Dr. Jay Reynolds, chief medical officer, accepts the
“Top Rural Hospital” award on behalf of TAMC.
TAMC is now offering more services than ever before
in northern and southern Aroostook County. Oncol-
ogy, cardiology, sleep medicine, urology, and ENT
services are all offered at sites other than Presque Isle.
Quality: Earning Honors
TAMC, like all of the County’s hospitals, is committed
to the safe, quality care of its patients. It was particu-
larly rewarding this year when the hospital was one
of only 18 in the country to be named a “Top Rural
Hospital” by The Leapfrog Group. “Earning the award
is nice because it means this national organization
gained visibility of what we have seen for years and
will see for years to come: care in The County is high
quality,” said LaFrancois. “But this award is not what
really matters to us. What matters is the quality of the
care delivered to each patient one visit at a time.”
Another unexpected and significant recognition in
2017 was a “Pump-Handle Award” from the Maine
Center for Disease Control and Prevention. TAMC
was presented the award after working closely with the
Maine CDC regarding a potential TB outbreak in the
area last fall.
Just as significant as awards were milestones acknowl-
edging the tremendous work that does on regularly
regarding patient quality and safety. For instance, the
County Dialysis Center received a perfect score (no
deficiencies) during its annual state survey. “When
they come, they are looking at things very carefully….
our policies and procedures, condition of equipment
26
WINTER 2018
A number of providers (shown above) and administrators
volunteered their time over a Saturday to offer a special clinic.
and facilities, staff knowledge, and more. Having a
zero deficiency survey is rare but not surprising,” says
LaFrancois. “The center has exceptional leadership
and the most incredibly passionate group of profes-
sionals you will ever meet caring for our patients. Our
community owns credit for this accomplishment as
well. This state-of-the-art facility was funded in part
by community donations.”
Finances: Being Fiscally Sound
While finishing a fiscal year in the black may sound
like a basic goal that all businesses strive to meet, it
just isn’t always possible for today’s hospitals. The
financial strains of providing care regardless of an in-
dividual’s ability to pay, along with the low reimburse-
ment rates of government payees, such as Medicare
and Medicaid, directly impact the bottom line. This
makes it all the more exciting that TAMC finished
FY2018 in the black, according to LaFrancois.
“We tightened budgets and cut down where we could,
such as with our marketing. We also invested where
we needed to enable us to build revenue, overhauled
processes involving debt collection and made some
tough decisions regarding personnel and capital
equipment. This was a tremendous swing and really
was a huge collective effort.”
Why is this important? “We need to be here to pro-
vide services to the community for generations to
come. To do that, it is vital that we remain financially
stable,” he says.