NPR 2/28/18 “The National Rural Health Association says 673 rural hospitals are at risk to close, and 210 of those are at “extreme risk”— 60 rural hospitals closed between 2010 and February 2016.” These facts portend a serious health and economic crisis for rural communities like Fairfield across the nation.
However, our hospital, Fairfield Memorial is still open and providing essential services to our community. Thanks to the superb efforts of the hospital’s staff and administration, and the county council, our hospital continues to provide vital services such as emergency care, mammography diagnostic screening, general, ob and vascular ultra sound screening, physical and respiratory therapy, general CT screening diabetic education, and more. In fact, our hospital provided such healthcare to over 14,400 patients in fiscal 2017. That figure equates to about 60% of the county’s ENTIRE population.
Furthermore, patient surveys portray a very high level of patient satisfaction with the care provided at FMH. In other words, 97%+ (100% in March) of FMH patients are recording satisfied to very satisfied nursing and physician experiences at our hospital. As you can imagine, these scores are well above national averages; not always perfect but a lot better than most and continuing to strive to be perfect.
Yes quality essential health services are clearly alive and well at Fairfield Memorial. Of course, that legacy will continue until Providence’s new state of the art facility opens towards the end of this year.
Randy Bright
Ridgeway