Jay Anderson says the motto at what was once Kishwaukee Community Hospital is "the patient comes first" -- and that the staff there wouldn't let him forget that phrase, even if he wanted to.
Anderson is now President of Northwestern Medicine Kishwaukee Hospital, part of the ever-expanding Northwestern Medicine group; the acquisition of Kishwaukee gives the company an even larger footprint in northern Illinois...but more importantly, it gives patients access to a wider variety of health care professionals and options.
Anderson says the staff has grown in the months since he's taken over; some are transfers from other health facilities in their network, but many are hospital employees who have worked their way up through the ranks. And he says that's what helps keep the hospital's personal connection to the community; to the people who work there, patients aren't just cases and files -- they're somebody's friend, relative, neighbor or someone in town they see on a regular basis. He says their desire to help people with which they're familiar, helps drive their effort to provide optimal care for everyone they serve.
Anderson says patients have immediate access to a wider array of care options, especially when dealing with long-term issues such as cancer or heart disease; their sister hospital in Winfield (the former Central DuPage Hospital) is now being developed into a hub for cardiology care...allowing many patients to get the assistance they need within a reasonable distance from home. In turn, Anderson is doing what he can to draw the best available medical professionals from their main hospital in downtown Chicago out to DeKalb; he says he doesn't need many to service the patients in this area...just a few who are highly-skilled in their field, and want to make the commitment to living and working here in our county.