Transcription:
Reaching New Horizons in Health

Wendy Kelly: Welcome to Outer Banks Health, the official podcast of Outer Banks Health. Wow, that's the first time I get to say that since we have moved from the Outer Banks Hospital and Medical Group to Outer Banks Health, right, Jen, my co-host?

Jen Schwartzenberg: So exciting, Wendy. I mean, this is just a monumental time in Outer Banks's history, when we get to be Outer Banks's Health. We are joined today by the President of Outer Banks Health, Ronnie Sloan. Welcome.

Ronnie Sloan: Thank you.

Jen Schwartzenberg: It's great to see you.

Ronnie Sloan: It's great to see y'all. Great to talk about Outer Banks Health.

Wendy Kelly: A brand refresh that we're doing. So, can you tell us about the motivation behind this evolution?

Ronnie Sloan: Yeah, most definitely. And I think, first, we should just clarify because anytime someone sees a logo change or refresh or a new name, first thing they think is, "Well, who came in and purchased the Outer Banks Hospital and Medical Group?" And I certainly want to assure everybody in the community that is not the case. We are still the same organization, Outer Banks Hospital and Medical Group. We still have a great partnership with the ECU Health System, who is a 60% owner of the organization and Chesapeake Regional Healthcare, who is a 40% owner of the organization. Their strong backing helps us continue to be strong and innovate here in our local community.

You know, so why do you take a look at changing your logo or refreshing your name a little bit? And obviously 20 years ago, matter of fact, March of this year will be 21 years here in the Outer Banks as a hospital, but we're no longer just a hospital, all right? Now, we have about a dozen locations throughout the Outer Banks. All of our medical offices, our cancer program, our center of healthy living, our outreach coach that goes up and down the sand here. So, we're a lot more than a hospital. So obviously, the Outer Banks Hospital just didn't fit anymore. And we've also grown from about 150 team members to about 550 in the last dozen to 15 years as well. We really want to make sure that we encompass our entire team and help everyone in the community and our team understand that we're all together in this healthcare journey that we're in the community as well.

And I think the community's really going to love our new logo that goes along with Outer Banks Health. We're keeping our sunshine, which really means a lot to all of us who live, work and play here. It's all about the love we have for for the beach and the ocean and the sun, and you'll be excited to see it.

Jen Schwartzenberg: That's amazing, Ronnie. We're super excited about it. How does this new brand tie into what is the core mission of Outer Banks Health?

Ronnie Sloan: Right. I think it's very interesting. The mission of the hospital, you know, was written around 20, 21 years ago when the hospital opened, obviously, and really ahead of its time 20 plus years ago because wellness was in the mission. And we'd like to just read the whole mission for you right now. So, the mission of our hospital, Outer Banks Health System, is to enhance the quality of life for the residents and visitors of Dare County and surrounding region by promoting wellness and providing the highest quality healthcare services.

Most hospitals years ago were known for treating disease and treating the sick, but definitely not trying to keep people healthy and well and out of the hospital, kind of sounds counterproductive for a hospital. But our board of trustees and owners were way ahead of the game 20 years ago. And when you talk about health and wellness, it's all kind of the same. So, Outer Banks Health makes perfect sense to tie into our mission that we're not straying from.

Jen Schwartzenberg: That's great. I think, when I think about living here and playing here, working here and being the outreach director, certainly wellness, what we do with the health coach and going out into the community, I love that we're staying true to that piece of our mission.

Wendy Kelly: So when folks hear that you're changing your name and/or your logo, they want to know, "Well, when's it going to happen?" It's a big project. So, what do you think the timeline will be for this?

Ronnie Sloan: Well, we're going to release this to the community with this podcast and a lot of other information through the month of February and March. And then, we're going to take things slow. The community's going to see their logo is revised, but not totally new. So, you'll still see connectivity. Outer Banks's Health and Outer Banks's Hospital, Outback's Medical Group are very similar as well. So, we're not going to go really fast on the change. We're going to slowly change as we go throughout the calendar year. We hope in the end of the calendar year, we'll see Outback's Health everywhere versus the other logos, which will look confusing because we have multiple. But now, you'll be down to just one simple logo for our organization.

