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Huntsville Hospital Lincoln Health System reports staffing gains, chaplain program and EMS station pilot in Fayetteville
Summary
Mary Beth Sills told Fayetteville’s board the health system now has about 445 employees, fewer openings than before, a revived chaplain program and a pilot EMS station in the Taft area after a record month of EMS calls.
Mary Beth Sills, president of Huntsville Hospital Lincoln Health System, told the Board of Mayor and Aldermen on Jan. 14 that the system has expanded staff and services, has restored chaplain care and is piloting a third emergency medical services station in the Taft community.
Nut graf: Sills said the health system now employs about 445 staff with roughly 34 open positions across clinical and nonclinical roles. She highlighted programs intended to increase community access to care, including volunteer chaplains and community outreach events, and said EMS call volume prompted the station pilot.
Sills said the system once had about 100 open positions and that the current level of openings — about 34 system-wide — reflects progress in recruitment across the hospital, EMS and affiliated facilities.
“We stand at 445 employees across our system today. I’m really proud of that number,” Sills said. She credited staff and the community for supporting the system’s growth.
Program and community work
Sills said the hospital restored a chaplain program about a year ago; six or seven volunteer chaplains provide spiritual support and can be paged to see patients. She also described outreach such as a community health fair held at the Glayren Community Center where staff gave flu shots and helped people sign up for mammograms and other services.
EMS station pilot
Sills reported the health system recorded a record 666 EMS runs last month and said the highest call volumes are coming from the Taft, Blanche and Ardmore areas. In response, the system is piloting a third EMS station in Taft with support from the volunteer fire department, emergency management and county officials. Sills said the pilot aims to reduce current response times (which she said had been as long as 30 minutes in some cases) toward a target of 15 minutes or less.
Personnel and recruitment
Sills also announced recent physician recruiting wins: orthopedic surgeon Dr. Leroy Gregenius rejoined the system through TOC (now owned by Huntsville Hospital), and Dr. Bonnie Lee joined as a general surgeon. Sills noted longtime EMS employee Richard Wright plans to retire in July after 50 years with Lincoln Medical Center EMS.
Ending: Sills asked the board to continue supporting outreach and recruitment as the system expands services and prepares to report on the EMS pilot’s results.
