WV Executive

Throughout the past eight years, we have carefully assessed the specific behavioral health needs in our community, and as a result, have developed a number of programs and services specifically tailored to meet those needs. Since 2003, we have added 130 new employees who support those services and programs that most adequately address the specific needs of our community.

Every health care provider organization has a limited amount of clinical resources, so once you determine what programs and services you need, it comes down to how you allocate and prioritize, in terms of which clinicians get assigned to which programs and services. No individual behavioral health care organization can service all the behavioral health needs in a community – it is impossible. The programs we have implemented at Northwood are designed to address what we determined were specific needs of the community that were largely going un-serviced.

In order to address one of these needs, Northwood developed a 24/7/ 365 crisis response program in connection with Wheeling Hospital’s emergency room. Thirty clinicians have been assigned to that program since 1998 to address this important need in our community. I am not aware of another comprehensive behavioral health center in West Virginia that provides this level of triage services to hospital emergency rooms.

Additionally, over the past two years, we have allocated 15 clinicians to provide a home and school-based program called “Choices” for children and their families. We are addressing children’s needs at the elementary school level to assist certain children in their developmental years. We involve the teachers, principals, parents and children in our “Choices” program guiding families along a healthy developmental path over a period of several years. We provide the “Choices” program to three Ohio County schools at no cost to them.

Northwood in 2000 implemented the only Snoezelen Sensory Stimulation environment in the state of West Virginia. Snoezelen Sensory Stimulation Therapy is not currently funded in the United States. There are currently only a few hundred such environments in the country and very few are used in behavioral health provider treatment settings. We have found this environment to be particularly beneficial to children with ADHD, autism and other significant behavioral health issues.

I am not aware of another behavioral health center anywhere in the State of West Virginia that offers all of the services and programs that Northwood Health Systems provides.

What factors were involved in Northwood's community assessment?

We began our community assessment by relying on our expert clinical knowledge. We looked at existing behavioral health services in the community and saw certain deficiencies. After that, we began providing services to address some of those specific community needs. The assessment is an ongoing, fluid process uniquely tailored to the specific needs of our clients and the communities we serve. In addition to addressing community needs, we provide many of our clients with case management services so we can best monitor and meet their individual needs. Both the community and individual assessments are an integral part of our strategic planning process – it is a vital part of our strategic business model.

We have developed a very sophisticated infrastructure, including strategic planning in eight clinical areas, which skillfully integrates sound business principles and sound clinical practices. Each clinical and administrative area meets weekly and then meets with me every couple months as part of that strategic planning process.

Who is addressing the services in the community that Northwood is not offering?

Every community has more behavioral health care needs than any single behavioral health care provider can service. The key is to not reinvent the wheel or duplicate working efforts that already exist in the community. We are fortunate to have a number of quality organizations in our service area addressing behavioral health needs. For example, Northwood does not provide residential services to children. One reason that we do not offer this service is because several other quality organizations in our service area provide excellent residential services for children, including the Children’s Home of Wheeling, Youth Services System, St. John’s Home for Children, and Crittenton Services.

Do you think there should be an entity that coordinates behavioral health services?

Until there is a clearly defined national plan addressing the legitimate needs of the various constituencies in the behavioral health care industry, I don’t think simply appointing a national coordinator would be all that successful. The behavioral health care system includes important constituencies like behavioral health provider organizations, advocacy groups, federal and state government, and most important clients. The varied interests of these groups and complex funding issues are important strategic matters that need addressed in a comprehensive plan.

Do you think we need a national behavioral health director?

A national behavioral health director would likely add a layer of bureaucracy, too far removed to address the real issues at the state and local level. Comprehensive behavioral health centers are very complex organizations that are not easy to manage. There is a lot of red tape, regulations and complexity in funding. Behavioral heath providers could benefit from better coordination from the federal to the state level. I have almost 40 years of education, training and experience in business, and I can tell you I have had my hands full for eight years.

Why do you think your detractors want to put Northwood in a negative light?

Instead of trying to guess at what their intentions might be, I would rather simply deal with the truth and the facts. Much of what has been said about Northwood is absolutely inaccurate and misleading. The truth about Northwood Health Systems is based upon easily verifiable facts that speak for themselves.

Fact one, our quality of patient care has been reviewed by several independent, highly respected review agencies, and we have received very high scores. At one point in 2004, four of our ICF group homes — homes that bring a tear to your eye because they house the most unfortunate people we care for — received perfect survey scores from the state review agency. There are more than 380 ICF regulations and hundreds of safety and licensure regulations that an ICF group home must pass to score perfect. Last year, Northwood had four perfect scores, the best in our 38 year history.

In 2003, APS Healthcare, the managed care organization of behavioral health care in West Virginia, reviewed 59 behavioral health care organizations across the state. Northwood’s score was 91.45 out of 100 – our score was higher, by a wide margin, than every other comprehensive behavioral health center. The state average was 80.21.

The results from the ICF reviews and the APS Healthcare reviews, clearly demonstrate that Northwood provides one of the highest levels of quality behavioral health care in the entire state.

Fact two, audited financial statements available at the West Virginia Health Care Authority (WVHCA) indicate the level of charity care Northwood Health Systems and other health care providers give to the community. The WVHCA audited financial statements confirm that since 1998, Northwood’s level of charity care was dramatically higher, as a percentage of client service revenue, than any other major health care provider in our three county service area. Northwood provided $10.4 million of free care (more than 10 percent of client service revenue) from 1998 to 2004 to the less fortunate.

Fact three, our commitment to our employees is very important. We have an extraordinary comprehensive employee benefits package that a benefit consultant said would easily rank in the top 10 percent nationally. On top of that, we have a very progressive work environment, upgraded work facilities and 300 modern, state-of-the-art computer workstations to help our employees do their jobs.

Fact four, I am not aware of any other behavioral health care organization in the United States that has implemented, in the past five years, the technological innovation Northwood has installed: we 1) implemented a nationally recognized, award-winning electronic medical records system; 2) custom designed an electronic clinical scheduling system; 3) created clinical innovation through Snoezelen Sensory Stimulation Therapy and 4) implemented a proactive peer review process.

Fact five, Northwood’s financial performance, compared to its direct peer group in West Virginia, has been dramatically better. If anyone would take our financial performance and compare it to national financial performance and look at Northwood’s balance sheet and operating profit, they would conclude we rank among the top health care organizations in the United States.

These and other facts reveal the truth about Northwood Health Systems: that we are a world-class behavioral health care organization providing cost-effective, high quality care. Those same facts indisputably prove that the things said by our detractors are misleading, false and inaccurate. We have operated in the exact same system as other behavioral health entities in the state – same funding and same basic services. However, during the past eight years, while many other behavioral health care providers have gone bankrupt or are struggling, Northwood Health Systems has been transformed into a successful world-class organization.

How can we fix the behavioral health care crisis in the country?

The behavioral health care crisis needs to be solved at a grassroots level. One of the keys to fixing the crisis starts with behavioral health care provider organizations establishing and implementing a strategic business model, and putting it in the hands of competent experienced management. The strategic business model and executive leadership must skillfully integrate sound business principles and research-based clinical practices with a strong focus on innovation and utilization of advanced technologies.

It is essential that behavioral health care providers understand the critical importance of “profitable” operations in achieving their charitable mission. A strategic business model that skillfully integrates sound business principles with sound clinical practices will generate a profit from operations. This in turn allows the organization to reinvest that profit into the community through high quality patient services, financial stability and high levels of charity care. When behavioral health care provider organizations begin to operate in this manner, it will have a dramatic positive impact in fixing the behavioral health crisis in the country.