As 2023 is ending, I want to discuss what we have to look forward to in the year 2024. 2023 was a great year for Adair County Health System. We welcomed new specialties, succeeded in our present ones, celebrated with our community, and started our Master Facility Plan.
As a rural hospital, we want to recognize how critical we are, in the nation’s healthcare system and how much we offer regarding quality care, cutting-edge technology, and various services. Through connectivity and collaboration, our hospital is large enough to serve our community’s health needs, but we are also small enough to care.
ACHS takes pride in identifying the unique needs of our patients and we use this knowledge to make these services available close to home. In 2023, ACHS added new specialists to our service lines including ENT care with Dr. Matthew Brown, MD, and OB/GYN care with Dr. Marcela Pineda, MD. We also brought a greatly needed service back to Greenfield by hosting Dr. Joel Weis every week from Family Vision Center. We continue to offer various other services that have been achieving our goals and expectations. We are so fortunate as a rural county hospital to have specialists of this caliber so close to home. To learn more about our services, visit achsiowa.org.
Our organization continues to focus on our communities, whether that is helping with community activities, partnering with our schools, or hosting our own events. Our employees can be seen throughout our communities participating in a myriad of activities to support other businesses, our students, and our community members to help make our communities sustainable for the future.
In addition to our community events and involvement, Adair County Health System was also recognized at a statewide level for the second year in a row. Our health system was recognized as a Des Moines Register Top Workplace in 2023. The award, based solely on employee feedback, is a huge accomplishment for us, especially because it comes based on feedback from our employees. We were thrilled to receive this recognition again in 2023 and are fortunate to have some of the most highly skilled and compassionate healthcare professionals.
I want to thank our amazing employees, who always provide an unyielding level of commitment to our patients. Our staff are highly skilled, and we are so lucky to have them on our team. Over the last year, our team has accomplished many things together, and I look forward to 2024 being just as rewarding.
Our future is always top of mind for our Executive Team and Board of Directors. Recently, I’ve received many inquiries regarding the new clinic that Greater Regional Health is opening. Our leadership team and board have had lengthy discussions surrounding this and we feel it is in our best interest to focus on continuing to serve our communities and the patients who depend on us. While we feel the addition of a clinic is nonessential, we will strive to continue to promote the importance of ACHS as our county hospital and how vital it is for the community. We serve as the first line of access for patients in life-threatening situations. I would also like to clarify that there has been no discussion or approach from Greater Regional on collaborating with services during my tenure at Adair County Health System as mentioned previously by their team. While the patients always have the right to choose where they go for care, we will continue to strive to be their first choice. ACHS leadership believes in integrity, trust, and high-quality care. We strive to be honest and straightforward when connecting with our community members and patients.
2024 will be a year of continued growth. The Executive Team is excited to continue to work on our three-phase master facility plan which will serve as the blueprint for our growth into the future. Our first phase of construction, which is in process now, lays the groundwork for future phases by updating our mechanical infrastructure. We also have newly completed parking lots that will serve as access points for our community and staff at ACHS. We will finalize the details of Phase II of the plan in 2024 and look forward to announcing next steps soon.
I ask everyone in Adair County to celebrate the tremendous difference our rural critical access hospital continues to make. As we look forward to the new year, I hope all community members will recognize how our health system is caring for the communities we serve every single day. Adair County is such a wonderful place to live, work, and play, and we look forward to continuing to work together with our community partners to advance healthcare.