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Success Story
How San Juan Regional Took Back Control of Its Data
Outsourced IT once meant long waits and missed business for this rural, New Mexico hospital.
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Success Story Snapshot
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Before ELLKAY, San Juan Regional relied on outsourced IT for its integrations, leading to long timelines, limited visibility, and even lost lab business from a local physician practice. Partnering with ELLKAY gave the hospital a cloud-based integration engine backed by hands-on managed services, turning what was once a bottleneck into a foundation for growth, and an outsourced vendor into a true partner at the table.
Organization Overview
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Standalone, not-for-profit community hospital licensed for 198 beds, serving the Four Corners area of New Mexico, including five nations. San Juan Regional offers behavioral health, neurosurgery, EMS air and ground transport, cardiology, and 21 clinics. The regional hospital serves as San Juan County's largest employer.
Zero
added headcount
Accelerated
customer onboarding & time to value
One
cloud-based integration engine
The Challenge
Outsourced IT Meant Slower Growth & Real Business Lost
Before ELLKAY, San Juan Regional's EHR and integration environment ran through outsourced IT, leaving the hospital with little visibility or control.
As the organization acquired practices and launched new service lines, integration timelines stretched and costs climbed. Routing orders, results, schedules, billing, and ADT data at scale became harder, not easier. The consequences were tangible: one physician practice stopped sending lab work to San Juan Regional altogether because results couldn't get back into their EHR fast enough.
With limited internal HL7, FHIR, and API resources, the hospital needed to simplify, not add complexity, all while growing without adding to internal headcount.
"Integration is an area where you truly need specialized resources, and the smaller the hospital, the bigger the need for that kind of support."
John Gaede
CIO
The Solution
A Cloud-Based Engine, Backed by a Team That Shows Up
San Juan Regional now has direct control over its integrations, without adding IT staff. That matters at a hospital where the IT team already wears multiple hats and integration work can’t stop when someone gets pulled away.
San Juan Regional chose ELLKAY for a cloud-based integration engine with managed services built in from day one, not added later. From there, ELLKAY’s team worked alongside theirs: migrating HL7 connection points, handling vendor outreach, and keeping projects moving when internal resources were stretched. When new questions came up, like how to handle file transfer workflows, the answer wasn’t a rigid process. It was a team willing to figure it out with them.
San Juan Regional describes the relationship as more consultative than transactional. That’s the difference between a vendor and a partner. A vendor hands off when its piece ships. ELLKAY stays accountable for how it all works together, and brings business, operational, and clinical insight to the table, not just a product.
"ELLKAY brought both business insight as well as operational and clinical expertise to the table, helping us think outside the box and serving as a true solutions partner."
John Gaede, CIO, San Juan Regional Medical Center
The ELLKAY Effect
A Foundation for Coordinated Care & What Comes Next
The long-term impact reaches beyond IT. San Juan Regional Medical Center is advancing interoperability across its community, enabling seamless lab and imaging orders, delivering results directly into provider EHRs, and building a platform ready for automation and AI.
The Impact
Connectivity That Drives Results
“Besides the amazing product quality, what stands out is the people I have been able to work with.” — John Gaede, CIO, San Juan Regional Medical Center
Reliable, Cloud-Based Connectivity
A proven engine reliably routes data, connects providers, and supports order and result workflows.
Restored Referral Relationships
Faster, discreet order and result delivery helps win back and retain community physician referrals.
Scalable Expertise, No Added Headcount
ELLKAY extends the hospital's team with specialized support, maintaining momentum despite limited staff.
Integration Control & Speed
The hospital now manages and prioritizes integration work directly, without long outsourced IT delays.
Reduced Cost & Complexity
One-to-many data routing simplifies management and reduces duplicate EHR feeds.
Ready for What's Next
A scalable platform supports APIs, automation, orchestration, and future AI initiatives.
