A newsletter of health information from Mayo Regional Hospital * Winter 2001
“Our expansion is on schedule and on budget,” reports Chief Executive Officer Ralph Gabarro. He said there has been rapid progress in both areas of new construction, as the two-story Mayo Resource Center and the new Emergency Department take their final shape. Both additions were fully enclosed before the onset of winter. Plans are to move Medical Records to the first floor of the Resource Center, located behind the hospital off Dwelley Avenue, in January. Mayo’s Rehabilitation Services Department and WorkWISE occupational health program will then relocate to the Resource Center’s second floor. Once Medical Records and Rehab Services are relocated, Monitor Builders will break through the hospital’s outside wall to connect those areas with the new construction completed for the Emergency Department. Interior work will then continue on the expanded ED, which should begin serving patients in April, 2002. The project’s focus will shift over the winter from the areas of new construction to extensive interior renovations on the hospital’s first floor, where all outpatient services will be concentrated. First-floor renovations will create new space for Cardiopulmonary Services, Radiology, Patient Registration, the entry lobby and public areas. That work will start around March 1 and continue into next summer. On the hospital’s second floor, the Obstetrics Department will undergo a complete renovation next summer. Also as part of Phase I, which is budgeted at $6.3 million, Mayo will be planning to demolish the wing of the Old Mayo Building by early spring. The wing now is very close to the new Emergency Department, and acts as a barrier to accessing the front of the hospital. Removing the wing will improve traffic flow on the hospital campus and access to parking areas. There are no plans to remove the existing Old Mayo Building, formerly Mayo Memorial Hospital. Only the wing, built as a maternity annex in 1949, will be demolished. Some of the business staff housed in the Old Mayo wing will be relocated to the second floor of the Resource Center, and other business functions will move to the second floor of the Old Mayo building. The Imaging Center for Women will relocate temporarily to the radiologist’s office on the hospital’s first floor. While Mayo is completing Phase I, the hospital is also looking closely at its approach to Phase II of the facility expansion, which will add a 5,500-square-foot addition on the hospital’s west end for an enlarged Ambulatory Surgical Unit. Funding constraints have caused the hospital to defer this work until after Phase I is completed. Phase II will cost an additional $1.7 million, and require further fundraising efforts. |
Mayo has long offered services through its Ambulatory Diabetes Education and Followup (ADEF) program and its outpatient diabetic clinic, which has operated most recently as part of Heartwise. Mayo’s existing program has already garnered education recognition from the American Diabetes Association. The new Diabetes and Nutrition Center, which can be reached at 564-4207, will expand on existing program offerings and work with patients and their primary care physicians to help manage this chronic disease. Programs will include ADEF education; services for existing patients, new diagnoses and patients with gestational diabetes; an insulin pump program; nutrition therapy services for patients with high blood pressure, weight management issues and cardiac disease; and group nutrition therapy classes. Bonnie Stone, a registered dietician for 27 years and a certified diabetes educator for over 10 years, has been named director of the new center and will work with diabetes educator Carleen Davis, RN. Stone has experience with insulin management, insulin pump therapy and foot care, and has worked with diabetics of all ages. The Diabetes and Nutrition Center will be located in outpatient clinic space on the second floor of the Medical Office Building, with large-group education programs using the new Mayo Resource Center building. Plans are for the Diabetes and Nutrition Center to be open two days each week, with a third day available for a rotating clinic that could visit Mayo physician practices in Dover-Foxcroft, Dexter, Guilford, Milo and Corinna. Services at the center will require a physician referral. Diabetes is nearing epidemic proportions in the United States because of the increasing frequency of obese and inactive lifestyles. Approximately 16 million Americans have diabetes, and another 800,000 people will be diagnosed this year. In addition to a doctor’s prescribed care, the main keys to managing diabetes are proper nutrition and a regular exercise program to help patients control their blood sugar level. That diabetes is on the upswing in Piscataquis County is largely related to the area’s aging population. Nearly half of all diabetes cases occur in people at least 55 years old and older, and the risk for the disease increases with age. It is estimated that a third of the people with diabetes don’t even know they have the disease because they haven’t been checked. Mayo Regional is encouraging everyone, especially senior citizens, to make an appointment with their doctor to get a check-up for the signs and symptoms of the disease.
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The budget shows a rise in operating expenses of 9.8% ($1,777,263), with 67% of that total increase, or $1,188,282, directly due to increased wage and benefit expenses. Mayo Regional Hospital is now the third-largest employer in the Penquis region, with 228 full-time equivalent workers and total employment of 290. The hospital’s budget for salaries, wages and benefits is $9,749,497 for 2002. Chief Executive Officer Ralph Gabarro said Mayo’s work force investment strategy includes:
“Our employees are Mayo’s most valuable resource. In order to retain them during a time of acute shortages in the national healthcare labor market, we must take every step we can to remain competitive and position our hospital as an employer of choice,” said Gabarro. “Rather than relying exclusively on recruitment bonuses for new employees, as many hospitals do, Mayo decided to start the longevity bonus program to recognize our existing employees for their loyalty and commitment.” Mayo's 2002 budget, which began Oct. 1, assumes net operating revenues of over $21 million and expenses of just under $20 million. That leaves the hospital an operating margin of $1,035,413, or 4.9%. Net income is reinvested back into the nonprofit hospital to fund depreciation and acquire new equipment. Dennis Allen, Mayo's Chief Financial Officer, said the budget anticipates no significant changes in overall utilization of hospital services. Admissions are expected to remain stable, at 1,650 per year. The budget estimates an average daily census of 14.6 patients, with an average length of stay of 3.2 days. Outpatient revenue is expected to account for 59% of Mayo’s budget. Allen expects the hospital's revenues to rise by 4.1%. HAD 4 directors also authorized a hospital capital equipment budget of $1,019,562, exclusive of any building renovation and new construction costs associated with Mayo’s ongoing facility expansion project. Some of the larger items in the capital equipment budget are radiology equipment, a new ambulance, and operating room equipment. |
 Angela Del Vecchio and Chris Schleif are spouses and family nurse practitioners who graduated last spring with master’s degrees in nursing from the University of Maine. Del Vecchio will work full-time at Dexter Family Practice with Challa Reddy, M.D. Del Vecchio has bachelor’s degrees in human ecology from the College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor and in nursing from Pace University in Pleasantville, N.Y. She has staff nursing experience at both Mt. Desert Island Hospital and Eastern Maine Medical Center, and worked as a family nurse practitioner at Downeast Family Planning. Schleif will work full-time at Milo Family Practice with Kathleen Thibault, D.O. Schleif has bachelor’s degrees in English from State University of New York at Albany and in nursing from Pace University. His experience includes service as an aerospace medical technician in the U.S. Air Force, as a nursing assistant and patient care technician at hospitals in Albany, as a staff nurse at St. Joseph Hospital in Bangor and at Mt. Desert Island Hospital, and as an occupational health nurse at Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor. Brandy Lakin is a physician assistant who will split her time in Dexter, working half of each week with Challa Reddy, M.D. at Dexter Family Practice, and the other half with Robert Lodato, M.D. at Dexter Internal Medicine. Lakin recently graduated from the physician assistant program at MCP Hahnemann University in Philadelphia, and has a bachelor of science degree in medical biology from the University of New England in Biddeford. Lakin started her healthcare career as a certified phlebotomist at Maine Medical Center, and has been exposed to a variety of clinical experiences through her physician assistant training program, most recently in family practice at the Katahdin Valley Health Center in Island Falls. |
The new Emergency Department addition is taking shape at Mayo Regional Hospital and is expected to begin serving patients in February, 2002.
