OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — In this edition of the Morning Lift 3 News Now's Zach Williamson heads to our north Omaha neighborhood to pick up CHI Health Immanuel President Anthony Ashby.
Ashby is originally from Baltimore. He has lived in Omaha and been with CHI Health Immanuel for about six years and is closing in on six months as the hospital's president. He says his family has fallen in love with Omaha and the community. His daughter, who is almost one year old, was born at CHI Health Immanuel.
Ashby says the message at the hospital is: we are the north. As CHI Health Immanuel is the only full-service hospital north of Dodge Street. The hospital serves a very diverse population. Ashby says many people only think of north Omaha as northeast omaha. However, ther hospital is just south of the Omaha Country Club.
While he says there are many things that brought him to the faith-based hospital, one of the big ones was the behavioral services it provides. Ashby says many of the other hospitals he previously worked with never did behavioral services or stopped doing them because of the challenges it provides. However, CHI Health Immanuel has stuck with behavioral services, and Ashby says they have the most comprehensive behavioral services in the region.
While cruising through campus Ashby pointed out the new CHI Health Family Health Clinic. He says it doubled the size of their primary care footprint. The urgent care is also housed in the clinic. He says the amount of patients who visit the urgent care now has gone up 80 percent. This has helped clear up the emergency room a bit.
There are a handful of challenges Ashby shared that CHI Health Immanuel and heathcare providers in general are facing. He says there's a lot of physicians and practitioners who are retiring soon and there's currently not enough people coming through medical school to back that.
Another big concern is the uncertainty with the new government administration. He says there's a lot of things up in the air with regards to reimbursement and funding, and specifically medicaid. CHI Health takes cares of the most medicaid patients in the state of Nebraska.
Ashby also says they're seeing more premature deliveries. They are in the process of opening up a Level II NICU to be able to take care of premature babies up to 32 weeks. This will allow them to care for more babies and their families, rather than having to send them to another hospital.
Ashby highlighted the Nebraska Spine Hospital, which is a joint venture connected to the hospital. He says people from all across the country, and even the world, go there for spine surgery. Ashby tells us it ties very well CHI Health Immanuel's physical rehab and neurology departments. The hospital's inpatient physical rehab is ranked the best in the state by US News & World Report.
A few other things Ashby touched on:
- CHI Health donated the land behind the hospital to the City of Omaha to connect more of biking/walking trails in north Omaha.
- Something neighbors have been wanting for quite some time. Click here for that original story.Hospitals are realizing that most of the health issues for patients are stemming from things like food scarcity, not having a home and/or not having a job.
- The hospital has given out grants to community organizations who specialize in these field to better support patients.
- The COVID-19 pandemic was challenging on everyone, especially healthcare workers, as many left the career field.
- However, a positive that has come from it has been the rise of telehealth. Making it easier to treat and speak to patients and their families who aren't able to make it in to the hospital.
- There are more than 1,000 employees at CHI Health Immanuel.
- Ashby says as President his focus is constantly on the employees. "You can't be a great place to receive care if you aren't a great place to work."
