Vidant Health completes solid year | Eastern North Carolina Now

For Immediate Release:

    GREENVILLE, NC     Vidant Health recently completed its 2012 fiscal year and reported solid quality and financial results while providing care to a record number of patients and adding jobs to the regional economy.

    In 2012, the system provided care to approximately 68,000 inpatients and 758,000 emergency and outpatients at its various facilities.

    Dr. David Herman, president and CEO of Vidant Health, said the increased patient demand enabled the system to grow by approximately 1,300 full-time employees at its hospitals, clinics and offices by year-end. In Pitt County alone, more than 280 new jobs were created at Vidant Medical Center. Vidant Medical Group grew by more than 380 positions.

    Other system milestones include:

    · Infections reduced 62 percent in four years.

    · Reaching 97 percent optimal care goal. This means that 97 percent of the time, patients are receiving the best treatment for medical problems or conditions following guidelines that medical experts have identified as best practices. Vidant Health tracks optimal care scores for heart attack, heart failure, community acquired pneumonia and surgical care patients.

    · Vidant Health reached the 91st percentile in inpatient Hospital Consumer Assessment of Health Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) performance, placing the system in the top 10 percent of health systems nationwide.

    · One Vidant Health hospital, Vidant Duplin Hospital, was named among the nation's top performers on key quality measures by The Joint Commission, the leading accreditor of health care organizations in the United States.

    · All Vidant Health hospitals completed successful surveys from The Joint Commission (The Outer Banks Hospital and Albemarle Health were not surveyed this year.) The Joint Commission team leader commented that "Vidant Health's constant state of readiness for accreditation and the systemic approach to delivery of patient care and services is the key to their great survey results."

    · All Vidant Health hospitals completed successful surveys from The Joint Commission.

    · Four Vidant Hospitals (Vidant Beaufort Hospital, Vidant Edgecombe Hospital, Albemarle Health, Vidant Medical Center for inpatient rehabilitation and cardiology units) received top honors in patient experience surveys from HealthStream Research for their commitment to providing exceptional patient experiences.

    · VHA Inc., the national health care network, awarded the VHA Leadership Award for Clinical Excellence to Vidant Edgecombe Hospital.

    · Vidant Edgecombe Hospital, Vidant Bertie, Vidant Roanoke-Chowan Hospital and Vidant Duplin Hospital also earned awards from VHA for their successful efforts to improve patient safety.

    · USDA Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan visited Vidant Medical Center to announce Distance Learning and Telemedicine grants for two eastern North Carolina groups to purchase video and audio telemedicine equipment to increase access to specialized intensive health care.

    · Doctors from the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University and Eastern Urological Associates teamed to perform at Vidant Medical Center what is believed to be the first successful six-person kidney exchange in the Carolinas.

    · Surgeons and cardiologists at the East Carolina Heart Institute at Vidant Medical Center and East Carolina University achieved a first in North and South Carolina. On June 20, 2012, they inserted a new heart valve through the apex or tip of a patient's heart. The procedure was performed with a catheter-based valve and is generally referred to as trans-catheter aortic valve replacement or TAVR for short.

    · Employee retention rate of 88 percent.

    · Employee wellness participation rate of 97 percent.


    Vidant Medical Center, the system's flagship, teaching and tertiary care hospital, set new records for providing care to inpatients, emergency and outpatients. The hospital also made significant improvement in its length-of-stay and clinical care management, which allowed more patients to receive care. Vidant Medical Center ended the fiscal year tied for number one among all teaching hospitals for inpatient patient experience and for equity of care.

    During the year the hospital opened the new children's emergency department which is approximately 12,800 square feet with 16 exam/treatment rooms. Two of these rooms are fully functional resuscitation rooms with state-of-the-art equipment. The department is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

    In addition to having a strong year on the quality front, Vidant Health also concluded a very good financial and operating year.

    The system earned an operating margin of 4.8 percent on revenues of $1.55 billion in 2012. The system's operating income in 2012 was $112.2 million, compared to last year's operating income of $90.6 million. As a not-for-profit corporation, Vidant Health reinvests all of its income back into capital projects, equipment and access to services for the patients and communities it serves.

    Herman said the better financial performance resulted primarily from greater inpatient demand, improved quality of care and clinical efficiency and sustained cost-reduction efforts.

    In addition to Vidant Medical Center, Vidant Health includes Vidant Beaufort Hospital in Washington, Vidant Bertie Hospital in Windsor, Vidant Chowan Hospital in Edenton, Vidant Duplin Hospital in Kenansville, Vidant Edgecombe Hospital in Tarboro, Vidant Pungo Hospital in Belhaven, Vidant Roanoke-Chowan Hospital in Ahoskie, and The Outer Banks Hospital at Nags Head, where it is a 60 percent owner. The system also manages Albemarle Health in Elizabeth City.


    Contact: Beth Anne Atkins, Vidant Health Strategic Development, (252) 847-7735 or beth.atkins@VidantHealth.com

    Vidant Health, a mission-driven, not-for-profit corporation, owns, leases or has a majority membership interest in nine eastern North Carolina hospitals and has a management agreement with one other. The health system includes Albemarle Health, Vidant Beaufort Hospital, Vidant Bertie Hospital, Vidant Chowan Hospital, Vidant Duplin Hospital, Vidant Edgecombe Hospital, The Outer Banks Hospital, Vidant Medical Center, Vidant Pungo Hospital, Vidant Roanoke-Chowan Hospital, Vidant Home Health and Hospice, Vidant Wellness Centers, Vidant Medical Group and is affiliated with the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University. On the web at www.vidanthealth.com.