Ever been asked by a casual friend, “So what’s new?” I usually answer with the short but polite, “Not much, how about you?” This very situation happened to me yesterday at the grocery store and after we parted ways and I headed down the aisle it occurred to me how thoroughly and completely I had just lied to him.  For any of us here at DCC, saying that “not much” is going on would be almost rude it is so inaccurate.

For example, just here in the Endoscopy Center we have welcomed a group of CRNA’s and started using propofol sedation, introduced a brand new nursing concept (primary care nursing) and renovated the center to expand our recovery area all in the last year.  Oh yeah, and we got a new name and this brand new web-site!!  Indeed there has been quite a lot going on.

One of our nurses asked me a few months ago if we were ever going to hit a point where we didn’t have so many changes and things could just stay the same for a while.  I laughed and said, “Sure, when we retire!”  Advances in healthcare happen every day and I love working for a place that is dedicated to keeping up with those advances and doing what is right for our patients.  All of these changes have been made because they enhance the experience and safety for patients or decrease their pain and the amount of time it takes to have this procedure done.  Let’s be honest, no one wakes up and says, “You know what I want to do today… have a colonoscopy!”  That doesn’t mean that we can’t make our patient’s experience the absolute best it can be.

While I’m not sure that I am going to change my polite response to my friends, I do think it is important for our patients to know why we choose to do business the way we do.  Over the next few months, I will dig deeper into these new things to share with you how we keep making things better for our patients.  I have recently been a patient in our center and can say without hesitation that I would not want to go anywhere else for care.

Check back soon.  Next up: “Why do we use Propofol?”