Hospital CEO spoke at Monday’s study session after discussion item added at last minute
By Morgan Rothborne, Ashland.news
Brandon Mencini, chief executive officer for Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center and Asante Ashland Community Hospital, offered vague but firm reassurance that Ashland Community Hospital will not close to the Ashland City Council at its study session Monday night after discussion of the hospital’s status was added in a last minute change to the agenda.
“We are not closing — the hospital possibly closing, that’s just simply not true. From an anesthesia standpoint, I think that’s the question that spurred a lot of this. … We’re currently working with our existing anesthesiologist at the hospital and looking at anesthesia system-wide. But it’s our plan to continue all surgical services; there’ll be no gap in coverage as it relates to anesthesia,” he said.
Graham stated a hospital representative was invited to speak at the council meeting “given that we had some public discussion at our last public meeting.”
Answering a question regarding the intensive care unit, Mencini was blunt: Four beds is too small for a proper ICU. But he said he will be having coffee with Ashland Fire & Rescue Chief Ralph Sartain soon to discuss the hospital and the logistical needs of Ashland’s paramedics. As a former EMT, the issue is “close to his heart,” he said.
Mencini demurred at every iteration of questions from councilors and Mayor Tonya Graham about the in-process strategic plan for the hospital and what Ashland residents can expect of the future. He pointed to his awkward position in time — he was hired in June. The decisions to alter the operations at the hospital were made before he came on board, and the hospital’s strategic plan won’t be complete until an unknown future date.
However, regarding recent conversations he’s had with Asante top brass with respective decades of work experience and investment in Asante in the Rogue Valley, he insisted the consensus at the top was clear: While certain pressures such as inflation or staffing may alter the offerings at the Ashland Community hospital, it will not close.
“We’re going to be around forever,” he said.
City internal communications protocols
Interim City Manager Sabrina Cotta gave two presentations on initiatives for a smoother running bureaucracy for Ashland: streamlined communication protocols and a long-term strategic plan.
“We have many stand-alone plans. This is more, where do those fit into the overall structure?” she said.
The goals most frequently brought up in council business — housing, economic development and wildfire — all require years of organized commitment, Cotta said.
“A plan that is a long-term vision that includes those (three priorities) is very important to be able to have that consistency over time, to have staff have something to point toward to say, ‘this is the city’s priority, this is our recommendation for this — for this decision, for this investment, for this budget,’ and that helps kind of have that solid foundation to march through time,” she said.
A strategic plan would hone the city’s priorities and lead to better prioritization of staff time and budget funds, Cotta said. She said she’s created strategic plans previously, and provided two example plans, including one for Colorado Springs where from 2018 to 2019 she held the job title Interim Strategic Plan & Performance Administrator/ Analyst II Office of Innovation and Sustainability, according to a redacted version of her resume.
The plan would be the first of its kind for the city, Cotta said. Graham stated the city had a strategic plan that ended in 2016 and only charted out short-term goals five years into the future. Cotta requested the strategic plan be included in the upcoming budget cycle due to the large amount of staff time and smaller amount of consultant time it will require. Councilors and Graham expressed support for the project.
The city’s new website is structured with reorganized modes of communication to improve resident’s ability to get a quick response from the correct city staff member, Cotta said. Each department now has its own email address, allowing residents’ questions to reach an entire department and more likely receive an informed answer.
Cotta said her goal is for residents’ questions to be answered within around 24 hours — though she asked city staff be given some grace if a question is sent at 4 p.m. on a Friday.
The website also includes a form to contact all of council, email addresses listed for each individual elected official, and “contact us” boxes at the top right of each department’s page, Cotta said, using the electric department as an example.
Additional online communication services such as reporting potholes and dead streetlights will be live in the near future, she said. Councilor Eric Hansen asked if the city’s utilities department has its own email address, and was told residents can now contact utilities via email at utilitybilling@ashland.or.us.
Suggested further communication protocols include creating tighter communication loops to keep top brass equally informed. Councilors are now asked to include the city manager on emails sent to department heads and department heads responding to a councilor will be expected to include all council and the mayor in their reply.
Email Ashland.news reporter Morgan Rothborne at morganr@ashland.news.
Related stories:
Asante CEO: ‘There will be no gap in coverage’ at Ashland hospital (Aug. 16, 2024)
‘Crisis at the hospital’: Potential loss of anesthesia services, surgical services at Ashland hospital concerns medical professionals (Aug. 8, 2024)
Ashland mayor, councilor weigh in on Ashland hospital concerns (Aug. 8, 2024)
Future of Ashland hospital: Concerned Ashland residents to address City Council at today’s meeting (Aug. 6, 2024)
Asante Ashland Community Hospital ICU to close by Jan. 1 (Dec. 16, 2022)
