Phoebe Focus FAQs
Q: What is Phoebe Focus?
Phoebe Focus is our new strategy, philosophy, plan and approach that will guide our entire health system into the future, helping us better meet the needs of all those we serve. Patients ask three fundamental things of their health system – “keep me safe, heal me and be nice to me.” Phoebe Focus is our path and promise to deliver the best care for our patients.
Phoebe Focus is our path and promise to deliver the best care for our patients.
Focus: Stay Safe – Ensuring quality care and patient safety is our top priority. Through cultural and operational shifts, we’re continuing our journey to become a High Reliability Organization (HRO).
Focus: Be Nice – Renew our commitment to listen to every patient, family member and visitor—and treat them with the warmth and respect they deserve.
Focus: Help Patients Heal – Invest in the people, places and programs—over $250 million over the next 5 years—to build new facilities, elevate services, and expand the delivery of healthcare to the people of southwest Georgia.
Q: What is a High Reliability Organization (HRO)?
An HRO is an organization that operates in a highly complex, elevated-risk environment and embraces a deliberate, structured and programmatic approach to safety. Successful HROs are guided by and committed to a goal of zero accidents or adverse incidents. At Phoebe, we are obsessed with the idea of failure and with improving processes to prevent patient harm. Our focus on patient safety has resulted in a 61% reduction in patient harm over the past three years, but we can do even better and will strive to reach a goal of zero patient harm.
Q: Who designates you as an HRO, and when could that happen?
There is no official HRO certification, but we are committing to an ongoing journey toward zero patient harm. We actively reinforce a culture of patient safety and have recently partnered with Healthcare Performance Improvement, a national leader in building and sustaining cultures of safety in healthcare organizations, to help lead us on this journey.
Q: Where is the $250 million for capital investments coming from?
As a not-for-profit hospital, Phoebe invests 100% of our earnings into our facilities, the Phoebe Family, technology, services and community programs to benefit the patients we serve. Each year, we set aside money for capital improvements that will be the primary funding source for these investments. The Phoebe Foundation and its generous donors also have a long history of supporting important projects that benefit our patients, and, of course, the continued generosity of donors will help us further our investment.
Q: Where will the $250 million be invested?
We have identified six key areas investment.
- Private Patient Rooms – We simply cannot offer the level of service, safety and privacy patients expect and deserve without ensuring each hospital stay includes a private room. We are committed to ensuring all inpatients in all of our hospitals are cared for in private rooms.
- Emergency Care – We plan to transform emergency care across the region through a new and expanded emergency center at our main Albany campus, improving wait times and service delivery for patients. We are also making investments to create a statecertified Level II Trauma Center which will, quite simply, save lives.
- Ambulatory Care – We will expand our network of community care, urgent care, primary care and specialty care health centers across our region. We’re committing to opening at least five new centers over the next five years to extend care beyond the walls of the hospital and offer lower cost options for patients.
- NICU and Women & Children’s Services – We will renovate and expand our NICU space and services to create a state-of-the-art facility to care for our smallest and most vulnerable patients. We are also committed to improving access to pediatric specialty care for families across the region, building on our current services to offer the most integrated perinatal center in southwest Georgia and enhancing OB services across our healthcare system.
- Phoebe North – We will expand and give greater focus to the clinical services currently offered at Phoebe North by creating a postacute-care campus. Care does not always stop when patients are discharged from the hospital, and we’re committed to providing a continuum of care through services such as expanded rehabilitation, behavioral health, long-term and transitional care.
- Operating Rooms – We are committed to ensuring all of our operating suites are updated to meet the needs of our surgeons, anesthesiologists and staff, elevating care delivery to ensure the best possible outcomes for every patient.
Q: How were those key areas chosen?
We have been working with independent experts to create a new strategic plan for our system. They conducted 100 interviews with patients, community leaders, physicians, employees and board members. This expert team has taken a deep dive into regional healthcare data and analyzed industry trends to help us identify specific community needs and areas of opportunities. Their work is not complete, but it is clear that our six core priorities highlighted above are areas that need and deserve our focus and efforts. As analysis and the strategic planning process continue, other key areas of investment may be added, and we will continue to support and invest in services and departments that may not be specifically mentioned in our current five-year plan.
Q: When will each investment take place?
As our strategic planning process continues, we will develop more specific timelines. We will share developments with our Phoebe Family and the communities we serve, and we encourage everyone to look for regular updates on our progress at www.PhoebeFocus.com.
Q: Does Phoebe Focus include new investments in people, not just facilities?
Absolutely! Phoebe is proud to have been named one of the best employers in Georgia by Forbes Magazine, and we are committed to providing a rewarding and fulfilling work environment for the Phoebe Family. In addition to our $250 million capital plan, we will continue to invest in job creation and pay increases for the Phoebe Family. Our FY2020 budget includes funding for more than 200 new jobs – a workforce increase of almost 5% and a payroll increase of more than $10 million. Additionally, this year we’ve budgeted a 3% overall increase in pay and other market-based compensation adjustments equaling $4.6 million, and we’ve put aside a million dollars for tuition assistance and student loan forgiveness. Facility upgrades that will directly benefit our Phoebe Family include a $3 million state-ofthe-art simulation lab to provide cutting-edge training and education, as well as a major expansion of food services at our main campus.
Simply put, we will continue to offer the region’s best and most comprehensive benefits package, including:
- Outstanding insurance options
- Matching contributions for retirement accounts
- Health savings accounts
- Flexible spending accounts
- Wellness programs
- Employee health and dental clinic
- Employee pharmacy
- Family Tree
- Healthworks
We will also continue popular team engagement events and activities – such as the Phoebe Family picnic and the annual watermelon and turkey tosses – and we are constantly developing new activities, programs, traditions and benefits to help keep our Phoebe Family healthy, happy and engaged.