Pali Momi Medical Center COO Jen Chahanovich has transformed the West Oahu hospital into one of the country’s state-of-the-art medical models – and she’s proud to show it off <\/B><\/p>\n
Under the leadership of COO Jen Chahanovich, pictured here in the hospital’s new pavilion, Pali Momi Medical Center has grown into a well-respected regional facility providing essential top-notch health care in West Oahu <\/B><\/p>\nngg_shortcode_0_placeholder\n
If you want a glimpse of trendsetting health care, take a look at Pali Momi Medical Center on Moanalua Road in Aiea. This unassuming campus across from Toys R Us at Pearlridge is one of the country’s state-of-the-art medical models.<\/p>\n
This is not some wishful vision somewhere over the rainbow. It’s right in our own backyard.<\/p>\n
“I love to give tours,” says Jen H. Chahanovich, Pali Momi Medical Center’s ebullient chief operating officer. As she describes distinguishing features of the West Oahu medical facility, one marvels at the wonders of the 3-acre site that serves 650 patients a day.<\/p>\n
It’s like walking the yellow brick road with the Wizard of Aahhs.<\/p>\n
Chahanovich clicks the heels of her bright red shoes, to which is attached a digital pedometer, and we are off to survey the health care domain where she reigns.<\/p>\n
“We were built in the community,” Chahanovich says. “In 1989, our founder, Dr. Joseph Nishimoto, got 13,000 residents to sign a petition to establish Pearl City Medical. The community has grown around it.<\/p>\n
“We want the community to see what we have here,” she says. “You don’t have to be sick to pay a visit.”<\/p>\n
MidWeek <\/I>photographer Nathalie Walker and I agree that the best time to examine a medical facility is when you don’t need its services. I, for one, had never been inside Pali Momi. What I was about to see opened my eyes to a whole new world of quality health care and modern patient services.<\/p>\n
We’re off to see the wizard …<\/p>\n
Among the wonders one encounters at Pali Momi are:<\/B><\/p>\n
* The fastest and most advanced X-ray imaging 320 CT scanner in Hawaii <\/p>\n
* Tomosynthesis 3-D breast imaging, first of its kind in Hawaii <\/p>\n
* West Oahu’s only interventional cardiac catheterization unit for the detection and treatment of heart disease <\/p>\n
* First retina eye care center in Hawaii <\/p>\n
* Revolutionary da Vinci robotic surgical procedures <\/p>\n
* Comprehensive women’s health center <\/p>\n
Who would have guessed that all of these advancements, and a few others, are housed in West Oahu and not in the population epicenter of downtown Honolulu?<\/p>\n
Well, when you think about the vast geographic area that Pali Momi serves, it makes sense that emergency, acute care, imaging and health screening essentials are readily available. Otherwise, there are delays and logistical barriers to serving patient needs.<\/p>\n
As one patient put it, “Shouldn’t there be quality care wherever you live?”<\/p>\n
This standard of care is not without its challenges in an industry that is highly regulated and often finds itself a political football in election campaigns. (Medicare, Obamacare, privatization, vouchers, etc.)<\/p>\n
Hawaii is fortunate in having pioneered prepaid health insurance through employers. Yet there still are issues that challenge the system with regard to reimbursements and government-mandated programs. That’s a whole other story.<\/p>\n
Health care providers are keenly aware of the issues and tend to be philosophical in their approach, lest they upset the apple cart before an ideal collaborative solution is sought.<\/p>\n
“No matter how the elections go,” Chahanovich says, “the horse is out of the barn. Everyone understands that we can’t sustain quality on a volume-based health care system. We are moving toward a value-based system.<\/p>\n
“Transparency is refreshing,” she adds. “If the standard is quality care, we will meet the measurements set for us.”<\/p>\n
This comes from a confident COO who has guided Pali Momi to the top 5 percent in the nation for Outstanding Patient Experience, as measured by HealthGrades Report. Pali Momi and Straub, both affiliates of Hawaii Pacific Health, are the only Hawaii facilities to receive the 2011 award.<\/p>\n
For six consecutive years, the American Heart Association has recognized the hospital with its Gold Award for excellence in the treatment of coronary artery disease. In 2010, it was one of only 136 facilities in the country to meet this high standard. Additionally, AHA gave Pali Momi its Gold Plus Award for Heart Failure, one of only seven in the nation.<\/p>\n
While the path to quality care has been paved with gold, the true test of a medical service is how it responds each day to folks who walk through its doors. Often that moment of truth is based on the emergency room experience.<\/p>\n
