A Message From Jody L. LoMeo, Interim President and CEO of

Monday, April 14, 2014
A Message From Jody L. Lomeo, Interim President and CEO of Kaleida Health
Once again, thank you for your support and teamwork. We are transitioning to a
better Kaleida Health/Great Lakes Health, to better serve our patients and realize
a better tomorrow.
From day one, we have stated loudly and clearly that our quality, patient
satisfaction and culture will define our organization. The care delivered at the
bedside will determine who we are, what we stand for, and reinforce that serving
our patients is the reason for our existence. The community is deserving of a
high quality, low cost and patient-centered healthcare system. We must and will
deliver on that.
Over the past few months, we have made considerable progress. This includes
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re-engaging our employees, leading at the bedside with nursing, rebuilding
physician relations, clarifying our labor relationship, setting the stage for an
open and transparent organization, and beginning to reorganize our management team. We have received
tremendous support from employees, physicians, labor, community leaders, UB and ECMC. There is a
palpable sense that change is needed and that change is coming.
Here are some highlights and updates from around the organization to keep you informed:
•Plans to build the John R. Oishei Children’s Hospital continue to progress, thanks to New York State
Department of Health (NYSDOH) Public Health and Health Planning Council approval of a revised
certificate of need (CON) application. The 12-floor, free-standing, state-of-the-art facility will further our
commitment to women, children and infants in Western New York. We will continue to keep you informed
as to the timing of groundbreaking and other next steps with this exciting project.
•The Public Health and Health Planning Council also approved the Visiting Nursing Association’s (VNA)
expansion into Livingston County. In August 2013, the VNA was selected as the provider of choice
to purchase the Livingston County Certified Home Health Agency. This is another significant growth
opportunity for the VNA. The VNA also recently reached an agreement with the Communications Workers
of America/AFL-CIO (CWA 1122) on a new three-year contract, which covers nearly 600 employees. The
contract is fair, with a continued commitment to providing competitive wages, benefits and employment
conditions. Much appreciation given to both VNA leadership and CWA leadership as we continue to
partner in better serving our patients.
•At that same NYSDOH meeting, the planning council “disapproved” our application for a CON to create
the Ambulatory Surgery Center in Orchard Park. The decision came as a surprise to us for three reasons:
the NYSDOH has recommended full approval of our application, we are working closely with key physician
partners in this endeavor, and we are proposing to transfer unused operating room capacity from Buffalo
General Medical Center to a location where ambulatory surgical demand is growing. We believe that our
application has merit and is good for patient care. There is an appeal process available to us, and we fully
intend to pursue it to a successful conclusion.
•The plan to celebrate DeGraff Memorial Hospital’s 100th anniversary is underway. Members of the
anniversary planning committee are seeking employee and community involvement to help locate
historical memorabilia related to the hospital – anything with an interesting background that might be
used to help illustrate the hospital’s 100 years, from old bills to baby bracelets to photographs. DeGraff
has had a rich history in Niagara County. It is appropriate that we celebrate this while we look toward the
future and how we can best serve our patients there.
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Monday, April 14, 2014
•The new neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) planned for Millard Fillmore Suburban Hospital is making
progress. We have an approved CON in hand and environmental approvals are complete. The Town of
Amherst permit review is underway, and we are working closely with the construction manager, Turner
Construction Company, on the buildout and schedule.
•In an effort to better align with physicians inside and outside of Kaleida Health, we recently rolled out our
primary care strategy with our partners at BlueCross BlueShield and ECMC. This strategy will enable us to
further support and value our physicians throughout Kaleida Health, as well as the community. In addition
to the primary care strategy, we continue to advance a navigation system that will further ease physician
use of our system, ultimately benefiting the patient and the patient experience.
•The Kaleida Health Laboratories have been awarded accreditation by the Accreditation Committee of the
College of American Pathologists (CAP), based on the results of a recent onsite inspection. The laboratory
was advised of this national recognition and congratulated for the “continued commitment by their staff of
pathologists, laboratory professionals, and support staff to the excellence of the services being provided.”
Accreditation is a team effort and reflects the superior expertise and skill of the laboratory professionals
serving Kaleida Health’s patients, physicians, caregivers and outreach clients. Thank you all for your efforts
here!
•The Gates Vascular Institute (GVI) continues to make national headlines with its cutting edge work in
cardiac, stroke and vascular care. Most recently, the GVI became the first facility in Western New York
to implant the new Boston Scientific S-ICD® System, the world’s first and only commercially available
subcutaneous implantable defibrillator (S-ICD) for the treatment of patients at risk for sudden cardiac
arrest (SCA). This type of state-of-the-art procedure (along with the daily advances in stroke and vascular
care) further validates the significance and importance of the GVI to this region.
•The Buffalo General Medical Center and Kaleida Health “turnaround teams” continue to make progress.
The goal is to improve the manner in which we care for our patients while being a low cost, high quality
provider. We need to continue to advance our culture change and be champions at the bedside. Thank
you to the entire organization for your teamwork and leadership in our turnaround!
•Because of all of your efforts, the organization met the board-approved plan for the first quarter. This
is outstanding work and is a direct result what you do every day for our patients. We appreciate your
commitment and understand that, in order to realize positive financial results, we must first realize quality
at the bedside for all patients. Thank you!
•Executive leadership has moved off of the fifth floor at the Larkin building. Plan to see me and the
leadership team more frequently across all of our sites in the days and weeks ahead. It is also important to
note that our employees on the second and third floors at Larkin (IST, Human Resources, etc.) will remain
at that location.
In closing, thank you for all you do for our patients. Thank you for your support and input as we continue to
lead with care at the bedside.
Reminder – Please tell me what the organization can do to better help you care for those we serve. Stop me
in the halls or email me: [email protected]. I look forward to continue working with you all.
Jody L. Lomeo
Interim President and CEO
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