Compassionate ISS Solutions Team Supports Thomas Health System

In South Charleston, West Virginia, Thomas Health System–comprised of Thomas Memorial Hospital and St. Francis Hospital-focuses on their commitment to patients. As a nonprofit healthcare organization, quality patient care is at the core of their mission.Thomas Health System employs “The Thomas Promise” in making certain that they take the best possible care of their patients. Thomas Memorial Hospital’s mission encompasses values of customer service, quality patient care, and concern for people, while Saint Francis Hospital speaks of “providing the human touch in healthcare.” Thomas Health System bases all of their practices on the notion of compassionate quality healthcare.

Thomas’ compassion-based model factors into every decision that its administrators make. Putting the patient first is a clear value to Thomas’ Chief Operating Officer Dan Lauffer, who sought out the caring clinical engineering technicians at ISS Solutions. “Culture drives healthcare systems’ success. Culture has to encourage patient quality and safety,” Mr. Lauffer explained. He believed that ISS Solutions’ clinical engineering technicians valued and encouraged Thomas’ culture of caring. “The technicians that work for ISS Solutions realize that they are members of a healthcare team. The culture that they bring to our facility is important to our healthcare professionals.”

The commitment to both clinical engineering and compassion is what helps Thomas deliver on their promise for patients, and Mr. Lauffer is not the only administrator who sees ISS Solutions’ role inThomas’ positive healthcare environment. Recently, Thomas Health System was named a Blue Distinction Center for Knee and Hip Replacement, a national honor for their outstanding quality of care and patient results. Afterward, Steve Dexter, Thomas Health System’s President and CEO, attributed part of the honor to the behind-the-scenes technicians who contributed to Thomas’ culture of caring.

“Our patients are also exposed to a vast number of pieces of equipment,” explained Mr. Lauffer, “and they’re giving us their total trust to keep the equipment safe. They trust that our employees who are running these pieces of equipment know how to operate them.” Even in indirect patient care circumstances, a patient’s trust has to be understood and held sacred. Fortunately, Thomas Health System’s commitment to compassionate quality healthcare goes hand-in-hand with ISS Solutions’ commitment to service excellence.“I think that ISS Solutions is very focused in realizing the importance of clinical engineering in the hospital,” said Mr. Lauffer. “ We work very well together as a team.”