In fact, these two needs became strategic goals for the organization. The new facility plan is about much more than bricks and mortar; it focuses on improving care processes, as well as identifying new space for patient services. Rather than continue with previous plans to build and expand facilities on the main KVH campus, the Board opted to integrate care services by using and improving existing locations in the community, taking a neighborhood approach rather than concentrating services in a single location.
In addition to reducing construction costs, this decision allows KVH to increase collaboration, and to partner with services that might otherwise be seen as competitors, in the spirit of providing as much quality patient care to the community as possible.
Jackson Avenue. We sat down with KVH Commissioners Matt Altman, President, and Erica Libenow, Secretary, to learn more about the work and role of the five-person board in serving and representing the community. We are not running the hospital. We task the CEO with running the organization. We form the strategic goals of the organization, and oversee the administration as they accomplish or implement those goals. Matt: We take on areas based on our interests.
As a local doc with a small business, Bob Davis has perspective on how the business is run. And with my background in medical ethics and health care policy, I bring that interest to the board. So we each bring a certain expertise, with different perspectives. Being able to follow your passions must make it more rewarding to serve. And then each one of those has five other things….
And how do your feel your backgrounds have prepared you to do this work? Erica: I saw a need for a new perspective on the board. I asked my friends who I thought would be really good at it, but they were all very busy or had other interests they were pursuing. I thought, somebody has to do this. And then I realized that I was somebody! So I put my name in the hat. Erica: Not clinical, but I worked in dental and oral surgery for several years in patient relations, billing, and insurance.
