NORWICH — UHS Chenango Memorial Hospital’s new president, Cecil M. Miller III, is still settling into his new role, but there is one thing of which he’s already certain. “It may be a small hospital, but it’s pretty comprehensive what we do here,” Miller says. He started in the role April 18, spending the first […]
NORWICH — UHS Chenango Memorial Hospital’s new president, Cecil M. Miller III, is still settling into his new role, but there is one thing of which he’s already certain.
“It may be a small hospital, but it’s pretty comprehensive what we do here,” Miller says.
He started in the role April 18, spending the first few weeks at the main UHS Binghamton campus learning the ropes. Miller, who succeeded Dr. Drake M. Lamen, has since spent time in Norwich getting to know the staff at UHS Chenango. Lamen retired in mid-April after 18 years at the helm of the hospital.
Miller wasn’t necessarily looking for a job, but a recruiter contacted him about the position. Prior to joining UHS, Miller worked for 29 years at UPMC Chautauqua, a 288-bed community hospital in Jamestown, in Western New York. He served for the last 12 years as that hospital’s VP of operations.
“I have a passion for community medicine and rural medicine,” Miller says. “I could see that [UHS Chenango] was a successful organization with a vision for the future.”
He decided to throw his hat into the ring and was selected as UHS Chenango’s next leader.
Miller’s vision is to ensure that quality care is always accessible to the community. That could mean expanding care, new offerings, new locations, or new services.
“Transportation is clearly an issue in rural areas,” Miller notes. Fortunately, there are many ways to offer care, such as telemedicine, which help to keep care accessible.
Over the past 10 years, his predecessor led the organization through investing more than $110 million into the facility. A substantial portion of those investments were made under the umbrella of the Chenango Medical Neighborhood Plan, a multi-phase blueprint that transformed the 114-year-old institution’s delivery of care.
Miller notes he has inherited a hospital that is in good shape, but the investments continue.
UHS Chenango will soon open a women’s diagnostic imaging center that consolidates services including mammography, ultrasound, and bone densitometry into one location designed for comfort and improved care.
The hospital will also open an orthopedic center, bringing the orthopedic clinic into the hospital. That will give the orthopedic unit proximity to imaging and operating rooms, facilitating care, Miller notes.
Another area Miller plans to focus on is recruitment, including doctors, nurses, and technicians. “Recruiting to a rural area sometimes has its own challenges,” he notes.
As someone new to UHS, Miller brings a wide experience base to his new role. “I had many jobs before I became a vice president,” he notes. He also feels his experience working at a large health-care organization like UPMC, which has 40 hospitals, will be beneficial.
Miller also plans to become involved in the Norwich community.
“Community is very important to me,” he says. “The hospital is an asset to Norwich and Chenango County. I want to be a good citizen.”
UHS Chenango Memorial Hospital is a member of United Health Services (UHS), a locally owned not-for-profit 916-bed hospital and health-care system serving the greater Binghamton region from more than 40 locations.
