‘We do not turn anyone away:’ Chicago hospital’s unique approach to patient care

CHICAGO — Many medical facilities face challenges when it comes to recruitment and retention of doctors — especially those in underserved neighborhoods. Instead of relying on third-party staffing, a Chicago hospital took a traditional path — and it’s paying off.

Dr Romeen Lavani is the chief medical officer at Saint Anthony Hospital in Chicago.

“There is something about this hospital that people immediately take to and warm up to and they stay forever. I was supposed to be here three years and this is my 21^st year,” he said.

The doors have been open since 1898. Saint Anthony’s stands on the city’s Southwest Side between Little Village and Lawndale.

Dr Monica Cholewinski is the Assistant Medical Director for the Department of Emergency Medicine at Saint Anthony Hospital.

“It’s predominantly Hispanic. It’s very tight knit,” she said. “These folks have been here for generations.”

 About 80 to 100 patients visit the independent hospital’s emergency room each day.

“We do not turn anyone away. We do have patients who are uninsured or underinsured. We do not even ask the question,” Lavani said.

But Dr Lavani does ask one question of prospective emergency department staff.

“You are telling them up front, ‘You are going to face these challenges. Are you ready for it?’” he said. “And we’re ok if they say no.”

 Dr Cholewinski said yes.

“I was looking for something that would feel a little bit more meaningful, more impactful,” she said.

 The emergency medicine specialist actually lives in the neighborhood.

 “It felt like a really natural fit for me to be doing that kind of work, especially for my neighbors,” she said.

 “Their heart is in the right place. They are willing to serve the underserved and they are willing to face the day to day challenges that come with that,” Lavani said. “And it’s hard to get that with a third party.”

 While about two-thirds of hospitals outsource emergency medicine specialists, Saint Anthony’s administrators added seven full-time ER docs and several physician assistants to the staff, a move they hope will build a culture of camaraderie and compassion.

“It was very hard to make a third-party team understand what we are trying to do for the community,” Lavani said. “They were professionals, they were doing a good job, but they didn’t feel the need to immerse themselves completely into this mission.”

“It’s actually our neighborhood hospital, which is great it’s two minutes from our house so it’s just a come and go,” Martha Cortez said. “My daughter had a febrile seizure as soon as we came in. I requested help in the front and they immediately brought my daughter back. … And now we’re back again with my second child.”

 “We believe that a patient here should get the same care they would have gotten on Michigan Avenue,” Lavani said.

 While the pay may not be the same, there are other perks, including help with loan repayments for medical staff. 

 “What we can offer is the work experience, right? The experience is very gratifying, and some people want that, most people want that,” Lavani said.

The team has made a difference. In the last year, the number of patients who left without being treated dropped from about 4.77 percent to less than 2 percent. 

 “We’ve gotten really creative in terms of what we’re able to do and how we can circumnavigate the challenges,” Cholewinski said.

“It comes down to that desire, that will to do good by your patient that is very important,” Lavani said.

 The hospital’s patient satisfaction rating has improved since the staffing transition. The ER team says they are hopeful even more positives will come as a result.