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Show Administrator Jack-Of-All-Trades ) At Garfield Memorial Hospital Visitors to Garfield Memorial Hospital shouldn't be surprised to discover the administrator crawling on the roof. "I'm out of a maintenance man right now so I need to check on the I heating units myself," explains 1 Administrator Wayne Ross. "The way I look at it, in a small : hospital everybody has to work to- gether," Ross says. "When people complain something is not in their job description I say, 'Give me a minute and I'll write it in.' There isn't anyone in this hospital with just one job. There's too much to ' be done." In a large metropolitan hospital ( "Yvould be almost unheard of for Js administrator to change light bulbs, give maintenance instructions, instruc-tions, sweep the floor or shovel snow. Yet Ross has done all those chores at some time or another, plus many other duties rarely seen in a hospital administrator's job description. de-scription. Does he ever dream of moving on to a larger facility where an administrator's ad-ministrator's job description fits his job? "No," he says. "In a small hospital, the administrator is more a part of things than in large hospitals where the administrator is fairly well insulated from day-to-day problems." Besides, Ross is accustomed to rural hospitals and small towns. This is his third stint as administrator of a rural hospital and he was raised in Burley, Ida. "In rural ru-ral areas you never have to look for a place to park," he quips. Ross does a lot of management by walking around. His first task most mornings is to stroll through the hospital, say hello to everyone and see what's happening. He generally gen-erally has one-to-one contact with all employees working on a given aay. It's no easy task keeping a rural hospital's head above water, but Garfield Memorial has no intentions inten-tions of slipping under. One of the largest employers in the area with an annual payroll of approximately $1.2 million, the hospital serves a far-flung population of about 5,000. It's obvious Wayne Ross is proud of the hospital he heads. "Our hospital is a model health pare system sys-tem for rural areas jlvith eur home health agency, foul outlying clinics, clin-ics, the hospital and the county ambulance service which we manage," man-age," says Ross. "Our physicians are all salaried which means they don't have to compete with each other and can use the hospital for to U J Z:S . . ft, ) Vv N jj. :x ':-:,'':::'-.:.'':;:g.-:v , . . '': - ' ' ' , i I : . s :ssi!:i;::BSSi:::;:: siaiigSsii;:1 . .... ssc -4, ,-:i;mmi -: - . ' ''::X . X . itmfi:;m m WiSgssS : . . ' is,. i'9 . i :::i:L:' -: , .wK;- " : .: .:: : " ' : : !:--J;s:-f-:; sfif . -s;.s:.:.. ..,.,,,. Garfield Memorial Hospital administrator Wayne Ross says he is a man who wears many hats. He has an opportunity to help with any job that others may not care to do. all their X-rays, lab work and so forth, without having the expense of maintaining their own clinic. Several groups from across the country have looked at our system as an effective alternative." The hospital also serves as a resource re-source center for the community, offering health fairs or free education educa-tion to any interested persons. Residents Res-idents in the outlying areas don't have to travel to receive medical care because Garfield physicians do the traveling for them. The outlying outly-ing clinics are expensive to service, but the hospital and Intermountain Health Care have a strong commitment commit-ment to serving the needs of people in rural areas. Intermountain Health Care is the Salt Lake City-based not-for-profit health care company that owns the hospital and clinics. "This is an excellent hospital," concludes Ross. "We have some of the most qualified professional and technical people I've ever seen in a hospital our size. You won't find better primary care, and some secondary sec-ondary care, because we combine excellent care with a personal touch. We're neighbors taking care of neighbors." |
