Dr. Steven Gabbe, Ohio State’s senior vice president for health services and CEO of the Ohio State University Medical Center, gave the annual State of the Medical Center address to an audience that filled the Meiling Hall auditorium Tuesday afternoon.

Gabbe focused on the Medical Center’s performance on the local, national and international stages, as well as its internal progress in areas such as the continued development of Project ONE, a $1 billion expansion project, as well as hospital financing and patient satisfaction.

Below are some highlights of the speech.

Project ONE
Gabbe stressed the importance of expanding the Medical Center, stating that the current facilities are at full capacity.

“We’re full,” he said. “The worst words you can hear are, ‘You have cancer.’ The worst words after that are followed by, ‘and we can’t send you to the James.’ … We need to grow our capacity.”

The new facility will allow the Medical Center to take in 10,000 more visits per year and 300,000 more outpatient visits per year, Gabbe said.

The building project is underway with the commencement of demolition of Means Hall.

As for the facility’s construction, Gabbe noted the efforts of OSU President E. Gordon Gee to have Project ONE designated as a demonstration project for a proposed set of state construction management reforms. As a demonstration project, the facility would use a construction management method allowed under the proposed reforms, making construction quicker and cheaper, Gabbe said.

A search firm is developing a list of candidates to assume the full-time position of executive director of Project ONE, Gabbe told The Lantern.

Financing
Gabbe noted that the Medical Center’s budget outlook was strong, with its revenue greater than expenses, exceeding expectations and receiving strong ratings for several other key financial metrics.

The Medical Center is also pushing for increased funding for graduate medical education. The federal government has a cap on the number of medical education positions that it will fund through the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

“We’re well above the cap, as are most academic medical centers,” Gabbe said. “We’re pushing hard for health care reform legislation that will fund positions for graduate medical education.”

Gabbe also discussed the financial effect of uninsured patients on Columbus hospitals.

“All the hospital systems share the burden for the uninsured patients. For us that represents about $144 million of uncompensated care each year,” he said.

Patient satisfaction
Gabbe reported improved numbers in the area of patient satisfaction, attributing the increase in part to follow-up phone calls to patients and nurses making regular rounds.

OSU hospitals improved their performance on the HCAHPS, a national standardized survey of patient satisfaction, from a score of less than 66 percent in January of 2009 to a score of close to 72 percent in November. These scores place OSU above its 2010 target of about 69 percent and the national average of about 65 percent.

Patients also rated the Medical Center above Mount Carmel and OhioHealth in a survey of consumer perception of care, but the Medical Center trailed both medical providers in market share in Franklin County. The Medical Center captured a 28.9 percent market share, behind Mount Carmel’s 29.1 percent and OhioHealth’s 42.1 percent.