The Community of Sonoma Valley Health Care District

June 8, 2023

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I opened our June Board meeting by recounting a number of events I had had the pleasure of attending over the past month. These included a BBQ lunch at our hospital for staff in honor of National Hospital Week, a dinner at the Sonoma Woman’s Club benefitting our Sister City Kaniv, Ukraine, a movie at the Sebastiani Theatre benefitting Vintage House, a gala for Sweetwater Spectrum at Hanna Center’s beautiful event venue, at which former SVHCD Board Chair Josh Rymer was one of the honorees, a rock concert at the Sebastiani Theatre benefitting Cancer Support Sonoma, and finally the Women’s Health Symposium, also at Hanna. The Women’s Health Symposium is an annual event put on by the Sonoma Valley Hospital Foundation which in recent years has focused on educational topics of interest to women, presented by a panel of physician experts from UCSF. Each of these events included organizations that partner with the Hospital in some way, and all of them were well-attended and joyful, and reminded me that we are part of a wonderful community that cares about the people who live here.

Sonoma Valley Hospital Foundation continues to support our Hospital

Dave Pier, SVHF Executive Director, gave his annual report to the Board. As we all know, the Sonoma Valley Hospital Foundation is an independent ‘arm’ that does fundraising for SVH capital projects. It is a non-profit organization with 501c(3) status, and is careful to follow best practices in that regard. Recent projects include the Outpatient Diagnostic Center, support of transition to Epic, ICU renovation, women’s health and wellness (Pixaray breast scope and four new EKG machines), continuing education for staff, and Project Pink, which provides free mammograms for uninsured women. Mr. Pier’s report was well received by the Board. He informed us that in 2022, SVHF changed to a more community-centric approach with a rebranding exercise. Funded by SVHF, the main takeaway of this exercise was a more inclusive vernacular – of, by and for our community.

Objectives for 2023 include finishing the fundraising appeal for the Epic implementation from last calendar year, deepening relationships with existing donors, expanding the donor base, strengthening the Board with additional community members, and teaming with our hospital leadership on upcoming capital project fundraising strategies.

Mr. Pier spoke at length on the strength of the Foundation coming from its volunteers, the SVHF Board and community leaders. He also expressed his appreciation for his great working relationship with Mr. Hennelly, SVH President & CEO. I have been fortunate to have had the role of liaison between our two boards for the past two years, and have witnessed the enthusiasm, talent, and commitment of the Foundation Board first-hand. I would like to point out just one example of their fiscal responsibility and efficiency: In 2023, it cost them 18 cents to raise a dollar. The industry standard for a foundation of their size is 36 cents.

SVHF strategic priorities remain committed to Sonoma Valley Hospital – capital projects, marketing to the donor community, and focused community messaging to those who are engaged or can be. It is important for our donors to realize that, because they do not have 501c(3) non-profit status, hospitals like ours cannot accept direct donations. Anyone wishing to donate can do so through the Foundation.

Strategic Plan 2023-2028

John Hennelly, SVH President & CEO announced the printing of the Strategic Plan, which was approved by the Board at our May meeting, and implementation is beginning. He distributed hard copies of the plan, which is also available online in both English and Spanish. The Strategic Plan highlights four priorities: Realign our Main Campus, Bring Care Into the Community, Achieve Financial Stability, and Meet Seismic Compliance.

Mr. Hennelly also distributed the freshly published Sonoma Valley Mental Health Resource Guide, produced by the Sonoma Valley Mental Health Collective. This collective is made up of 17 community agencies, pooling resources to ensure access to mental health resources for all Sonoma Valley Residents. It is primarily based at the Community Health Hub at Hanna Center. Supervisor Susan Gorin’s office has been instrumental in funding.

Service Line Development

In her report,Sonoma Valley Hospital CMO Dr. Sujatha Sankaran brought us up to date on her initiatives.
Dr. Sankaran’s Age Friendly Health System objective is underway with the hiring of Geriatric Nurse Practitioner Becky Spears. Ms. Spears is the first NP on staff at SVH with her initial focus on perioperative and orthopedic care. She will also be very engaged in community outreach.

Other service line improvements and progress include:

• The new emergency medicine group – August 1, 2023
• Telehealth Urology with Dr. Peter Carroll – July, 2023
• E-ICU telehealth hospitalist pilot program – October, 2023
• Telepsych consultation, with a Nurse Practitioner and Psychiatrist – August, 2023

Dr Sankaran also announced a new initiative, co-led with La Luz, to address diabetes, an illness that imposes a considerable burden on members of our Latino community. This will include screening, education, and referral.

Sonoma Valley Hospital FY24 Budget & Financial Report: Benjamin Armfield, SVH CFO
Mr. Armfield presented the FY 24 budget and capital spending plan, which covers projected capital expenditures through FY 26. Both the budget and spending plan were approved by the Board.

He also reported on April financials, which exceeded both budget and the prior year by a significant amount and was also the best month financially from operations this fiscal year. In fact, April marks the fifth month since the hospital went ‘live’ with the new Epic EHR platform, and the hospital has exceeded budget each of those five months. Year-to-date, the hospital’s operating margin exceeds both budget and prior year by over 10%.

Mr. Armfield spoke on the recent trend, indicating the transition to Epic has been a very positive one for our hospital due much in part to Epic streamlining the billing process.

Next Board Meeting

The next regular District Board meeting will be held on Thursday, July 6, 2023, at 6 pm. The public is encouraged to participate by attending the meeting either in person or via Zoom. The in-person meeting will be held at Sonoma City Council Chamber (on First Street West, adjacent to the police station). The Zoom link and meeting agenda are both available on the hospital website at www.sonomavalleyhospital.org.

Sincerely,

Judy

Judith Bjorndal, M.D.