Hospital leaders from ski and beach towns and other seasonal and rural communities around the country convened on Nantucket last week for a national summit of their peers.
Hosted by Nantucket Cottage Hospital, the two-and-a-half day event invited hospital staff to discuss the particular issues they face — such as tourism-related spikes in the patient population — and how best to handle them.
Participants shared strategies for helping employees with housing in a high-priced vacation market, as well as managing emergencies in a geographically isolated area, said Amy Lee, president and chief operating officer of Nantucket Cottage Hospital.
“Having the ability to talk to others about it who are experiencing the same thing, it gives you a sense of optimism,” she said. It makes her feel like, “yup, we're going to get through some of these really challenging things that are happening.”
Nantucket staff talked about coordination of year-round care for part-time patients who live elsewhere the rest of the year.
The Nantucket care-coordination program, Lee said, “connects their care wherever they're from. So, say they're from Florida. It connects the caregivers in Florida to our caregivers here on-island, so that we can make sure that the transition is seamless.”
The summit drew healthcare leaders from communities such as North Carolina’s Outer Banks; Lake Tahoe, on the border of California and Nevada; Jackson Hole, Wyoming; Catalina Island, California; and other resort communities in California and Florida.
Lee said housing is key to attracting employees and keeping them on Nantucket. The median sale price of a home on the island is about $3 million.
She said the summit was “really looking at the challenges that we have with housing, with workforce development, with the financial challenges of the current environment. You know, how do we provide care in rural and seasonal communities, when it's hard to attract and retain staff?”
She said Nantucket Cottage Hospital plans to build 48 more housing units in addition to some 60 other properties owned or leased by the hospital.
