The month of April begins the fourth and final quarter of our Fiscal year. Building upon the momentum from the first three quarters, let’s take a minute to reflect upon how far we’ve come. Just fifteen months ago, our inpatient census was at 90, our average census at our IOP in Elkton was 80 and Bel Air was at 160. We had four physical locations including our Emerging Adult Extended Care (EAEC) home in Churchville. Today, our impatient census is averaging 116, Elkton IOP is averaging 120 and Bel Air is averaging 210. We now also have fourteen total physical locations including four IOP locations in D.C., and Virginia, and four Sober Homes in Friendship Heights D.C.
We’ve recently had a few remarkable wins that I would like to highlight. Louis Marcell, our Assistant Director of Philanthropy, submitted a grant application to the Hanley Foundation and Ashley was awarded a $50,000 grant for the EAEC house expansion project. This grant will help to pay for fire suppression sprinklers and we will be able to increase our occupancy by four more beds.
Hats off to our Aquila Integration Team! The acquisition project is well under way, and we now operating three IOP locations operating in Washington, DC, Herndon, and Leesburg Virginia. We are also managing four sober living homes in the Friendship Heights section of the District. Immediately, we are able to serve an additional 100 patients for Intensive Outpatient, Outpatient, and Partial Hospitalization Programs (PHP’s) in this new market. This expansion further develops our seamless system of care.
On Friday, April 19^th^, we recognized the Dietary Staff for their help in cleaning and maintaining Oakington Road. Ashley is the sponsor for the roadway and as such has committed to keeping the right-of-way free of trash. The Dietary Team pitched in to clean up the roadside litter.
Many thanks to Jeff Van Slyke, VP of Support Services, Andy Flood, VP of IT/CIO, Donna Bogari, Director of Corporate Compliance, Quality and Risk Management, Steve Weiss, Purchasing, and Jennifer Aguglia, IOP Clinical Director, for their work on the Bel Air IOP expansion which is well underway. The Bel Air IOP will be relocating to the new Harford County Crisis Center that Upper Chesapeake Hospital is building. The estimates are in for us to begin applying for permits to start construction in early summer and occupancy and licensing will begin in late fall. This additional 3,645 square foot center will allow us to comfortably serve more patients in the Bel Air area.
The Mayor of Havre de Grace, William Martin, recently visited our facility, and under Dave Nassef’s Leadership, and Associate Director of Philanthropy, Beau Malatesta’s, support, we are launching a Government Affairs Leadership Council whose primary purpose is to expand Ashley’s voice in both Annapolis and Washington, D.C.
Regarding our strategic planning process, most of our departments have completed their work-out sessions to identify their strategic initiatives, and many are working on their formal SMART goals for FY20. We are pleased this has been such an inclusive process and that we collectively are determining the future of Ashley. Everything we do should reflect and reinforce our Ashley I-ACT core values (Integrity – I do the right thing! Accountability – I own it!, Compassion – I am with you!, and Total Commitment – I am all in!).
Regarding March’s patient satisfaction survey results our overall score increased to the highest score ever achieved with 99% of our patients indicating they would recommend Ashley to a friend or family member. Most keys areas showed improvement as well. This increase in the ratings is welcome news, and we are only one point away from our goal of 100%.
As we continue to move forward, I am thankful to all of the Ashley staff and support for their hard work and dedication to the Ashley legacy and mission established by our founders, Father Martin, and Mae Abraham.
Peace, Becky
