Sweetwater Memorial names a new senior leader

Cindy Nelson has witnessed firsthand the positive impact a focus on person-centered care can have on an institution. She's now able to take that focus to the next level.

Nelson will join Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County's senior leadership team as its new Chief Experience Officer (CXO).

As part of the hospital's strategic plan, there is a focus on growing and developing staff to increase retention and satisfaction, said Chief Executive Officer Irene Richardson. Two of the hospital's five strategic plan pillars are dedicated to patient experience and employee experience.

"Cindy has been with our hospital family for 20 years and has done an incredible job of embracing and advancing our culture, patient experience, and employee experience," Richardson said. "We are so happy to put her in this role so she can continue to focus and concentrate on these initiatives and goals. Cindy has done amazing things with our culture and putting her in this role will allow her to take our culture, patient experience and employee experience to new levels."

Patient experience was targeted as a strategic focus in 2017. Since then, putting people at the center of the healthcare experience has become paramount in the hospital's mission of "Compassionate care for every life we touch."

"Irene invited me to coordinate our culture journey, and it has been an extraordinary opportunity to learn and serve," Nelson said. She will continue to lead these efforts in various ways.

Planetree: In 2018, MHSC partnered with Planetree International, a "passionate not-for-profit healthcare leader setting the global standard for person-centered excellence across the continuum of care." They partner with organizations to "deliver the leading evidence-based framework for co-designing your roadmap to improved patient and family engagement, better clinical outcomes, increased staff retention and recruitment, and high value care."

Since its implementation, 1,016 people at MHSC have completed the Planetree Experiential Workshop, and 773 had completed the Planetree's Language of Caring Communicating With Empathy Workshop.

"Using a person-centered care framework, we developed a Person-Centered Care Committee with over 30 staff members from different departments in the organization," Nelson said. "The committee has been working to obtain Excellence in Person-Centered Care Certification by focusing on the key drivers of: 1) Create organizational structures that promote engagement, 2) Connect values, strategies, and action, 3) Implement practices that promote partnership, 4) Know what matters, 5) Use evidence to drive improvement. The Committee is coordinating many good things for the staff and patients. We look forward to doing many more good things in the coming months."

Patient & Family Advisory Council: Recognizing the power of partnership with patients and families, the advisory council was formed in 2019.

"We believe the voice of the patients and family members must be included in decisions and plans that affect them," Nelson said. "We want and need their help in guiding our work and achieving goals together."

Community members are invited to participate in the monthly meetings, she said. CEO Irene Richardson leads the meetings, which last about 1.5 hours and include dinner. Each meeting begins with patient stories and mission moments. A question is posed each month for discussion. In-person department tours and visits from guests are also offered. The council currently has 17 active participants.

Nelson received her Associated of Arts Degree from Western Wyoming Community College and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration, Human Resources Management. She is a Senior Certified Professional through the Society of Human Resources Management, a Certified Planetree International Person-Centered Care Professional, and a Planetree International Fellow in Person-Centered Care.

At MHSC, she joins a leadership team of more than 35 and a team of senior leaders including Richardson, Chief Financial Officer Tami Love, Chief Nursing Officer Ann Clevenger, Chief Clinical Officer Kari Quickenden, and Chief Medical Officer Dr. Melinda Poyer.

"I am honored to join their team, and I support the important work they have been doing for many years now," Nelson said. "Improving and strengthening culture takes time. I plan to continue to promote the MHSC culture of person-centered care and values throughout the organization and our community one person at a time. I look forward to serving in this role to keep the good things that are happening at MHSC moving forward. 

"We send out surveys, receive thank you notes, read Google reviews online, and – because we live and work in this community – we have the opportunity to talk to people about their experiences wherever we go. I've received ideas for continued improvement at the Hospital wherever I go - while meeting with my daughter's teachers during school conferences, when watching my granddaughter's soccer game, or during a grocery shopping trip in the check-out line. We believe in continual improvement, so we mean it when we say we want feedback, ideas, and suggestions."

For more on this and all Sweetwater Memorial has to offer, go to sweetwatermemorial.com.