About Deaconess Health System

Serving residents of Southern Indiana, Western Kentucky and Southeastern Illinois, Deaconess Health System provides a wide range of services including cancer care, neuroscience, heart services, orthopedics, womens and children services, surgical and trauma care.  The four hospitals that comprise the 600+ bed Deaconess Health System are strategically located throughout the Evansville, Indiana area, allowing patients to receive top rate services without sacrificing the small town feel.  Renowned for providing high-quality medical care with a strong personal touch, Deaconess has earned a Solucient Top 100 Hospitals award for cardiac and orthopedic services and a US News and World Report Best Hospitals ranking for hormonal disease services.

Deaconess Selects H. D. Smith

“The decision to choose H. D. Smith as our wholesaler was primarily driven by the fact that H. D. Smith provided the best value and customer focused service,” said Deaconess Director of Pharmacy, Joyce Thomas.  “Assuring that there was going to be timely delivery of product and having the ability to met the needs of a growing health system were important,“ Thomas added. 

After serving in roles of increasing responsibility with Deaconess Health System for over 20 years, Thomas assumed the Director of Pharmacy position in 2006, shortly after the decision was made to partner with H. D. Smith.  Reflecting on the early stages of partnership, Thomas indicates that having the support of Jerry Cain, H. D. Smith’s Director of Institutional Sales, was vital.  “Being a new director, you need some good resources and one of them is on the purchasing side.  Reaching out to Jerry Cain and his response to the needs I had was critical,“ said Thomas.  “Jerry considered nothing to be “below” him in addressing our needs.  He helped evaluate our current situation and gave suggestion for ways it could be improved.  He has a deep knowledge of the hospital business and that is extremely important,” Thomas added.

Thomas indicates that Deaconess’ new buying agent was initially hesitant about the change from their previous wholesaler to H. D. Smith.  However, Thomas indicates, “Our buyer’s day-to-day communication with H. D. Smith’s customer service staff has been extraordinary.  Our buyer has only given praises to H. D. Smith’s willingness to address issues on a daily basis.”

H. D. Smith Responds to Customer Needs

H. D. Smith’s hospital business has grown significantly over the past few years.  At the time Deaconess initially partnered with H. D. Smith, however, the servicing H. D. Smith distribution center did not have a sales representative dedicated exclusively to hospital customers.  Deaconess met with then Vice President Division Manager, Jeff Greer (now Corporate Vice President Sales) and Jerry Cain to express its desire for a sales representative to specialize in managing H. D. Smith’s health systems customers in that region.  “H. D. Smith responded quickly to provide us with a representative who was solely responsible for learning and understanding the hospital market,” recalls Thomas.  “Adding Cara Turner (Institutional Sales Specialist) to the team has been extremely valuable to our organization.”

Deaconess Health System is in the process of implementing carousel technology.  Thomas indicates that H. D. Smith has been advisors on the types of carousels available in the industry and is currently working directly with Deaconess’ vendor of choice to develop the electronic file to implement the perpetual inventory management system.  “Cara Turner was extremely responsive as well as H. D. Smith’s Information Technology department in looking at ways in which we can improve our cost accounting system and in verifying ways we could implement an inventory management system within our organization,” added Thomas.

Moving into the Future

Construction is underway to add a second tower to Deaconess’ Gateway Hospital adding up to 64 beds and additional hospital services creating new opportunities to provide quality healthcare to the community.  As Deaconess Health System continues to grow and expand, it will rely on H. D. Smith to respond to its changing needs.  Thomas states, “There has never been an issue so problematic that it could not be resolved with H. D. Smith because the one-on-one customer service we receive to manage our product line is so critical.”