This is a guest opinion column

I write today with gratitude for the skilled and compassionate physicians, nurses, and other team members at Crestwood Medical Center who support the health and well-being of our patients. Last year, patients received medical care of more than 260,600 interactions with our hospital and clinics.

Our team delivered quality care at more than 37,300 emergency department visits, 9,200 inpatient admissions, and almost 29,000 surgeries. Over 187,000 patients received care across the Crestwood Medical Group physician clinics, imaging centers, sleep centers, laboratories, wound care, and therapy clinics. We also delivered joy to families as more than 1,300 babies were born.

Beyond clinical care, Crestwood Medical Center is a cornerstone of the economic health of the North Alabama region as a major employer and tax-payer and through resources used to strengthen the medical services available close to home. These include capital projects totaling more than $6.7 million to upgrade equipment and services throughout the hospital including new nuclear medicine imaging and arthroscopy video and cystoscopy surgical equipment. Access has been enhanced by adding fourteen (14) new providers to our community. We have also expanded four (4) of our primary care clinics to larger locations in Madison and southeast Huntsville to accommodate more patients in these highly populated areas. We also opened an additional primary care and two urgent care centers (two more urgent care centers are opening in 2023). Additionally, we received a certificate of need from the state to build North Alabama’s first freestanding emergency department. This 10-bed facility will be located in Harvest and will serve patients needing emergency care in early 2024.

Last year, Crestwood Medical Center provided over $129 million in charity and uncompensated care for the community’s most vulnerable. And $14.4 million paid in property and sales taxes helps support civic resources and services.

We are pleased to provide donations and work with local charitable and community organizations such as American Heart Association, Kids to Love, and National Children’s Advocacy Center that includes financial donations and outreach. Our employees worked to help raise funds for many organizations including ALS Chapter of North Alabama, National Multiple Sclerosis Society, and March of Dimes and provided Christmas gifts to 50 foster children in our community through the Kids to Love Foundation’s annual “Christmas for Kids” campaign.

Our payroll of almost $91 million ripples across the local economy as employees buy goods and services making the economy healthier as well. Enhanced benefits help team members achieve their personal and professional goals including assistance with student loan repayments, reimbursement of licensure and certification expenses, as well as tuition reimbursement. We appreciate our team and are creating pathways for their success.

And to ensure a strong healthcare workforce in the future, Crestwood will welcome 20 new primary care physicians to its two new residency programs – Family Medicine and Internal Medicine. These physicians will work and train at Crestwood along with its faculty physicians and will build a pipeline of qualified clinicians with the goal of keeping them in the community to continue their care of patients upon completion of their residences.

Each of these initiatives and investments helps make North Alabama healthier. We are honored to help and extremely proud of our hospital’s $263.6 million community impact in 2022.

Matthew Banks is Chief Executive Officer of Crestwood Medical Center