alking Trinty is a occasionally recurring address directly to readers from Trinity Health, as part of an agreement in which Minot Daily News is the exclusive conduit of this Trinity news and information – straight from the source.

Introduction

The current healthcare environment demands that significant change occur in the way healthcare is delivered. There are several changes that Trinity Health is making in order to meet these challenges. These include:

* Helping people stay healthy.

* Continually improving healthcare access.

* Identifying and recognizing the needs of the region and initiating appropriate new services to meet those needs.

* Demonstrating improved outcomes and create value.

* Leading the way in clinical technology and its application to delivering state-of-the-art healthcare.

* Incorporating design efficiencies that increase employee satisfaction and productivity.

Innovative and proven healthcare delivery strategies are being created, and our region has the ability and opportunity now to meet these challenges. Design strategies will provide flexibility between clinical departments, provide integration of diagnostic and surgical procedures and demonstrate collaboration within the entire spectrum of medical services to accomplish exceptional patient care with optimal outcomes.

A key to the evolution of healthcare delivery is recognizing the importance of each essential component and what that component must contribute to the overall health of an individual. Assessing the needs of our region and assuring the availability of health services necessary to care for its population will be primary functions of the new Trinity Health model.

We engage physicians and other collaborative healthcare providers, along with the entire Trinity Health workforce, and partner with them to drive change throughout the care process to both improve the care provided for the sick and help people remain healthy throughout their lives.

In accepting responsibility for our new focus, we welcome the profound challenge of collaboration across competitive and other boundaries in the following ways:

* Trading incentives (economic and other) which will be needed to promote new behaviors and leverage synergy with our partners.

* Embracing effective management of people, technology and economic resources in ways that are flexible and creative.

* Testing new ways of providing healthcare in a spirit of innovation and creativity. This can involve campus design, integration of physician office spaces into the overall facility design, and creation of inviting and sustainable facilities which promote healing and offer many other innovations.

Embedded in the promise and potential of the new Trinity Health Campus and Medical District are many challenges and requirements, but also many opportunities. This new model will support and enhance day-to-day care for people when they become ill, and provide an infrastructure throughout our region to help people maintain their health and wellness. This infrastructure will not only foster excellence, but will be a presence in North Dakota that accepts responsibility for the provision of healthcare services in our region, something in which Trinity Health and its staff have a personal stake. As a community-based and locally governed healthcare system, the new Trinity Health will have an even stronger allegiance to Minot and the surrounding healthcare service region.

This allegiance will compel Trinity Health to perpetually renew its commitment to:

* Provide a full continuum of healthcare services.

* Inspire and nurture innovation and sustainability.

* Act as a united healthcare locus of energy that has the capability to integrate providers and services and improve health outcomes for the community and the region.

* Create a network of key collaborators throughout the region to ensure the success of Trinity Health’s vision of a rural healthcare model providing a new standard of excellence.

Integration of creative and community-focused providers and services on the new Trinity Health campus will enhance the development of systems that facilitate information flow between providers and consumers. Consequently, the healthcare system will be held more accountable for the services it provides and the costs of providing care. This in turn creates the potential for real change in how and where we deliver care to our patients.