Blue Hill Memorial Hospital (BHMH) is a 25-bed critical access hospital offering primary and selected specialty health care services. Mrs. F.B. Richards donated the original hospital in 1922 in honor of her daughter, Katharine. Nearly 90 years later.
** Our Mission **
We are dedicated to providing primary and selected specialty healthcare of outstanding quality, caring for our patients with respect and compassion, and improving the health of the communities we serve.
** Our Vision **
We aspire to a future inspired by six pillars of excellence
People: To be the health system of choice for patients, physicians, and employees.
Quality: To meet the highest standards of clinical excellence and patient safety.
Service: To provide easy access to personal, friendly, and compassionate healthcare.
Community: To measurably improve the health of our community
Growth: To be the leading provider of the healthcare services we offer
Finance: To achieve and maintain the financial stability of our organization
History Of Blue Hill Memorial Hospital
Mission: We are dedicated to providing primary and selected specialty healthcare of outstanding quality, caring for our patients with respect and compassion, and improving the health of the communities we serve.
Blue Hill Memorial Hospital was founded in 1924. Today, the Hospital and its medical group practices (located in Blue Hill, Bucksport, Castine and Stonington) serve as anchors of the community's patient-centered primary healthcare network.
Our active medical staff of board-certified physicians specializes in providing diagnostic, rehabilitative and acute care services.
Clinically and strategically affiliated with Eastern Maine Medical Center, the region's most advanced care facility, Blue Hill Memorial Hospital is the cornerstone for access to all levels of care for patients in the Blue Hill area.
In Recent Years
In 2005, Blue Hill Memorial Hospital became a member of EMHS. EMHS membership provides access to knowledge, skills, and many technical and clinical resources that Blue Hill Memorial Hospital might not otherwise be able to afford. For example, EMHS helps its members by offering group purchasing power for items that range from office supplies to sophisticated medical technology.
In 2006, Blue Hill Memorial Hospital was awarded three top patient satisfaction awards: Five Star Award for Physician Office Systems for Peninsula Primary Care; Five Star Award for Physician Office for Castine Community Health Services; and an award for Exceeding Patient Expectations. Blue Hill had the highest scores in the Avatar national database for the year for the physician office awards.
Physician's Foundation for Health Systems Excellence awarded Blue Hill Memorial Hospital a $219,000 grant for a project entitled Improving Care for Patients with Chronic Conditions in Rural Maine. The goals of the project for 2006 and 2007 include enhancing 1) the use of evidence-based medicine and best practices for patients diagnosed with one or more chronic medical conditions and 2) patient and provider access to community-based services and patient support services.
Blue Hill Memorial Hospital was the first in the state to use the Advanced Anesthesia Medication process. It provides for greater efficiency and streamlining in the pre-surgery anesthesia process.
Sustaining and Increasing Local Access to Healthcare
Blue Hill Memorial Hospital's goal is to remain viable as the community's access point to excellent healthcare. Maintaining that key role is threatened by a series of factors
Blue Hill Memorial Hospital has rarely operated in the black in its 83-year history, and relies heavily on an endowment which should be used for the development of new patient care programs and technological advancements.
More people are requiring reduced or free care than at any other time in the hospital's history. In the first nine months of fiscal year 2007, Blue Hill Memorial Hospital absorbed more than $700,000 in free care – care provided to people who did not have the means to pay their bills. There is a widening gap in the Blue Hill community which will likely result in a continued increase in the demand for low-cost or free health services.
Finding solutions
The Board of Trustees, a group of local citizens who lead this hospital, directed us to create a Blue Hill Advisory Team. Supported by EMHS, and led by EMHS Chief Medical Officer Erik Steele, DO, the team will include experts in practice management consulting, financial assessment, clinical planning, and communications. The work will be intensive, performed onsite here this hospital, and completed by objective, informed, and expert professionals.
The goal is to provide a careful clinical and financial plan, so outcomes can be predicted. The team will organize specific initiatives, with expected milestones and results clearly defined, and the inter-relationship of the initiatives clearly understood. We expect that the plan will be developed within 90 – 120 days after the team begins its work, with positive results to come over the next two to three years.
