“Advanced care with a personal touch”

Our Health, Our Hospital

Big Rapids

2011 Annual Report

3 Our Technological Advantages

5 Our Friends and Neighbors

7 Our Forward Thinkers

9 Our Difference Makers

Our Mission

To provide quality, consumer-focused health care and education with a personal touch

Board of Trustees

Andrew J. Butler Bob Fulmer Frederick C. Guenther, M.D. Peter Kent Terry M. Nerbonne, Ph.D. Dave Nicol, Ph.D. Wayne O’Neil Jerome Schwind Jane Torry

Administration Sam Daugherty, Chief Executive Officer Netty Cove, Chief Clinical Officer Joe Hohenberger, Chief Financial Officer Eva Hecht, M.D., Chief of Staff Tom Hogenson, Director of Community Relations Sue Sullivan, Director of Human Resources

Art Direction/Design: Cassie FossittWriter: Debra Jacks

www.mcmcbr.com

1 Our Health, Our Hospital

Dear Community Members,

On behalf of our Board of Trustees, our Medical Staff and our over 500 employees, we are pleased to present to you the Mecosta County Medical Center Annual Report. This past year has been one of great success and accomplishment. As you read the stories and information provided, you will understand the collaboration necessary for the high quality of healthcare offered at Mecosta County Medical Center. The people pictured on the Report’s cover represent just a few of the dedicated individuals and teams who work together to ensure the tradition of “advanced care with a personal touch.”

“Our Health, Our Hospital” says it all. We are dedicated to providing the finest in healthcare to you and your family. We are grateful to our community for the continued support you provide to our hospital, and on behalf of everyone at Mecosta County Medical Center we say “Thank You.”

Sincerely,

Frederick C. Guenther, M.D., Chairman Sam Daugherty, Chief Executive OfficerMecosta County Medical Center Mecosta County Medical CenterBoard of Trustees

3 Our Technological Advantages

5 Our Friends and Neighbors

7 Our Forward Thinkers

9 Our Difference Makers

Our Health, Our Hospital 2

From the Chairman and the Chief Executive Officer

Medical Imaging – Patient-focused Technology

Think you need to travel to a big city hospital for the latest medical imaging techniques – not always. MCMC offers patients access to equipment

that uses a digital wireless cassette to capture x-ray images of internal body structures. This technology frees physicians from time consuming setup procedures and enables them to focus their efforts on doing what they do best − caring for our patients. This is just one example of the high quality medical imaging equipment available at MCMC.

Radiography, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computerized tomography (CT) and ultrasound create images of parts and functions of the body enabling physicians to examine patients. Nuclear medicine helps to diagnose and treat a wide variety of diseases and disorders through brain scans, thyroid uptakes and scans, lung scans, cardiac imaging, liver and gallbladder imaging and bone scans. Digital mammography is provided at the Kempton Center for Women where patients appreciate a comfortable, spa-like setting. These machines and techniques are designed to expose patients to the minimum amount of radiation required to obtain the images needed to make diagnosis and treatment decisions.

Interventional radiology, also known as image-guided, minimally invasive surgery, enables diagnosis and treatment of many disorders on an outpatient basis. Biopsies, drainage and catheter placement procedures are performed using image guidance minimizing the patient’s discomfort and reducing infection rates and recovery times.

All patient records, which include an average CT radiation dose report, are stored in digital format. These electronic images can be shared with specialists or other consulting medical professionals. Patients also have the option to pickup a CD of their images.

“Advanced care with a personal touch” - at MCMC this means the finest medical imaging technology is right here in our community.

64 Slice CT Scanner Captures three-dimensional, high-definition, color images in a non-invasive, painless procedure

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Our Health, Our Hospital 4

Laboratory – Patient Care Top Priority

Our Technological Advantages

Perks. We all love them. Whether it’s points for using our credit cards, miles for traveling on business or coupons for customer

loyalty, we enjoy rewards programs.

Mecosta County Medical Center Laboratory has created its own “perk” program for its “frequent flyers”, the average 1,400 patients who must be tested at regular intervals. Responding to patient’s comments regarding registration time and the specimen collection experience, Laboratory personnel developed a standing order process that smoothes the way for those 30 to 50 patients per day who require regular testing.

