Woodland Heights Medical Center is Vital to Deep East Texas
4/9/2024
Last year, our hospital team played a vital role at more than 114,000 encounters where we helped people get well and live healthier. Around the clock, every day of the year, regardless of weather or other disruptions – we are here for our community. The skills, talents and energy of our employees and physicians are the force powering all that we do and I am grateful for their steady focus on delivering safe, quality care and a compassionate experience for patients.
We care deeply about all the patients we serve. Life-saving medically necessary care is provided for all patients in our emergency room, regardless of their ability to pay. Members of our community who cannot fully afford their medical care are provided deep discounts or even charity care and we have resources to help them secure medications and medical support devices. Last year, we provided more than $72 million in charity and uncompensated care for the community’s most vulnerable.
The needs in our community are many and we are proud to support the work of organizations such as the Pregnancy Help Center of Lufkin, C.I.S.C. and the Junior League of Lufkin’s Back to School Bonanza as they address social determinants of health. Additionally, our team donated more than 540 pounds of food to the East Texas Food Bank in time for Thanksgiving and more than 650 jars for our annual Jars of Love peanut butter drive also benefitting the East Texas Food Bank.
Woodland Heights Medical Center continues to grow and evolve and we are applying our resources toward the services, facilities and technologies that are important to our patients. The recruitment of cardiologists Dr. Erica Fidone and Dr. Justin Price have been a great addition to our community and are already offering new technology and procedures, such as treatment for deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism, that patients previously had to travel to metropolitan areas to receive. In 2023, a multi-phase construction project to expand both labor & delivery and the emergency department began. The ER expansion, which is anticipated to be complete later this year, will include seven additional rooms for a total of 16, in addition to an 8-bed ambulatory care treatment area, an added nurses’ station and new waiting room/registration. Serving more than 30,000 patients annually in the emergency department, Woodland Heights is excited about what the improvements mean for the patients who trust us with their care. The labor & delivery development included two additional rooms, extended efficiency with an additional nurses’ station and new technology as well as added security for our mother/baby patients.
Our impact extends beyond our campus, including the more than $5.1 million in taxes we pay that support critical infrastructure such as first responders, schools and roads. And the payroll of more than $49.6 million ripples through the local economy as employees buy goods and services.
Woodland Heights Medical Center is essential to our community and we are able to perform our vital role through the commitment and compassion of every member of our team. We are honored to serve and extremely proud of our hospital’s $141 million community impact in 2023 and we look forward to creating even more of an impact in 2024.
Jose A. Echavarria is the CEO at Woodland Heights Medical Center. He can be reached here via email.
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