Jen Schwartzenberg: That's great. With this brand refresh and becoming Outer Banks Health, are there any new services that could be expected?

Ronnie Sloan: Yes, as always, you know, I would love to highlight a few new services over the last dozen years or so obviously, and then let the community know that we obviously are not going to stray from innovation and delivering everything we can to this community that is possible in a small, rural community.

In just over the last dozen years, for example, we've added ear, nose, and throat services, you know, urology services, opened up our first urgent care back in 2012 and then assumed another urgent care in the community in 2015 to ensure that that service was still available. Obviously, our cancer services journey is one of the biggest journeys that most of the community knows. And the outpouring of support, we're going to continue to thank our community for the outpouring of support to fund that cancer center, which will be opened later this calendar year, which will encompass all of our services in cancer, whether it's radiation therapy, transfusion work, chemotherapy, and there's nurse navigators and others as well. A Center for Healthy Living that we opened up, we have both integrated medicine and lifestyle medicine and health coaches in that program, which again goes back to Outer Banks Health and back to health and wellness. Obviously, Jen, I better mention, with you in the room, outreach and wellness and we have a new coach to unveil here shortly as well.

Jen Schwartzenberg: Timing really is perfect, isn't it?

Ronnie Sloan: It is most, definitely. And screenings, whether it's mammo screenings or FIT testing for colon cancer screenings or low-dose CT lung screenings over the years that we began. And, you know, telestroke, you know, about 10, 11 years ago, unfortunately, we weren't able to diagnose stroke patients easily here and we were getting people to emergency departments very quickly outside of the hospital here to be treated and get that lifesaving and life quality saving medicine. But with telestroke, now we deliver that medicine in our EDs. As a matter of fact, we consult telestroke about twice a day in our emergency department and making a huge difference here local for outcomes and for quality of life, and, of course, telepsychology as well.

So, all those programs we've been able to add over the last dozen years, and I definitely missed some things that we're doing. And currently, besides, say, our cancer center we're also expanding our hospital laboratory. We'll have a lot faster turnaround for some tests that normally we had to send out in the past, so we can treat our patients quicker and respond faster.

We're also though, at the same time, replacing our nuclear medicine camera, a technology in hospitals that is outdated very quickly. Also, our MRI unit is being replaced currently as well. Doing some work in our cardiologist section as well and that new health coach I mentioned. So ,we're continuing to grow and expand looking for new services that the community needs and that we can deliver here safely in a small rural community.

Wendy Kelly: That's a lot. That's a lot.

Ronnie Sloan: it's a lot. It's a lot of fun. It really is. The impact that this hospital and our team members have made in this community, it just really is amazing and that's why we all work in the crazy world that's called healthcare today.

Wendy Kelly: So with all of that, is there one thing you want folks who are listening to take away? Because sometimes people see a change like this and they're not sure what's going to happen.

Ronnie Sloan: Yeah, I think they can take away that nothing is changing, the innovation and national recognition that we've received over the last 10 or 11 years, the innovation in the community, respond to community's needs, it's not going to change. Just continue to go and grow.

And one thing I didn't mention is we're just getting ready to expand. The family medicine clinic in Manteo, which is one of the areas that we've not been able to touch over the years. So, we'll double the size of that facility over the next couple of years and go back and refurbish the current facility as well and expand that facility. So, that's some exciting stuff.

So, we're going to keep delivering really, really high compassionate care. That's what we're all about and that's what we're very picky with when we choose new team members to join us.

Wendy Kelly: Well, on that note, I'd like to thank you for joining us and clarifying and for the announcement to Outer Banks Health. If you've enjoyed this podcast, please visit the theobh.com/podcast for our full podcast library. I'm your co-host, Wendy Kelly.

Jen Schwartzenberg: And I'm Schwartzenberg. We'll talk with you again soon.