Diener shares plans for hospital

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The new Fayette County Memorial Hospital CEO, Mike Diener, is beginning to shape his idea of the future of FCMH and shared part of his vision on how he plans to get there.

Diener started with an introduction of himself when he sat down with the Record-Herald recently. The father of five explained, in brief, his education background and talked about how he ended up in the county.

“I am from Waverly and I had moved around the state a little bit when I was growing up, but in junior high years landed in Waverly and graduated from high school there in 1985,” Diener said. “I married my high school sweetheart, and we both went to Ohio State University, where we lived in Columbus for about a year before returning to Waverly. My father was actually a hospital administrator and when I was a child I spent a lot of time in the hospital, really following him around. This is an environment that I have always been around and am very used to.”

Diener said he was familiar with Fayette County and FCMH from his career as a physical therapist. He worked at the Greenfield Area Medical Center back in the 1990s and at one point, around 1994 or 1995, worked with Fayette County Memorial’s Home Health Unit as a contract therapist.

“They were in need of some short term assistance,” Diener said. “I became very familiar with the community and the county. This was always a place that I admired and I enjoyed the people I interacted with while in that position.”

The CEO continued by saying he was contacted about the position by a recruiter FCMH had secured to help with locating and selecting someone for the position. According to Diener, the recruiter had found him because of his experience, not only in a larger hospital, but also in a critical access hospital. As the two started discussions, Diener decided it was an opportunity he wanted to pursue.

“My first interview with the staff and the board, I thought, went really well,” Diener said. “I started to like what I saw. I could tell, just through that interaction, that there were folks here in leadership that really cared, not only about the community, but about the success of this organization. I wanted to see it grow, become stronger, both financially and in quality of care we are providing. It was something I got pretty excited about.”

According to Diener, he has been impressed by the staff who are providing direct care and the medical group, and said he thinks they have a very strong, capable and engaged physician staff. He noted that they are committed to the success of the hospital and the community.

“Each time I have an interaction with (the staff and medical group), I am even more impressed,” Diener said. “I think our affiliation with Ohio State is a good thing. I think they bring to the table opportunities to partner for services, for knowledge. As far as our market, (they help with) what our community needs and how we both can work together to provide those things for the community.”

Diener did admit that since he has come on to the staff, he noted that the facilities need a bit of work. He said that the facility is solid, very clean, but he does not think that it adequately reflects the high quality of care that people are receiving here.

“People are becoming more used to modern spaces and having a few more amenities,” Diener said. “This is an older building and I believe there are a few things we can do to improve it. One thing we are starting to look at is the emergency department. It is the front door of the hospital, and I believe we provide very good care there, but I think that there are some things we can do to make folks more comfortable while they are receiving that care. Not only for the actual patients, but for the family members. Giving them some more space, some more privacy, so that way people will feel good about coming here when they need help.”

Diener said more things will be coming that will help give the same great care to the community in an atmosphere that is comfortable.

Fayette County Memorial Hospital is a critical access hospital (25-bed hospital) with over 30 healthcare providers, complete with a full spectrum of healthcare services, and it offers same day care appointments. For more information call (740) 335-1210.

Mike Diener, Fayette County Memorial Hospital CEO
http://www.recordherald.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/27/2016/09/web1_IMG_5199.jpgMike Diener, Fayette County Memorial Hospital CEO
New FCMH CEO begins job in county

By Martin Graham

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Reach Martin Graham at (740) 313-0351 or on Twitter @MartiTheNewsGuy

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