Carbon County residents may want to reconsider how they look at Blue Mountain Health System. According to some of the statements made by the company's senior management team, big changes are in store for local patients.

"As a board, we spend a lot of time looking in-depth at our strengths and weaknesses," President and CEO Andrew Harris said. "We're hard on ourselves because we want to be successful, and want to continue to serve the citizens of Carbon County as best we can."At its most recent meeting, held May 26, the BMHS board of directors revealed to the public several improvements and innovations made to the company in recent months. Chief among the information presented was the finance committee's annual summary, introduced by Michael Harleman, CFO."Over the last few months, volume has continued to improve, especially in surgical cases and outpatient services," Harleman said. "The financial performance improvement is related to both growth of revenues and better management of expenses."Harleman revealed that the company's loss from operations was $450,000, a major improvement from last year, when BMHS reported a loss of $2,845,000. Complementing this economic turnaround is the news that the company will earn a 1 percent profit during the 2010-2011 fiscal year as part of a larger 3-Year Strategic Plan."When a nonprofit organization makes a profit, who gets it?," Harris asked attendees. "All of our profit will go right back into the system and, in turn, back into the community."Specifically, Harris said that the company plans on using the profits to increase employee salaries, further employee education and training and purchase more modern capital equipment. The company has already made a bevy of additions to both its staff and equipment. Recent technological advancements include a complete digital overhaul of the health system's imaging services, including new mammography machines, CT scanners and MRI machines."This is a company that doesn't have a lot of money to be spending," Harris said, "but we've found ways to purchase equipment that meets and even exceeds that found in other hospitals."In terms of medical staff, BMHS has added several new specialists to its payroll, such as a team of more than 70 radiologists. A particular source of pride for the company is the acquisition of a new anesthesia group, the result of a long-standing initiative to recruit replacements for the current, retiring anesthesiologists.It would seem that the hiring of new blood is a theme currently running throughout BMHS. During the meeting, longtime board member Robert Coleman stepped down from his position on the company's governance committee."Bob has been serving on the board for 13 years, and that's an incredible amount of time for volunteer service," Louis Sportelli, chair of the governance committee, said. "I have to commend Bob for the strategic value he brings to the table by recognizing that the board needs to bring in new members."Coleman's retirement allows the board to begin searching for and training new members, a process that is reportedly very difficult due to the company's numerous operational nuances. Prospective members will be reviewed in the upcoming weeks and presented at the next board meeting, scheduled for July 28."It's been amazing being able to bring two hospitals together and work like we have," Coleman said. "My time is done now. Time for the new blood to come in and play their part."According to the CNO report presented by nurses Toni Gibson and Theresa Long, BMHS is already laying the groundwork for such a transition. Recently, the system's two hospitals hosted nursing students from Wilkes University as part of an educational shadowing experience. While such a practice is nothing new for the company, this latest effort was given a new, more personalized twist."We had the students spend more time one on one with the nurses," Gibson said. "At the end of the program, we couldn't get over all of the praise we received from the students' professor." Gibson also revealed that three out of the six students applied for positions within BMHS, and that one of the applicants was recently hired.Ultimately, the goal of Blue Mountain Health System is to revitalize its reputation among local citizens."There have been a lot of great changes over the past couple of years that people are not always aware of," Patrick Reilly, chairman of the board of directors, said. "A lot of locals tend to think that they have to go down to the Lehigh Valley to get quality health care, but that's not the case. We can perform a wide range of services right here in our area, and we perform all of them well."