“Frequent flyers” are provided with a standing order card that gives them access to an entrance where they are registered and shown to a drawing room. The patient’s card records basic information including the ordering physician and the required tests. In addition to the “frequent flyer” patients, MCMC Laboratory services perform testing for out-patients, in-patients and ER patients. Staff collects specimens at other locations, maintain a blood drawing center at Mecosta Health Services Canadian Lakes and collect specimens at Altercare and Metron skilled nursing facilities. Results are immediately available electronically.

The MCMC Laboratory conducts approximately 300,000 billabletests each year and is accredited by the College of American Pathologists (CAP). CAP is an internationally recognized organization that conducts review process with teams of practicing laboratory professionals serving as inspectors. Designed to exceed regulatory compliance, this method of examination of laboratory processes and procedures helps achieve the highest standards of excellence.

Patients can rest assured that whether they are a “frequent flyer” or an outpatient having their annual tests, multiple checks are in place at MCMC’s Laboratory to ensure accuracy. That is the real “perk” at MCMC – knowing that our patient’s concerns are important and providing the information needed by physicians to maximize their impact on patient health.

Surgery – Patient Sight EnhancedCataracts are the leading cause of vision loss among adults age 55 and older and more than half of people over age 65 have some degree of cataract development. A cataract is a painless clouding of the lens in the eye reducing the ability to see clear images. At MCMC, the recent addition of the Stellaris™ Vision Enhancement System by Bausch & Lomb enables surgeons to provide patients with the advantages of micro-incision during their cataract surgery.

“This system provides the ability to reduce the size of the corneal incision to 9/100ths of an inch,” explained board certified ophthalmologist, Dr. Julie Boss, of Crew Eye Center. “A smaller incision causes less trauma to the cornea, reducing swelling and providing more predictable refractive results.”

Dr. Julie Boss performing cataract surgery

Our Friends and Neighbors

Alta Grubb - Growing Stronger Day by Day

Alta Grubb enjoys gardening. She appreciates the rewards that come from the attention that she gives to the flowers and plants in her yard. It is the patient and persistent care that Alta provides to

her garden daily that keeps it growing healthy and strong.

Heart disease claimed the lives of Alta’s father and several uncles. When she experienced chest pain while working in her yard coupled with her recent shortness of breath, she knew it was time to go to the Mecosta County Medical Center (MCMC) Emergency Department. MCMC physicians and staff stabilized Alta following two cardiac arrests so that she could be transferred to Meijer Heart Center. Immediate surgery placed two stents in her heart. The experience left Alta knowing she was lucky to be alive.

Alta has applied the same principles she uses in her garden to her cardiac rehabilitation – patience and persistence. She comes to rehab at MCMC three times a week and spends an hour working her way through a routine of bike, elliptical and treadmill exercise and some weight training. The staff, which includes her daughter, Tina, designed an exercise plan that has helped Alta regain and build strength. Her advice to anyone who has suffered from a heart ailment and is considering cardiac rehab is to, “Get here as fast as you can!”

Alta’s regular and consistent workouts are producing great results. One gauge of progress used by physicians is a patient’s “ejection fraction” which is a measurement of the percentage of blood leaving the heart each time it contracts – normal being 55 to 70 percent. Since Alta began her cardiac rehabilitation program, her percentage has increased from a below normal 25 percent to 60 percent. And in addition to feeling stronger and being able to enjoy watching her grandchildren grow, she appreciates the many new friends she has made while working out. “It’s the staff and people who make you want to keep coming back,” remarked Alta.

For more information about the departments at

Mecosta County Medical Center, visit www.mcmcbr.com.

Alta Grubb working out in Cardiac Rehab

5 Our Health, Our Hospital

Our Health, Our Hospital 6

Kurt and Sharon Schwamberger Care with a Personal Touch

Phone calls at 2:00 a.m. rarely bring good news. When Sharon Schwamberger was awakened in the wee hours by a call on her

business phone, she knew that it would be the best news that she had received in a long time. And she was right. It was her husband Kurt calling. He was to find out that he had been in a coma for six weeks and that the preceding medical events had left in question his mental capacity. Calling from his hospital bed with a very direct request to “get me out of here” was the beginning of Kurt’s recovery.

