Collaboration, community drive Health New England

As our community shifts to living with COVID-19 and economic stressors bring different challenges, Health New England recognizes and takes to heart its responsibility to help ensure our members get the health care they need while managing the associated costs. Our commitment to Western Massachusetts is rooted in our mission to improve the health and lives of the people in our communities. To fulfill this mission we are collaborating even more closely with our parent company, Baystate Health, expanding our role of service and support in the community, and caring for our colleagues in and out of the workplace.

Collaboration: As a subsidiary of Baystate Health, Health New England has the unique ability to partner directly with health care professionals. One example of this is the BeHealthy Partnership Accountable Care Partnership Plan. The collaboration enables Health New England and the Baystate Health Care Alliance, which includes Baystate Health Centers and Baystate Medical Practices, to provide patient-centered care to over 50,000 Medicaid recipients in Hampden, Hampshire, and Franklin counties. This model wraps patients in collabora- tive care to address not only medical concerns, but also social determinants of health, which are the non-medical factors that influence health, such as the availability of healthy food, places to exercise, stress, social exclusion, and transportation. We continue to find ways to work more closely with the doctors and other health care providers in Western Massachusetts to offer quality care while helping members get the most for their health care dollars.

Community: As the only regional not-for-profit health

Hospital. I recognize that we are in a moment in history when we can and must embrace our resilience while delivering on Cooley Dickinson’s commitment to provide care to our communities, no matter where you are from, who you love, or what you look like.

Cooley Dickinson Hospital is not unlike hospitals across the state and in our region. When I speak with community groups or to Cooley Dickinson employees, I talk about the headwinds — workforce shortages, capacity constraints and financial losses — that we face in the health care field. For doctors, nurses, and other health care professionals, those headwinds are fueling a perfect storm that is playing out as you, our community members, seek care.

As we approach the third anniversary of the global pandemic, we know our workforce is tired, yet I plan based in Springfield, Health New England continues our tradition of giving back to the communities we serve. Health New England committed approximately $540,000 in investments back to the community in 2022.

Significant funding included a $100,000 grant to improve the health status in communities we serve by addressing racial, ethnic, economic and gender health disparities, and improving health equity for all. We strengthened our community relationships am heartened every day when I see what our teams accomplish. Cooley Dickinson’s dedicated employees are committed to providing outstanding patient care. This past fall, Cooley Dickinson earned its seventh consecutive ‘A’ letter grade from the Leapfrog Group, an independent, national not-for-profit watchdog organization. In the past year, Cooley Dickinson has earned a five-star rating from the Centers of Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and designations as a “Best Maternity Hospital” from Newsweek magazine and an “LGBTQ+ Healthcare Equality Leader” from the Human Rights Campaign Foundation. Earning awards and recognitions from independent agencies validate that our staff and providers are continuously focused on improving the quality of care we provide.

One way we are supporting our current employees and preparing tomorrow’s health care professionals is by launching workforce pipeline initiatives to engage and build through existing multiyear commitments to organizations focused on housing, behavioral health, maternal and child health, food insecurity and more through the “Where Health Matters” Grant Program, distributing $250,000 in grant funds to positively influence the health and well-being of community populations most in need. Some of our grant recipients include Clinical & Support Options, Girls on the Run, The Care Center, the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts and Wellspring. These organizations will create and expand relationships with local and regional colleges and universities to bring students on campus and develop training opportunities.

We are fortunate to collaborate with the Elaine Marieb College of Nursing at the University of Massachusetts Amherst to expand nursing and technical clinician rotations. Another partnership, with the Massachusetts General Hospital Institute of Health Professions, part of the Mass General Brigham family, aims to provide training to the next generation of physician assistants.

We are here for our community and ready to serve all who need us. Yet the headwinds we currently face – either as an employer or as patients in our community – are real. There are often significant Emergency Department wait times. Finding a new primary care provider or specialist may also mean an extended delay. And for patients who need care in a skilled nursing facility or assisted living, they often remain in the hospital for longer than needed as these post-acute services to help the most vulnerable among us thrive.

We also partnered with PeoplesBank to fund Gardening the Community, a food justice organization engaged in youth development, urban agriculture and sustainable living to build healthy and equitable communities.

These investments bring our five-year total to more than $3.6 million in support of area nonprofit organizations.

Colleagues: Our ability to serve both members and the local community would settings themselves face significant staff vacancy rates. Central to our mission are our patients: your experiences matter, and we take all feedback as opportunities to continuously improve.

In the meantime, it has taken the health care system many years to arrive at the place we are now. There will be no easy solutions or quick fixes. Cooley Dickinson is adapting to our ”new normal,” one where the effects of previous pandemic surges and uncertainty of new ones loom large. In the face of those headwinds – we continue to focus on the patients and community that we serve. Cooley Dickinson is fortunate to be part of Mass General Brigham, a world class, integrated health care system with patients at the center. When we combine our resources and talents, we provide a powerful impact for patients and the communities we serve. What does meeting the challenges of this uncertain economic time mean for the health care industry? Expanding the workforce pipeline and investing in training and educational advancement for our team are among our key priorities. It also means approaching our work to care for the community with vigor and determination, kindness and resolve. Cooley Dickinson Hospital is focused on being the place of choice to give care, receive care and work. As Cooley Dickinson Hospital’s president and CEO, I continue to be humbled by how far we have come as an organization. I look ahead with appreciation to those who choose to turn to us for care. We also remain steadfast in our commitment to serving our communities with exceptional, high quality, compassionate care. Despite the challenges, I am optimistic. Our patients need and deserve the best care, and we are committed to providing it, now and into the future.

Dr. Lynnette M. Watkins is president and CEO of Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton. To learn more about Cooley, go online to Cooley dickinson.org.