In mid-November, NHS started a new strategic planning process with the assistance of an external consultant, The Tiber Group. The Tiber Group has interviewed approximately 20 physician leaders and administrators during the initial phase and two meetings of the strategic planning group have occurred – one in late November and a second in early December. Follow-up meetings are scheduled during the first two months of this year.
The goals of the entire process are:
- Develop a collaborative vision for the NHS campus – one that all stakeholders understand and embrace.
- Based on that vision, a planning process will be developed that systematically analyzes programs and prioritizes requests to ensure consistency. This planning process will continue to function in this role in an ongoing basis.
- To significantly increase physician input into the planning process.
- To clearly tie the strategic planning process and the financial planning process together including the capital equipment selection process.
Members of the committee include: Jim Canedy, M.D., Don Darst, M.D., George Greene, M.D., Phil Smith, M.D., Rod Markin, M.D., Dennis Goeschel, M.D., and John Gollan, M.D. Board Members include: Kim Robak, Gail Walling Yanney, M.D., Byers Shaw, M.D., and Lew Trowbridge. The administrative representatives include: Glenn Fosdick, Joe Graham, Bill Dinsmoor, Cindy Owen, Rita Van Fleet, R.N., and Steve Smith, M.D.
“The entire process will be a watershed event for Nebraska Health System for several reasons,” said Dr. Smith, chief medical officer for NHS. “First of all, this will be the first in-depth review of our vision since the 1997 merger. A lot has changed since that time and it is logical that a new CEO would want to lead a team to redefine our vision. This process will re energize and refocus us as a whole.”
This will be the first time a group of this size with this varied background — board, administration and physician leadership — has met consistently for in-depth planning.
The new vision for NHS will be completed in early 2002. At that time, the committee will turn its focus to learning the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that exist for services within our organization through presentations by department management and physicians. This understanding will help determine how resources should be committed for further development.
“This is an exciting time for NHS as we look into the future and determine what our objectives will be for the next three to five years,” Dr. Smith said.