Management Reports Positive Margin at Annual Corporators Meeting

Day Kimball Healthcare’s 2017 Board of Directors: (front row, l. to r.) Steven Schimmel, MD, Karen Cole, Jack Burke, Joseph Adiletta, Janice Thurlow, Shawn McNerney; (back row, l. to r.) Paul Matty, MD, William St. Onge, Esq., Joseph Botta, MD, Anthony Chieffalo, MD, Michael Baum, MD, Edwin Higgins, Esq., Kevin Johnston and Mark Shamber. Not pictured: Joseph Alessandro, DO, Hadi Bozorgmanesh and Jeffrey Paul. 

Day Kimball Healthcare (DKH) reported that the company achieved a positive margin of almost $1 million for fiscal-year 2016, exceeding the healthcare system’s projection for a breakeven year, and reflecting an approximately $7 million turnaround from the $6.3 million loss experienced in fiscal-year 2015. The announcement was made at DKH’s annual Corporators Meeting held last night at The Mansion at Bald Hill in South Woodstock.

“This year we celebrate a truly significant accomplishment,” Joseph Adiletta, DKH interim president and CEO, told the corporators. “This achievement is made even more significant in light of the many challenges and changes our organization, and all community hospitals and healthcare systems around our state and nation, have faced in recent years.

“We’re now on a path not just to survive but to thrive,” he continued. “That is all thanks to the hard work, perseverance and commitment of our entire Day Kimball family.”

Adiletta also highlighted a number of improvements that were made to DKH’s facilities and technology – such as infrastructure improvements at the Brousseau Surgical Suite and the implementation of a new state-of-the-art patient monitoring system in the Intensive Care and Medical/Surgical departments. These types of investments will help to ensure that the DKH healthcare system continues to provide “…the latest in care and technology to our patients,” he said. 

Quality of Care

In his remarks, Interim Board Chairman Jack Burke stated that DKH earned some seven significant distinctions and designations for quality care during the last fiscal year, while the new Townsend Emergency Medical Center received the following recognition: 

• A new patient satisfaction survey indicated a 98 percent patient satisfaction rating, while 98 percent of patients said that they would recommend the DKH Emergency Department to family and friends
• For the second time, Day Kimball Hospital earned The Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval and the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Heart-Check mark for Advanced Certification for Primary Stroke Centers

In addition, the Day Kimball Medical Group primary Care practices were recognized by United Health Care’s “Enhanced Program” for achieving the health insurer’s highest 5-star ranking in nine out of 12 care measures. 

“Thanks to the hard work and dedication of the entire Day Kimball Healthcare team, 2016 was a year defined by achievement,” said Burke. 

Moving Forward

In outlining DKH’s strategy in the New Year, Interim President Adiletta began: “As we enter 2017, we do so with a new direction and a fresh vision for our organization. 

“We continue looking for an opportunity to affiliate with a larger system that shares our vision,” he said, “but in the meantime, we are continuing to act as though we will remain independent, while focusing on our strengths.” Adiletta pointed out that DKH will maintain existing partnerships with UMass Memorial Medical Center and Yale New Haven Health, which strengthen both the clinical and business efforts of the DKH system. 

“Partnerships such as these, combined with our own clinical and business expertise and accomplishments, mean that today we stand strong as an independent, non-profit community healthcare system at a time when such systems are becoming increasingly rare,” he said. 

Adiletta concluded: “We are on a path not just to survival but to success and there’s a reason for that – Day Kimball is different. Those differences are what define us and the way we provide quality community healthcare. Those values – quality, community, health and care – will continue to define us and serve as the foundation upon which we build the next phase of our evolution.”

Leadership 

The corporators approved the following slate of board officers: Chairman Jack Burke, Vice Chairman Mark Shamber, Secretary Karen Cole, Treasurer Janice Thurlow, and Assistant Secretary & Assistant Treasurer Joseph Botta, MD. Karen Cole and Steven Schimmel, MD were re-elected to the board, while Anthony Chieffalo, MD, Paul Matty, MD, and Edwin Higgins, Esq., were newly elected to the board. 

Named new DKH corporators were: Paul Beaudoin, Laura Dunn, Nancy Dziki, Edwin Higgins, Esq., Paul Matty, MD, Renee Smith, and Kristen Willis.