It is a privilege to serve the citizens of Rhea County as the CEO of your hospital. Every day the Rhea Medical Center team works to improve our patient’s experiences and to seek out new ways to better serve our community. Too often people fail to realize the value of a community-based hospital until it is gone or taken over by a large healthcare organization. While the large healthcare organizations do some amazing things, they will always put profit over the local needs of the community. Every decision about the direction of your hometown hospital is made right here locally by people who utilize this facility on a regular basis. No decision about your hospital has been made by a corporate office located in another town or state.
I have a passion for customer service and protecting patients’ access to quality healthcare in rural markets. Rural residents deserve access to great medical care close to home. Whether you are a patient or an employee at Rhea medical, you will never be treated as a number. Every patient and every employee matters. My goal is 100% patient satisfaction. In my healthcare career, I have been very fortunate to work with some exceptional healthcare professionals and community leaders. When I interviewed for this position, I quickly realized the community and staff leaderships desire and dedication to do great things with their hospital. Since that time, my appreciation of the staff and the community has only grown.
Since I began serving this community, your hospital has made several major steps to improve the patient’s experience and better serve the needs of the community. In 2022 we completed the new Medical Office Building and partnered with Erlanger to grow the cardiology program here at Rhea Medical Center. Later that same year, we switched from Joint Commission to DNV accreditation as we sought to create an environment of continual improvement. We have brought our infusion and hospitalist programs in-house, and we will be bringing the Emergency Department physicians and our CRNA’s (Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist) in-house later this year. The addition of the Mako-robot has allowed us to grow our orthopedic program and perform state of the art hip and knee replacements with quicker recovery times and improved outcomes. Our newest service line is our Oncology clinic and on-site chemotherapy services to fill a much-needed healthcare gap in our community. You can now get exceptional oncology care right here in your hometown. These new services are just a small glimpse of the accomplishments your community healthcare team has done to improve your patient care experience.
I will continue to work closely with the staff and community leaders to look for ways to enhance our services and develop new programs that will make Rhea Medical the community’s first choice for healthcare in the region. There are great things happening at Rhea Medical everyday thanks to the dedication, professionalism and compassion of this remarkable staff. Please feel free to reach out to me about your experiences at Rhea Medical. I welcome your comments, thoughts, and suggestions. Your feedback will help guide me as I work to improve your hospital! Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your hospital and your community. I look forward to serving you!
Best Regards,
Hoss Whitt
Chief Executive Officer