George McCracken, Administrator, Home Care and Hospice

He learned how valuable home care nursing is when his own mother was ill

He was only 3 years old, but George McCracken remembers when his mother suffered a heart attack and needed nurses to come into their home to care for her. “If it weren’t for them, she constantly would have been in the hospital. I learned firsthand how important nurses are in caring for patients,” he says.

That experience influenced McCracken’s career path. He attended Penn State University where he majored in health-care administration. After graduation, he worked at rehabilitation and home care facilities until coming to Lehigh Valley Hospital as an administrator. Currently, he’s pursuing his master’s of business administration at Alvernia College in Reading.

In his role, he oversees operations for home care services and our home-based and 10-bed inpatient hospice unit. He handles budgeting, staffing ratios, program development and more.

Recognizing that nurses in a Magnet hospital thrive on autonomy, McCracken empowered his staff to take control of their work environment and create the ideal experience for themselves and their patients. “We work together to provide care we would want for our families,” he says. The result is Press Ganey scores rising into the 90s, better than the national trend.

McCracken is most excited about the latest technological innovations and resources his nurses are using to deliver exceptional patient care. “Nurses take a laptop computer with them into patients’ homes so they can quickly access patient information and type their notes. This leaves more time for patient care,” he says. And when the nurse leaves the home, her patient is comforted knowing a computerized telemonitor will keep a watchful eye on his weight, blood pressure, pulse and oxygen level daily. If a reading is not where it should be, the nurse makes a special visit to care for the patient.

“Home care has come a long way since my mother needed care,” he says. “I’m proud to be part of the team.”

ARTICLE TOOLS: