Zach Yoder is the newly appointed president of three OSF HealthCare facilities in western Illinois — OSF St. Mary Medical Center in Galesburg, OSF HealthCare Holy Family Medical Center in Monmouth, and OSF HealthCare Saint Luke Medical Center in Kewanee. He joined WGIL's Chris Postin on Galesburg In Focus for a wide-ranging conversation about his background, his vision for the region, and what's coming for local healthcare.
Topics covered in this interview:
- Yoder's background — from pre-med to nursing to regional hospital president
- What drew him from the St. Louis market to rural western Illinois
- The hub-and-spoke regional model — St. Mary as the hub, Holy Family and St. Luke as critical access spokes
- Emergency department expansion — six new exam rooms, 7,000 square feet, behavioral health beds
- New cardiology CT machine — reducing unnecessary transfers to Peoria
- Da Vinci 5 robotic surgical system and ION robotic bronchoscopy — how technology is changing rural care
- Plans for medical oncology expansion — chemotherapy and infusion services
- Wound care expansion from Holy Family to St. Luke
- Pediatric specialty access — keeping local families from having to travel
- OSF OnCall telehealth platform and mobile units
- Meadowview Behavioral Health Center opening in Peoria later this year
- National awards — Leapfrog Grade A, five-star rural ratings, Fortune Most Innovative Companies
- The 10-year vision to make OSF a destination healthcare center for the region