Warren General Hospital CEO Rick Allen presents highlights of the 2024 fiscal year to the WGH boards of directors.

Warren General Hospital CEO Rick Allen addressed exciting developments and milestones amid ongoing budget challenges at the hospital’s recently held annual board meeting.

The hospital celebrated a significant milestone in the 100th case utilizing the DaVinci robotic surgery platform.

Forty-seven new nurses were hired, which has allowed the facility to stop using 31 travel nurses, bringing the current need for premium-priced traveling RNs to only eight.

Four new physicians were hired in the 2024 fiscal year: Dr. Margot Butler, pediatrics; Dr. Paul Hixon, Family Medicine; Dr. Ifeoma Igboeli, General Surgery; and Dr. John Myers, OBGYN.

With the assistance of grants that WGH obtained from Congress and Highmark, it completed several capital projects and met construction needs. The completed projects include renovating the maternity unit, building a new generator house, repairing the roof, and installing new hot water converters.

The Meditech Expanse System was introduced on February 1. It will allow streamlined inpatient and outpatient documentation, which will improve patient care.

“The Meditech Expanse system combined four or five different operating systems and streamlined them into one; we are now in the optimization phase,” said Allen.

Grant money is also being used to procure a new MRI machine for the hospital.

Financial pressures for the hospital have, in part, been contributed to by global economic inflation, with supply costs soaring and insurance plans not paying costs that keep up with inflation.

Even with trials ahead, Allen and the WGH Board of Directors are optimistic that while many rural hospitals face the immediate risk of closure, Warren General Hospital is setting itself up for long-term stability.

Board Chair Thad Turner said, “I think we have a board that genuinely cares about our hospital. We have skilled people and a high quality of morality on the board and as part of this organization.”