According to a piece from PBS Newshour, for Michael Williams, MD, then CEO of Hill Country Memorial and now president of the Health Science Center at the University of North Texas in Fort Worth, Quinn Kott’s death was a pivotal moment. “We had a clear opportunity to either do what most hospitals do and what we had done previously, which was get our attorneys involved, be prepared for a lawsuit…or we could take a different approach and work directly, reach out to the family and ask them to partner with us in really transforming the hospital.”
The hospital’s problems were not limited to the ER; there were larger external obstacles to overcome. Since 2010, over 50 rural hospitals have closed and hundreds more are in precarious financial situations due declining rural populations and reductions in Medicare disbursement.
To turn the culture of his hospital around, Dr. Williams studied the Toyota plant in San Antonio and hired former Toyota employee Jeff Darnaby to implement lean principles at HCM. Dr. Williams also plucked talent from Southwest airlines and Ritz-Carlton in the hopes of reshaping the hospital’s values and improving patient satisfaction.
The changes are notable upon entry. ER wait times have been reduced. Staff and physicians greet patients in the hallway and are more attentive to their concerns. For a selected time in the afternoon, hallway lights are darkened so patients can rest. The hospital was also able to significantly cut costs and improve efficiency.
Seven years after the tragedy, Hill Country Memorial has been recognized with a presidential honor for excellence through innovation and leadership, the Baldrige Award.
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