Grossmont Healthcare District Launches Redesigned Website
March 3, 2015 General
The Grossmont Healthcare District (GHD), a public agency that supports various health-related community programs and services in San Diego’s East County region, has launched its newly redesigned website, www.grossmonthealthcare.org.
“The board is pleased with our fully revamped website and its user-friendly interface that will help our constituents become better informed of the District, our partnership with Sharp HealthCare, and the programs we offer,” said Robert “Bob” Ayres, 2015 GHD board president. “The new site effectively organizes content about the District into an easy-to-navigate format, which will improve efforts to communicate the District’s supportive role in the community to address the area’s unmet health care needs.”
The upgraded site features an easy-to-use content management system, allowing visitors quick access and streamlined transparency to all public documents, including agendas, meeting minutes, budgets, presentation documents, reports and memos. Included is a page where constituents can communicate with District officials to request information.
In addition, the site includes pages on relevant GHD activities, including recent news stories and information about the James G. Stieringer Conference Center, a popular venue used for meetings by community groups and nonprofits.
The homepage, with search functionality as well as headers, drop-down and drop-side menus, provides a gateway for Internet users of all ages. Links in bright colors connect users to details about the District’s support of various organizations that address community healthcare needs, along with the District’s history, elected board of directors, and its relationship to Sharp HealthCare. Formed in 1952 to build and operate Grossmont Hospital in La Mesa, GHD serves as landlord of the publicly-owned hospital on behalf of East County taxpayers. A lease signed in 1991 gives operational responsibility of the hospital to Sharp HealthCare. The District’s five board members, elected to four-year terms, represent more than 500,000 people residing within the District’s 750 square miles.
Also included on the site is updated information on a number of infrastructure construction projects being financed by Proposition “G,” a $247 million bond measure voters approved in June 2006. Bond-financed construction currently underway at the hospital is expected to continue over the next few years and meet patient-care needs well into the future. The “Prop. G Investor Relations” tab links everyday users to financial information filed with government oversight agencies.
The site also offers a link to the website for the Dr. William C. Herrick Community Health Care Library, a public library operated by the District. Opened in 2002, the Herrick Library is a consumer health public library specializing in health research information, accessible both on-site and via the Internet.
District officials said the cleaner layout for seamless page content and consistent site-wide navigation system enhances compatibility through either a desktop or the latest web browsers and devices, including smartphones, tablets or mobile devices.
“We want the taxpayers in our community to be informed about the public agency in a condensed, orderly and positive manner,” said Barry Jantz, GHD CEO. “The new site offers greater simplicity and visual engagement, as well as flexibility and functionality for the benefit of District residents.”
Jantz said District officials will be able to make quick changes and updates to the site’s pages using an easy-to-use server platform. The revamped site replaces a previous version which had been in place for more than a decade.