional Health reinvests its excess revenues over expenditures back into health and medical services for the community and the region.

Statistics from fiscal year 2014 illustrate this commitment. Columbus Regional Health devoted more than $74,000 to community health improvement services. Subsidized outpatient health services through the Family Practice Clinic amounted to $919,733 in FY 2014. Clinical research was supported with funds in the amount of $268,804. Medical education costs totaled $6,136,703. Charity care (services provided without payment) topped out at $4,632,680 in FY 2014. The organization also absorbed unpaid costs of government programs such as Medicare, Medicaid and TriCare ($34,046,540) and unpaid medical bills ($18,964,359). In all, Columbus Regional Health will report more than $65.5 million in community benefit for FY 2014.

These activities occur within a rapidly changing healthcare environment. With technology evolving at a tremendous pace and the Affordable Care Act in full force, it is incumbent upon healthcare systems to manage costs without sacrificing patient care. At Columbus Regional Health, the ideal is to manage costs in a way that improves patient care. “We have executed a great deal in bringing our strategic vision to life,” Hill says. “At every level of the system, leaders focus on strategic performance improvement every day.”

In 2014, 10 task forces derived from middle management in diverse divisions formed to conduct an intensive three-month study of costs and to generate effective cost-saving measures to implement system wide. With input from physician leaders and senior management, as well as from those administering direct care, supplies, purchased services and labor costs were identified as three primary target areas for finding the $23 million in savings sought. Hill says, “We will always do our best to protect the services we provide, to make sure we don’t have to cut essential services, and to have a constant mindfulness to be cost conscious across our organization.”

Preemptively avoiding costs on the front end of service rather than reacting to costs has become the overall guiding principle. The task force teams continue to meet monthly to keep the endeavor on track. Standardization and reduction of variation in patient care continues to receive attention in discussion and application. Hill says, “The physician is a key player in that. We’re bringing physician leadership to the forefront and making them partners in the decision-making process.” Ultimately, this “best practices” approach to healthcare improves patient outcomes in addition to the bottom line.

While the word “transformational” may be overused in some instances, it is an apt description of Columbus Regional Health today. “Columbus Regional Health is transforming itself. We’re changing to meet the needs of our community in ways we never have before. It means being more efficient and more effective in the way we deliver care,” says Hill.  “We have to be better today than we were yesterday.  In today’s healthcare environment we cannot afford to accept the status quo; the risk of doing so is too great. We will be steadfast in our commitment to grow our organization, ensure operational sustainability for the future, engage our patients, employees, and physicians, and to drive our Quality agenda to new heights. This will enable us to realize our vision of becoming nationally recognized for our clinical outcomes and world famous service.”