At Confluence Health, our primary priority is providing high-quality healthcare and service in a friendly and caring atmosphere. It’s a simple mission, but also a tremendous responsibility. High-quality healthcare demands high-quality physicians and staff. We, as an organization, succeed through trust, respect, commitment, compassion and excellence.
Here are some insights on patient care and teamwork from some of our physicians who received exceeding ratings in our latest patient survey from Press Ganey.
Peter Rutherford, MD, CEO of Confluence Health
“Being a good physician means caring about the patients you provide care for. Willing to listen and hear the patient’s worries, and discussing with the patient how to deal with those worries, i.e. how tests or procedures will address those worries. It involves being available to patients, letting them call you on the phone, and giving prompt results to the patients of lab and x ray tests. Be it good or bad news, knowing is better than not knowing…I could not do what I do without the help of all I work with, nursing, reception, and the ancillary departments—i.e. lab and x-ray. We all have the common goal of doing the right thing for patients and treating them like we ourselves would want to be treated.”
Stephen Knox, MD, Surgery, Confluence Health | Wenatchee Valley Hospital & Clinics
“I am grateful to be in a community with a wide breadth of medical specialties to help manage problems and a patient population that is generally more intelligent and interested in health care and personal responsibility than I see on the news…In surgery, teamwork is absolutely critical to successful outcomes. There are so many steps in getting into the OR and through the surgery and recovering safely that literally scores of people are involved and each has to do their job well and in a well coordinated effort for the process to be optimal for the patient.”
Jason Rahme, MD, Internal Medicine, Confluence Health | Wenatchee Valley Hospital & Clinics
“Teamwork is essential, whether in the form of receptionist-nurse-provider or PCP-subspecialist interactions…I like Wenatchee. I like my colleagues and the administration. (In working at WVMC) I am comforted by the patient assistance program that allows me to take care of patients I otherwise would not be able to.”
Jeffrey Monda, MD, Urology, Confluence Health | Wenatchee Valley Hospital & Clinics
“Clearly, compassion for the patient is fundamental to good care. It is important to realize that the issue at hand may be the most important issue in the patient’s life…Without the teamwork of the staff and other healthcare providers, it would be impossible to provide excellent care. I am very proud to work at Wenatchee Valley Medical Center. This center puts patient care first.”
Debra Lapo, MD, Family Medicine, Confluence Health | East Wenatchee Clinic
“Dr. O’Donnell, Dr. Gillespie and I each represent a home team or ‘pod’ of the upstairs family medicine teams in East Wenatchee. … While we have different and very dedicated medical assistants, we share the same team of supportive partners, administration, the same phone receptionists, the same front desk staff, billing department, lab and x-ray staff, and cleaning staff. We cannot exist without the team. We exist as a group, dedicated to the primary care of our patients. We are their ‘medical home’…I do know that each of us in this network of providers has had a part in making East Wenatchee Clinic a good home for our patients, a place where they are known, a place they can trust.”
Richard Hourigan, MD, Family Medicine, Confluence Health | Moses Lake Clinic
“Patients are incredibly understanding when they know that healthcare is a team effort that involves them, the doctor and the support staff. The communication and attention to details that occurs both during and after a patient visit are important. When a patient knows that you have their interest in mind, and that you’ll go that extra mile when needed, they will do the same.”
Thomas Carlson, MD, Radiation Oncology, Confluence Health | Wenatchee Valley Hospital & Clinics
“Teamwork is one of the major reasons the Press Ganey survey results were so high. A patient’s perception of their visit starts when they walk in the door to our clinic. Our receptionists, nurses, therapists, dosimetrists, and the physician all influence that. Everyone in the department is part of the team and is committed to providing the best service possible for our patients. The team in Radiation Oncology is remarkable—the best I’ve ever worked with.”
John Schulz, MD, Ophthalmology, Confluence Health | Wenatchee Valley Hospital & Clinics
“I believe that one of the greatest qualities of a good physician is the ability to listen to the patient. In order to care for someone, you have to understand what they feel is wrong with them, not just what the physician thinks…The equally important companion quality to the ability to listen is the ability to explain to the patient what is wrong with them. More accurately, it is taking the time to explain…It stands to reason that you cannot get a patient to become invested in their disease if they have no understanding of what is wrong, and what they should do to help in their treatment…In my practice as a retinal specialist, the nuts and bolts of the practice could not be accomplished without effective teamwork…The experience starts at the front desk, with friendly and efficient greeting and check-in, and proceeds through workups and technical studies performed with expertise by the back office staff. This then sets the stage for my part, but they have paved the road. But it is more than just their efficiency and expertise. They are compassionate and caring, and patients easily see and feel this. Just as important, they work well together.”