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Pali Momi has the second-busiest ER in the state, tending to more than 52,000 emergency cases a year. It touts being the only local facility that uses a team triage approach in the ER where patients are promptly evaluated by an emergency physician and prioritized according to severity.<\/p>\n
The closing of Hawaii Medical Center West did impact Pali Momi’s ER volume, as it did other Oahu facilities. But Pali Momi adjusted as a natural extension of its growth.<\/p>\n
“We were already busy before,” Chahanovich says.<\/p>\n
Since HMC closed in December 2011, more than 25,000 emergency patients and 3,300 hospital inpatients annually are said to be seeking care outside of their community.<\/p>\n
Response to the growing community on the west side is inherent in the long-range planning by Pali Momi’s board, executive staff and medical directors.<\/p>\n
James Kakuda, MD, Pali Momi chief of staff, states, “Our best is a lot easier because of the seamless system we have in place and the global plane on which we have based our game plan.”<\/p>\n
He points to Hawaii Pacific Health system’s adoption of electronic medical records in 2005, medical services integration that reduces cost, and the focus on quality care.<\/p>\n
“Our guiding principle is alapono, the path of righteousness, doing the right thing for our patients,” he extols. “Every employee knows what our patient satisfaction score is and feels a responsibility toward it. It’s pervasive.”<\/p>\n
That affects the performance of Pali Momi’s 1,041 employees, 398 medical staff and 120 volunteers.<\/p>\n
If inspired leadership starts at the top, that role belongs to Chahanovich. She joined Hawaii Pacific Health in 2002 as director of respiratory and rehabilitation services for Kapiolani Medical Center for Women & Children and Pali Momi.<\/p>\n
Chahanovich, 52, a South Carolina native, holds a bachelor’s degree from Weber State University (Utah), master’s from Western International University (Arizona), and fellowship from American Association of Respiratory Care.<\/p>\n
Her pursuit of a medical career originated with being a caregiver for her late mother, who was diagnosed with cancer. As she monitored her mother’s daily care, Chahanovich was inspired by the compassion and dedication of health care professionals she encountered.<\/p>\n
Her achievements as Pali Momi COO for the past eight years validate a well-chosen career path.<\/p>\n
“Jen clearly leads with deep passion, and her can-do, hands-on philosophy is appreciated by physicians and staff. She is committed to providing the highest quality of care to patients and focuses on developing her team so that they are providing compassionate care to every patient, every time. Under her leadership, Pali Momi has grown into a regional hospital that is well-respected and highly valued in West Oahu,” says Ray Vara, president of Hawaii Pacific Health.<\/p>\n
Patrons laud Pali Momi’s attention to detail, from daily newspaper deliveries to hospital patients by execs (managing by walking around), to well-chosen artwork on the walls and ceilings, as well as the welcome letter one receives with the COO’s personal cell number. Hello.<\/p>\n
“It’s like the Ritz Carlton Pali Momi,” one observer offers.<\/p>\n
The latest addition to the Aiea campus is the 8,000-square-foot Pali Momi Medical Pavilion, site of the former Inspiration furniture store. Home of Pali Momi’s Women’s Center, the modern facility accommodates regular checkups, advanced breast cancer care, ultrasound for expectant mothers, and advanced technology in digital mammography and breast MRI.<\/p>\n
“It’s a proud achievement,” hails Chahanovich, who marks the pavilion as evidence of Pali Momi’s commitment to serving a growing community.<\/p>\n
“Wellness is the focus,” she says. “This is designed for the new generation of health-conscious residents as well the aging boomers who are empowered with better knowledge and tools of personal care.”<\/p>\n
The Women’s Center follows Pali Momi’s patient-centric design, including well-placed dressing rooms, spaces for a patient navigator and resource library, as well as chairs configured for full-figured expectant moms.<\/p>\n
“We have Liz Chun to thank for that,” Chahanovich says, recalling Pali Momi’s pregnant director of philanthropy lamenting the difficulty of getting up from chairs.<\/p>\n
It is a great reminder of what today’s health professionals must consider as they reinvent and transform care delivery. Greatly aided by technological and pharmaceutical advances, healing has become an art and science that will always be highly personal. Success is measured by making a difference one patient at a time.<\/p>\n
You don’t have to be a wizard to figure that out. At Pali Momi, they evidently take that to heart.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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