An organization can only improve if its leaders take time to listen to the people they serve.
When it comes to a service as necessary as health care, that dialogue, and the response from the organization, becomes that much more important.

The new CEO of Centra Health, the CEO of Centra Southside Community Hospital and leadership from Centra Medical Group took time to answer questions by participants of a town hall held last week.

I thought the town hall being scheduled at 5 p.m. provided more opportunities for participation.
This is the second town hall Centra has held in Farmville. Topics discussed during the town halls related to long wait times at the hospital and Centra Medical Group, wait times for prescriptions and changes in appointment schedules.

What was interesting about the town hall was having the opportunity to not only hear from Centra leadership, but from doctors at Centra Southside Community Hospital as well. Dr. Bikram Bal described his experience with alpha-gal, a disease that has been getting diagnosed with more frequency in the Heart of Virginia. Dr. Kirsten Huber gave insight into surgical procedures at the hospital and how they are conducted.

Through the recent Meet and Greet, where members of the public could meet providers at the hospital, and hospital CEO Tom Angelo speaking about new doctors being hired, it’s been encouraging to learn about the doctors who are at the hospital, and what this means for patients in the Heart of Virginia.

“We had 12 candidates come through over that time,” Angelo said during the meeting about a urology position that was recently filled. “Six of whom wanted to come join us, one that we said ‘yes’ to in the end because (the other five) were average and not great … If I’m not going to send my family to you, then I’m not going to hire you.”

The town hall proved that the public was interested in the activities of the hospital. The response from Centra leadership demonstrated that transparency, listening to the concern and validation of the community, keeping people informed and taking action to address concerns are fantastic steps toward providing the best care and conduct for residents of the Heart of Virginia.
Emily Hollingsworth is a staff reporter for The Charlotte Gazette and Farmville Newsmedia LLC. Her email address is Emily.Hollingsworth@TheCharlotteGazette.com.