Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Center was founded in 1977. At 7 a.m., Tuesday, May 10, the Health Center was officially opened to receive new patients and Sarah Bush Lincoln was "born." The hospital was named after Sarah Bush Lincoln to reflect the region's history. It has not only survived, but prospered and grew during those ensuring years which makes this milestone all the more remarkable.
The Health Center provides adult and pediatric medical/surgical care including critical care, obstetrical care with a Level II nursery, behavioral health care including an employee assistance program, emergency care, regional cancer center with medical and radiation oncology, skilled nursing unit, and home health services including infusion therapy. Adult and pediatric ambulatory care is on-site as well as in several off-site locations.
The skills and personal qualities sought when hiring employees include 1) technical skills inherent in professions that require licenser or certification, 2) strong commitment to patient and customer service, 3) ability and aptitude to work as a productive member of a health care services team, and 4) ability to learn and adapt to a changing health services environment.
Health care is a service area that is undergoing continual change due to the impact of technology. As a result of technology development, more complex and comprehensive medical services have become available at the level of the community hospital and health system. At the same time, diagnostic and treatment equipment has become more sophisticated, easier to use and capable of being installed in mobile or dispersed locations. This greatly increasing access to services. Advances in information systems technology has permitted greater understanding and control of the delivery of health services and a greater ability to target services to areas of greatest need in the community. The technology revolution has shifted large portions of medical care from the impatient to the outpatient and ambulatory setting. Most importantly, the Health Center has been able to acquire and use more sophisticated treatment technology to improve the medical and health services available to this community.
Medical care and services may be delivered in a dramatically different manner in the year 2020, yet health care consumers hold the future. Technology will vastly improve in the 21st Century. SBLHC is looking to expand in the 21st Century because of the increasing population.