Kurt had enjoyed good health until a September morning when he felt nauseous and began vomiting blood. A call to 911 brought him to Mecosta County Medical Center’s (MCMC) Emergency Department. Physicians and medical staff worked to stabilize his condition and arrange transportation to Spectrum Blodgett. The Schwambergers believe that the timely assessment of Kurt’s symptoms and condition was pivotal in his survival. He coded two minutes after arriving in Grand Rapids, had no heart rate for 4.52 minutes and required 27 units of blood. “Everyone worked so well together to help Kurt,” commented Sharon. “Every minute counted in getting him the help that he needed.”

Kurt and Sharon, both successful Fortune 500 company executives, moved to the area in 2000 and four years later established S and K Consulting, Inc., a firm that provides custom solutions to businesses in the areas of employee benefits, business consulting services, risk management, insurance/reinsurance, audits, executive search and most recently, technology-based security products for individuals and businesses. The Schwambergers knew that they needed assistance in determining what was next. Having met MCMC’s Director of Community Relations, Tom Hogenson, at Mecosta County Area Chamber of Commerce activities, he was the first person Sharon called for help in determining their options for Kurt’s care. “Tom answered my questions and connected me with the

Medical Center’s Director of Inpatient Rehabilitation, Suzie Pierce, who came to Grand Rapids and answered more of our questions and assessed Kurt’s needs,” Sharon explained. “Everything was uncertain at the time and having these two very knowledgeable patient advocates available was exceptionally helpful.”

MCMC’s Home Health Care provided services to the Schwambergers for about six weeks. “I’d use them again,” Kurt remarked. “They were knowledgeable, friendly, always on time and communicated well. They answered our questions and if they didn’t know the answers, they found the information that we needed.” MCMC’s Outpatient Physical Therapy worked with Kurt for a month to help him regain his strength.

Kurt and Sharon are very grateful for his recovery. “We appreciated the personalization of the care we received – no cookie cutter programs,” said Sharon. Kurt concluded, “It is reassuring to know that a catastrophic event that causes you to need an individualized combination of care can be handled locally.”

From left: Suzie Pierce, Kurt Schwamberger, Sharon Schwamberger,

Tom Hogenson

Our community can take great pride in their support of Foundation efforts including:

The Foundation’s first capital campaign captured the interest and enthusiasm of area residents and supported the purchase of two digital mammography machines. Championed by Karl and Cindy Linebaugh, Bob Emerson and Dee VanHorn, donors embraced the campaign message that “they deserve the best” and conveyed their approval through unprecedented generosity.

Patients entering the Kempton Center for Women immediately sense MCMC’s commitment to the health and well being of women in our service region. In addition to the advantages offered by digital mammography technology, patients enjoy a new waiting room, increased privacy and other enhancements intended to reduce anxiety. Named for Arnold and Isabel Kempton, steadfast Medical Center and Foundation advocates who share the unique distinction of having each served as Chair of its Board of Trustees, the Center also offers bone density testing, ultrasonography and stereotactic biopsy procedures.

The Susan P. Wheatlake Women’s Cancer and Wellness Fund, an endowed fund of the MCMC Foundation, provides operational support to the Wheatlake Cancer and Wellness Center which includes a library and Wellness Boutique and offers an educational Cancer Awareness Series. This year’s highlights included the 4th Annual Wellness Walk, a sold out Charity Golf Outing and a new activity, “Paint Big Rapids Pink,” an extremely successful community-wide breast cancer awareness effort.

Healthcare is one of the most important components of a successful community. Access to preventative services, emergency and

urgent treatment as well as care for chronic conditions helps our region’s residents enjoy healthy and productive lives.

The Mecosta County Medical Center (MCMC) Foundation assists residents of its service region with a variety of opportunities to support the healing mission of the Medical Center. Members of its Board represent the interests of our diverse and dynamic population and provide leadership to its projects and activities. The Foundation seeks financial and relational resources by encouraging donors to choose to invest in patient-focused healthcare.

MCMC Foundation Board

Mecosta County Medical Center Foundation Supporting Our Hospital

7 Our Health, Our Hospital

Dave Borth, Chair Dolores HoranWayne O’Neil, Vice Chair Pete Kent June Kilmer, Treasurer Peter Macdonald, M.D.Jerena Keys, Secretary Steve MillerNancy Baldwin Sheila NeroCarman Bean Raymond Nouhan Sam Daugherty Barb PillsburySharon Doxsee Julie Tetsworth Dena Durante Delores “Dee” VanHorn Bob Emerson Scott Whitney Tom Hogenson Gail Wyatt Joe Hohenberger

Ferris State University Catering, Meijer, Patterson’s Flowers, and Currie Parker Auction Services, our friends and neighbors help provide resources for equipment purchases – this year’s event supported Birthing Center equipment needs.

