Update on UI Health Care Medical Center Downtown: Q&A with Emily Blomberg
In January, Deborah Berini, MHA, was appointed on an interim basis as chief integration officer and chief administrative officer to lead the management and integration of downtown campus with the plan to begin a search for a permanent leader at a later stage.
Her last day in her interim role with UI Health Care will be May 10, as she has accepted a permanent role at SSM Health in St. Louis as president of DePaul Hospital. Until then, she will remain the on-site leader at the downtown campus, focused intently on ensuring continuity of patient care, overall operations, and implementing Epic.
As we look to the future, we talked with Emily Blomberg, MHA, chief operating officer for UI Hospitals & Clinics, about why the time is right to search for a permanent chief administrative officer for the downtown campus.
Why did UI Health Care appoint an interim leader for downtown campus?
We needed an interim leader to help provide a smooth transition for employees, providers, and patients. Deb Berini joined us in January with an incredible amount of experience, focused on helping the team complete the transition from Mercy Iowa City to UI Health Care on Jan. 31, maintaining operations at the downtown campus, and implementing Epic, our electronic medical records (EMR) system.
Why is UI Health Care now looking for a permanent chief administrative officer for the downtown campus?
Overall, the transition at the downtown campus has gone well, and we’ve maintained levels of care and services, which is what we planned. As we look ahead, we see a permanent chief administrative officer for the downtown campus playing an important role in leading future phases. As Deb pursues a new opportunity in May, the time is right for us to hire a permanent leader for the downtown campus. The job will be posted soon. Of course, as Brad Haws recently shared, we’re still in an exploratory phase when it comes to planning for downtown campus. Normal timelines to integrate another hospital into a system usually take several years. We’re still listening and learning.
There's a lot of focus on Epic right now. Can you share more on the benefits of moving to a common platform?
After the initial transition and onboarding of the downtown campus, we prioritized the implementation of Epic to be able to roll it out as quickly as possible. Moving to Epic as the common platform will be the technological backbone that will allow us to operate as a true system, facilitating continuity of care and enhancing patient safety. We are targeting the launch for May 2024, and Deb will remain here through Epic implementation. We’re appreciative of all the teams working to make the go-live a success.
Consolidating all records to Epic also means we will have the data to provide a more complete picture across our system, giving us a better understanding of the health care needs of our patients and allowing us to make better decisions, powered by that data.
Some downtown campus providers and staff already have experience with Epic. They have shared their excitement. We believe the system will make managing care easier with less time focused on the administrative elements of an EMR system.
When do you see integration being completed for the downtown campus?
Bringing a hospital into a larger system is complex, even when all goes as expected. And while there are project timelines and deadlines, as with the case of the Epic roll out, it’s hard to define an end date when we’re still in the early stages of integration. We’re making progress every week, and I’m thankful to everyone who is working to make this transition as successful as possible for our people, patients, and community.