Introduction
Throughout its long history, APD has evolved to meet the needs of the community and the people it serves, without losing its high touch "culture of caring."
Over the past 5 years, the hospital has experienced significant growth in volume, patient acuity and revenue but is now facing constraints on growth. The external environment is becoming increasingly challenging due to changing demographics, reimbursement models and a workforce shortage.
APD's success will be built on its ability to stay focused on specific, achievable projects that add value to the community. Aligning and engaging everyone who works at APD in the work of monitoring, evaluating and learning from all that we do is foundational to our future success. Flexibility and adaptability are at the heart of this plan.
Our Mission and Values
APD exists to improve the health and well-being of our community. The foundation upon which this mission is built are four core values that remain unchanged, but are now linked to specific behaviors:
Kindness
Be Kind: We are friendly, generous, and considerate.
Partnership
Learn Together: We are curious, innovative problem solvers.
Community
Build Connections: We are healthier together.
Service
Value Others: We help people when and where they need us.
Overarching Strategic Goal
APD must adapt to meet the changing needs of the local community and patient population. To be successful in meeting this goal, the organization must continue to integrate and align with the DH System, while continuing to differentiate itself as a community hospital. APD's services should continue to complement and strengthen the DH System's flagship hospital and clinic, Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC), while meeting the needs of the local community in an environment that is attractive to patients who are more comfortable in smaller, local setting.
Achieving success demands that we continue to build a culture that maintains a "high touch" feel while meeting the needs of a diverse group of employees who thrive in a flexible, welcoming culture.
It is to be expected that, with time, our plan will evolve as the organization learns and the environment changes. Additionally, the success of the plan rests on maintaining the organization's "Culture of Caring", which was explicitly called out in our 2019 Strategic Plan. Preserving this culture will require the full commitment of the Board and Strategic Leadership Team.
Strategic Plan: 2025 Forward
I. Focus
Define, Build and Evolve High-Performing Core Clinical Services.
As a small community hospital in close proximity to an academic medical center, APD has been able to achieve scale in selected services. Continuing to build where we can achieve scale and clinical excellence, while meeting the needs (both existing and unmet) of our patients, is at the heart of our clinical strategy moving forward.
- Define and Build Core Services.
- Continue Journey to High Reliability.
- Embrace Emerging Models of Care Delivery.
- Overlay Geriatric Expertise across all that we do.
II. Focus
Leverage community health initiatives to advance our mission.
The Covid pandemic revealed long-standing health inequities in our community. The health of our community and patients is adversely impacted by a lack of housing and childcare, food insecurity, mental health issues and an ongoing substance use disorder epidemic. To truly impact these trends, APD must commit to work outside the walls of the hospital and clinic. Identifying and committing resources to high leverage, key community health projects is critically important. Changing this trajectory requires a change in thinking and approach, which is proposed in this strategic plan.
- Prioritize Community Health as a Core Service.
- Define and expand "signature" community health programs.
- Create comprehensive health and wellness partnerships with patients.
III. Engage
Harness the collective power of our people, patients, and community.
APD's "culture of caring" is built on the idea that employees cannot take care of patients if we cannot take care of them. Creating a culture that works for the APD community, which is becoming increasingly diverse, requires a willingness to listen and learn from our employees. Similarly, by listening to and working with our patients, we can better meet their needs. Engaging patients in the design of new services and the improvement of existing offerings will ensure that we are meeting their needs and enable us to be successful under value-based payment models. Finally, engaging with community partners and leaders who share our values and vision will ensure that APD is successful into the future.
- Our People
- Celebrate a culture of inclusivity.
- Implement Recommendations from Employee Education Project
- Continue investments in employee wellness
- Our Patients
- Anchor quality improvement efforts in patient and family experience
- Move healthcare out of the hospital and clinic
- Our Community
- Identify and work with underserved populations to improve health outcomes
IV. Adapt
Continuously prepare to succeed in an uncertain future.
We live in uncertain times. Global warming is impacting the climate and environmental disasters are becoming more frequent and severe. Technology is continuing to dominate our culture and Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become a reality. Significant demographic change is on our doorstep and projected provider and workforce shortages are already being felt. Organizations that are flexible, nimble and willing to change are the ones that will be successful in the future. As such, a core competency that APD must develop is an ability to "see around the corner" to proactively plan for what comes next.
- Develop organizational skills to enable continuous learning.
- Meet the expectations of the next generation workforce.
- Prepare for the impact of climate change.
- Cultivate alternative revenue streams.
Implementing and monitoring the plan
The Board of Trustees, through its Strategic Oversight Committee, is ultimately responsible for ensuring the success of this plan; however, the day-to-day management of the plan is entrusted to the President and CEO, in conjunction with the Senior Leadership Team (SLT). Each year in February, the SLT holds a two-day retreat, during which the Strategic Plan is reviewed and an assessment of progress is made. This retreat initiates the annual planning process that is described below.
Each year, in alignment with the DH System’s annual planning process, the APD SLT will consider the goals that are being advanced by the system as well as the objectives of this strategic plan. Specific, quantifiable aims that map to the organizational drivers and that advance both system and local goals will be established.