Keith A. Fenstemacher Center for Continuous Learning
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PDF versionThe future vision of Faxton St. Luke’s Healthcare is:
• to be a true partner in working with others to create a healthier community
• to be a healthcare destination recognized for clinical and service excellence
• to be the preferred health system for physicians to practice medicine
• to be the Employer of Choice in the Mohawk Valley.
One way to achieve our vision is to foster a culture of learning among our employees, medical staff and volunteers. As we become better educated, we become a more valuable resource to our community. To that end, the Keith A. Fenstemacher Center for Continuous Learning was created.
Why a Center for Continuous Learning?
Faxton St. Luke's Healthcare is more than hospitals and medicine, illnesses and diagnoses. With the creation of the Keith A. Fenstemacher Center for Continuous Learning, it's the Center of your life.
“People think of hospitals for sickness,” said Keith Fenstemacher, former president and CEO of Faxton St. Luke's Healthcare. “But our name is not hospital; it's healthcare. And healthcare is an issue for an entire community. We want to be a great place to work and a great place to receive care, and if we're good at it, we're a great resource for our community.”
That's the goal of the Keith A. Fenstemacher Center for Continuous Learning: to be that great resource. Already offering community programs such as diabetes and childbirth education, Faxton St. Luke's also provides employee training and student education.
“Faxton St. Luke's Healthcare's responsibility is to tie into what has now become the Oneida County Health Department's vision for the future of being the healthiest county in New York state,” Fenstemacher said. “I think we should be the backbone for that.”
The Center created a Physician Leadership Institute that benefits physicians currently serving us while also attracting other top physicians to our area. It has developed school and university partnerships that help educate our young talent and encourage them to stay in our communities. A Patient Safety Institute directly impacts your care as a patient, and community education on topics essential to your health have been expanded. Performance excellence through training in best practice will improve the entire healthcare system.
These new and previously existing Center services will all appropriately fall under the umbrella of one name: Keith A. Fenstemacher.
With more than 35 years of experience in the healthcare industry, and as a leader in the Faxton St. Luke's Healthcare system from 1982-2008, Fenstemacher embodies the message of lifelong education. He was known for providing recommended reading lists to managers and reciting famous basketball coach John Wooden's wise words: “When you're done learning, you're done.” It made sense, then, that the Center was named in his honor. “We have a significant role to play in the lives of our community and it isn't just about taking care of people when they're an inpatient at the hospital,'” said Fenstemacher. “It is so heartwarming that an organization would see that. And then to put your name on it, too…it’s overwhelming.”
How do I donate to the Center for Continuous Learning?
Your support of the Keith A. Fenstemacher Center for Continuous Learning helps Faxton St. Luke’s Healthcare provide a structured framework to support the learning opportunities, seek additional educational funding on an ongoing basis and partner with hospital and community members to build a better future for all of us.
Our vision includes community education, physician and leadership institute, school and university partnerships and patient safety institute. Each gift takes us one step closer to a better healthcare system and a better tomorrow.
Contact the Faxton St. Luke’s Healthcare Foundation
(315) 624-5600
1676 Sunset Avenue
Utica, New York 13502
