Roane Medical Center

Roane County Medical Center, doing business as Roane Medical Center ("Roane"), located in Harriman, Tennessee, has been serving the community since 2008 and previously served the community as a county hospital. A new state-of-the-art hospital was built and opened in February 2013.SERVICERoane Medical Center is a 54-bed hospital offering quality medical, surgical and critical care, emergency services, rehabilitation support, diagnostic imaging and health education. Roane's dedicated staff provides specialized care in cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation, women's services, inpatient/outpatient rehabilitation and sleep services.In 2022 the hospital saw 59,836 patients. Of these, 56,852 were outpatients and 2,984 were inpatients with an average length-of-stay of 4.17 days. PUTTING PATIENTS FIRSTRoane is certified by The Joint Commission as an Advanced Primary Stroke Center and is a member of Covenant Health's stroke hospital network, providing rapid diagnosis and treatment of stroke. The hospital is also accredited in magnetic resonance imaging by the American College of Radiology. Roane's cardiac diagnostics and interventional services provide comprehensive heart care to patients in the surrounding community. These services meet evidence-based standards recommended by organizations such as the American Heart Association, American College of Cardiology, Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, and the American Society of Echocardiography. Roane's emergency room has 15 suites with dedicated rooms for cardiac, major treatment and orthopedic emergencies. It is staffed 24 hours a day by healthcare professionals with advanced training in adult and pediatric emergencies. A helicopter pad makes air medical transport services available when needed. IMPROVING THE COMMUNITY'S QUALITY OF LIFE THROUGH BETTER HEALTHAs an active organizational participant in community outreach programs, Roane partners with Mid-East Senior Services and UT Extension Services to expand access for seniors to participate in a congregate feeding program, which regularly offers meals at the hospital for senior adults. Roane has had an active Patient/Family Partnership Council since 2017. The group meets regularly to identify any service concerns that might benefit from a hospital/community collaboration. Current members include a surgery RN, a chaplain (and former Information Technology professional), the Director of Health Services/NCM/Therapy at Michael Dunn Center, a cardiac rehab RN, a chaplain and retired director of the Michael Dunn Center, a chaplain and minister at Kingston United Methodist Church, a nuclear medicine technician, and the hospital's patient experience manager, who is also an RN. The group's latest project is a focus group for patient experience in the Emergency Department. Roane currently has 28 community volunteer chaplains who are on-call for pastoral needs for patients, families or employees. The group meets monthly and recently heard a presentation from the ED manager regarding how chaplains can meet the specific needs of patients, families and staff in the Emergency Department. About half the volunteer chaplains currently pastor churches, while the other half are retired and/or lay leaders in their congregations. Covenant Health Roane is a member of Covenant Health. Covenant Health is a comprehensive, community-owned health system dedicated to improving the health of the people it serves. Established in 1996 by the consolidation of Fort Sanders Health System, Knoxville, Tennessee, and MMC HealthCare System in Oak Ridge, Covenant Health is governed by a voluntary board of directors comprised of community leaders and medical professionals. With more than 11,000 employees, affiliated physicians and volunteers, Covenant Health is the Knoxville area's largest employer and has been named a Best Employer by Forbes. Covenant Health includes nine acute care hospitals in East Tennessee: Methodist Medical Center of Oak Ridge, Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center and Parkwest Medical Center in Knoxville, Fort Loudoun Medical Center in Lenoir City, LeConte Medical Center in Sevierville, Morristown-Hamblen Healthcare System in Morristown, Roane Medical Center in Harriman, Claiborne Medical Center in Tazewell and Cumberland Medical Center in Crossville. It also includes Peninsula, a division of Parkwest Medical Center, a behavioral health hospital in Blount County, Tennessee. The health system also includes Covenant Medical Group, which includes more than 200 physicians and advanced practice clinicians in office locations throughout East Tennessee.Affiliated organizations include Thompson Cancer Survival Center, Thompson Oncology Group, Fortress Corporation and Subsidiaries, Covenant HomeCare, and Fort Sanders Perinatal Center. Philanthropic organizations include Fort Sanders Foundation and the Thompson Cancer Survival Center Foundation in Knoxville, Methodist Medical Center Foundation in Oak Ridge, Dr. Robert F. Thomas Foundation in Sevierville, and Morristown-Hamblen Hospital Foundation in Morristown. Funds raised by the foundations provide services, equipment and other resources for excellence in patient care.Roane, as a member of the Covenant Health System, benefits from the collaboration among all affiliated organizations to promote quality improvement, patient safety and efficient delivery of care for the communities served.IMPACT OF COVID-19In March 2020, the outbreak of the coronavirus disease 2019 ("COVID-19") was declared a public health emergency by the Department of Health and Human Services and declared a national pandemic by the World Health Organization. The COVID-19 pandemic had a major impact on the operations of all hospitals and affiliates included within the Covenant Health System. Three years later, although the overall number of hospital admissions due to the virus is significantly lower than the prior two years, COVID-19 continues to be a long-term problem.The stresses on the System which began in 2020 continue to have long-term and far-reaching implications, creating new challenges for every hospital in the System. The rapid rise in costs for supplies and equipment, unprecedented staffing shortages, and lower patient volumes continue to result in financial stress. Elective surgeries and diagnostic procedures have not yet returned to pre-COVID levels. Government subsidies in 2020 and 2021 helped offset the financial losses caused by significant declines in volumes due to cancelled and postponed procedures. In 2021 and 2022, Federal and state grants continued to be used to subsidize the rising costs of retaining staff and providing quality care. These federal and state grants were helpful but the financial pressures of rising costs across the System are ongoing.Early results from our focus groups for the Community Health Needs Assessments indicate that community problems such as substance abuse, mental illness, asthma and other respiratory diseases, and access to health care have gotten worse since COVID-19, thus stressing the health care System even more than usual.Covenant Health has put in place a number of changes to address these challenges. We are aggressively pursuing cost reductions in supplies across our hospitals and with our vendors. Covenant has increased nurse pay and implemented retention bonuses and other incentives to help reduce staff fatigue and turnover. A number of innovations, including a growing use of Tele-health capabilities, have assured that we continue to reach and serve patients in the community. Patient care continues to be our top priority despite the economic pressures.