Fort Smith—
Sparks Regional Medical Center has officially changed hands, and the new CEO sat down with 5NEWS to talk about the future of the hospital and its staff.Melody Trimble said that Sparks staff employed on November 30th were still employed on December 1st when the new company took over. She noted that no major changes have been made. However, she made it clear that her job is to evaluate whether or not the right people are in the right positions and also look at their performance.
Trimble is a nurse at heart and says she can't stand to be behind the desk. You're more likely to find her out in the hospital than in her office according to her. She's worked with Health Management, the new owner of Sparks, for nearly two decades; working her way up from the director of nursing in an ER to chief executive officer of Venice Regional Medical Center in Florida.
Trimble spent half of her first day meeting staff and says she found them to be warm and welcoming. She tells 5NEWS that the people were positive but cautiously optimistic. Meanwhile, employees will have an opportunity to be heard, and Ms. Trimble says she's listening.
"We certainly are going to be setting up town hall meetings with them and allowing them to give us suggestions, what we are we going to do to make Sparks excellent," she told 5NEWS. "We'll do those community [meetings] with physicians."
In fact, Trimble met with 40 physicians Wednesday morning and says they have a vision for what they would like to see. The new chief executive officer says she chose Sparks and this community because they afforded her and her family a great opportunity, a great hospital, and a great place to live. Trimble pledges continued partnerships that are already in place and continued quality healthcare. She wants to see Sparks grow.
We asked Ms. Trimble how she plans to address what some perceive to be a poor public image. She's determined that Sparks will be known for excellence.
"If we have failed to perform that expectation in the past or to someone then you know what now it's up to us to change that."
Still, she's quick to defend her staff and Sparks' 122 year history. Trimble says she wants patients and their families to know who they are.
"We have received so many accolades and it's unfortunate that hasn't been communicated to the community," Trimble told 5NEWS.
She cites the fact that Sparks is known as having the top stroke program in the state among other accomplishments.
"I just got a letter yesterday from someone thanking us for the great job that we did on a patient who had stroke and that they came in and walked home," Trimble told us. "I chose Sparks they didn't choose me unfortunately they didn't have that option. I did. I'm here for a reason and you know what? It's going to be a great, great journey."
Health Management Associates which owns Sparks, also has 54 other hospitals. That includes Summit Medical Center in Van Buren.
