St. John Medical Center (SJMC) is pleased to announce the appointment of William A. Young Jr. as President and CEO of SJMC. The announcement was made by Ronald W. Dees, Chairman of the Board of Directors for SJMC which is co-owned by the Sisters of Charity Health System and University Hospitals (UH). Mr. Young will begin his new role by December 31, 2011.

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As a complement to a recent story about all area health systems’ community benefit contributions, which noted the Sisters of Charity Health System's collective annual community benefit of $54.6 million, The Plain Dealer has highlighted St. Vincent Charity Medical Center’s prescription assistance program.

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The Sisters of Charity Health System is taking a significant step into the future of patient care in Ohio by committing three of its medical centers to join the statewide health information exchange.

Plans now will begin for St. Vincent Charity Medical Center, St. John Medical Center and Mercy Medical Center to connect electronically to other Ohio physicians, hospitals, labs and health care entities. The projected timeline for implementation for St. Vincent Charity and St. John is the summer of 2012, and for Mercy Medical Center, the fall of 2012.

“The Sisters of Charity Health System’s medical centers are advancing our high quality of care by adopting health information technology that helps caregivers focus on prevention, care coordination and quality outcomes for patients,” said Sister Judith Ann Karam, CSA, president and CEO of the Sisters of Charity Health System.

“At our Ohio hospitals, this includes securely sharing data through the Ohio Health Information Partnership’s statewide electronic health information exchange, CliniSync, to better manage care, facilitate continuity and allow information access for patients,” she said.

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The Plain Dealer recently reviewed the community benefit local health systems provide throughout northeast Ohio. In 2010, the Sisters of Charity Health System and its subsidiaries, which include five acute care Catholic hospitals, three grantmaking foundations, several outreach organizations and two elder care facilities, collectively provided $54.6 million in community benefit. This includes $21.8 million in charity care at cost; $23.1 million in unpaid costs of Medicaid; and $9.7 million community health services, health professional education, community building activities and outreach to the medically disadvantaged.

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A series of three forums held at Cleveland State University in May and June aims to help attendees learn more about national health care reform. Free and open to the public, the forums are designed to encourage dialogue between citizens, government leaders and stakeholders in health care.

The third event in this series is:

National Health Reform Begins:  THE DELIVERY OF CARE STORY

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