Donors have provided $299,315 in grants over the past eleven years to Medical Center departments to support equipment purchases and staff development to help ensure the finest possible healthcare for patients.

What’s next for the MCMC Foundation? The Medical Center has requested assistance with another capital improvement project

- the renovation of its 15-year old Birthing Center – a facility that welcomes over 650 babies annually. Plans include the development of a second outpatient examination/testing room for mothers and redesign of the nursing station to create a larger medication room and provide for a more efficient workflow as well as increased security. The existing nursery will be reconfigured to be a nurse’s station and a nursery that accommodates the needs of babies and the nurses caring for them.

Mecosta County Medical Center Foundation extends its gratitude to everyone for helping to ensure that residents and visitors to our community benefit from its efforts. The generosity of our community is a tangible source of encouragement to our medical staff and employees as they provide state-of-the-art care and support.

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Our Forward Thinkers

The 2010 Northern Lights Award recipients were celebrated for their achievements at a reception at the Comstock House sponsored by Jack Batdorff and The Pioneer Group. Each had been surprised by Foundation representatives at their place of business or other appropriate setting. Those honored included Sueann Walz for Management, Business and Industry, Habitat for Humanity for Environment, “The Big Event” Ferris State University Student Government for Civics, Nate Green for Outdoor Activities and Sports, Mary Doran for Social Services and Health, Karen Schneider for Training and Education and Kym Nicholas for Arts and Entertainment.

The Ford Club of Canadian Lakes generously hosted its 11th Annual Benefit Golf Outing at St. Ives Golf Club assisting the Foundation. This volunteer event was the first to dedicate its proceeds to the renovation of the Medical Center’s Birthing Center.

Donors to the MCMC Foundation gratefully participated in the Mecosta Area Community Foundation Match Day which provided funding to the Susan P. Wheatlake Women’s Cancer and Wellness Fund, the Surgical Services Fund and the Cardiac/Pulmonary Rehabilitation Fund.

Artistic and generous residents of our community and those who purchase their creations and gifts joined together to welcome the holiday season at the Foundation’s annual Festival of Trees. Led by Committee Chair Gail Wyatt and Creative Chair Joyce Davenport and hosted by Chemical Bank, Gary Trimarco Automotive,

Our Difference Makers

“The staff was COURTEOUS, POLITE, UNDERSTANDING and

OUTGOING. Other hospitals need people like them.”

“I drive 30 miles more to get to Mecosta County Medical

Center because the CARE IS THAT GOOD.”

529,995Pounds of laundry

23,100Emergency Department visits

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50,991Medical imagingprocedures

215,000Outpatient lab tests

105,795Meals served in the cafeteria

Includes: 41,600 cartons of milk 1,560 pounds of chicken breasts 1,300 pounds of lettuce 1,040 pounds low-fat cottage cheese

“I just like Mecosta County Medical Center. They are small enough to care, but big enough to do what has to be done in an

emergency.”

Patient comments from Arbor Associates, an opinion research company

“They all go ABOVE and BEYOND and treated me with dignity. I feel good about the experience I had at MCMC.”

Hospital Statistics 2008 2009 2010

Births 658 707 633

Inpatient Rehab 127 140 140

Surgeries 3,389 3,181 3,497

Home Health Admissions 697 746 845

Inpatient Admissions 2,421 2,445 2,407

Year End 2010

Total Gross Revenue $87,700,000

Total Net Revenue $47,600,000

Total Expenses $47,500,000

Operating Margin $100,000

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Financial Health

25,000

20,000

15,000

10,000

5,000

0 2008 2009 2010

Emergency Department Visits

Outpatient Visits

Mecosta County Medical Center provided over $13 million to the residents of our service region in the form of charity care, Medicaid shortfalls,

programs and outreach services.

140,000

120,000

100,000

80,000

60,000

40,000

20,000

0 2008 2009 2010

MCMC and MHS Combined

Patient comments from Arbor Associates, an opinion research company

Year End 2010

Total Gross Revenue $87,700,000

Total Net Revenue $47,600,000

Total Expenses $47,500,000

Operating Margin $100,000

Canadian Lakes