Heywood Healthcare in Gardner, Mass., exited Chapter 11 bankruptcy in October, maintaining its status as an independent, community-governed system after reorganization.
"This rare accomplishment, achieved by less than 3% of healthcare organizations that entered Chapter 11 over the past year, underscores our resilience and commitment," said Rozanna Penney, CRNA, president and CEO of the system, told Becker's. "Under Chapter 11 protection, we restructured our debt and out-of-market contracts while expanding critical regional services."
Heywood reopened the inpatient MHU in January, which is operating at full capacity for the first time since January 2017. The health system expanded services including obstetric care, and now has a 15% increase in labor and deliveries. Heywood also relaunched its doula program and now has 11 doulas within the service line.
Beyond the OB services, Heywood initiated a non-emergency medical transportation program in partnership with Woods Ambulance to strengthen patient volume across the system.
"We also leveraged the reorganization process to optimize operations, consolidate services where appropriate and sustain our community programs," said Ms. Penney. "Employee satisfaction notably improved by 6.4% for the first time in five years, as shown by our latest Press Ganey staff engagement survey."
What turned around the struggling health system's finances and culture? A commitment to hard work and the dedication of providers, employees and leaders to embrace Heywood's core value: transparency.
"Transparency was crucial in navigating through uncertainty with a growth mindset, dispelling false narratives, empowering employees, patients and community stakeholders to feel invested in Heywood's mission and success," said Ms. Penney.