New Hospital CEO

From left:  Diane Osborne, Steve Long, Dorothy Long and Tom Haines.  Haines and Osborne are members of the Hancock Regional Hospital board and members of Kiwanis.

Steve Long, President and CEO at Hancock Regional Hospital, gave the Kiwanis membership an overview of healthcare in the United States and the effect on our local hospital. 

The first part of the presentation was a review of the past titled, “How we got here”.  One of the highlights was that it wasn’t until 1904 that standards for medical education were created and that Abraham Flexner’s 1910 report on Medical education spurred more standards for medical training, including hospital training.  The Hill Burton act was passed shortly after World War II and enabled many smaller communities to be able to build hospitals.  Hancock Memorial Hospital the predecessor of Hancock Regional Hospital was built using funds from the Hill Burton act.

Public health improvements in the past that lead to improved health were discussed that included toilets and sanitary sewer systems, clean water, better hygiene, immunizations, and better housing. 

The future will concentrate on converting a healthcare system that is built to take care of the sick, to a system to keep the population well.  The main aim of government healthcare reform is improving access to insurance not healthcare.  Institutions need to concentrate on what is called the “Triple Aim”:

1.      Improve patient experience

2.      Decrease care expenditures

3.      Increase the population’s health

The emphasis on this future model of health care may entail many changes for Hancock Regional Hospital as it attempts to remain an independent organization that is the destination of choice by local residents for healthcare.

Long previously served as President and CEO of Skiff Medical Center in Newton, Iowa before assuming the leadership of Hancock Regional in 2014.  He and his wife Dorothy have four children.