A new beginning: Ozarks Community Hospital joins not-for-profits today

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January 1, 2008

Anonymous The Joplin Globe Tue Jan 01, 2008, 11:20 AM CST

By Melissa Dunson

mdunson@joplinglobe.com

Today marks a new beginning for the former Doctors Hospital.

The Springfield-based company officially transforms from for-profit to not-for-profit status, and takes the name Ozarks Community Hospital.

Alisha Benefiel, manager of the hospital’s Webb City clinic, said the change won’t affect patients or staffing, but it makes the clinic eligible for more community and government funding.

The company offers health care to those with government coverage or no insurance.

The Webb City clinic opened in 2005, and Benefiel said 2007 was the year it came into its own. The operation jumped from 362 patients a month to 420 a month, and she said that if the growth continues, the clinic will have to look for a larger location.

“I think it was mainly an issue of getting the word out that we’re here,” Benefiel said.

Carrie Richardson, director of communications for OCH, said the company this year will reopen a critical-access hospital in Gravette, Ark., that closed in 2005. She said the company also expects to begin fund-raising activities in April or May.

Other medical centers in the area also witnessed changes in 2007, with more than $120 million spent on construction.

Freeman

The $47 million West Tower was the biggest change at Freeman Health System in 2007.

The Ozark Center for Autism opened in November. Gary Duncan, chief executive officer of Freeman, said the hospital recently received a donation of $180,000 to enroll three more students at the center, bringing the total to 12.

During 2007, the Freeman Foundation hit its $7 million fund-raising goal, and Freeman’s Ozark Center opened Magnolia Heights, a 24-bed behavioral health center.

Duncan said that over the past year, Freeman integrated a bedside medication verification system to reduce errors, and it won an award for organizing a 24/7 rapid-response team to review puzzling cases. Duncan said the result of those two initiatives has been a drop in patients’ deaths.

St. John’s

St. John’s Regional Medical Center spent the past year adding state-of-the-art equipment, according to Miranda Lewis, spokeswoman for the hospital.

She said the hospital installed an automated chemistry line during 2007, and added a new fluoroscopy room and other radiology equipment.

St. John’s also was honored last year with a number of awards, including its third 100 Top Hospitals Award from Thomson Healthcare, a Patient Satisfaction Award from HealthStream Research, and a HealthGrades Award for the hospital’s joint-replacement program.

In 2008, Lewis said, the hospital will add a second magnetic resonance imaging machine.

McCune-Brooks

Construction is finished on the new McCune-Brooks Regional Hospital in Carthage, and patients will move in Jan. 18. The project cost $52 million and took two years to build.

Bob Copeland, chief executive officer, said the new hospital has the capacity for 56 patients, but it will open with 35 beds.

He said the biggest change in 2008 will be the resurrection of the obstetrics program in July. The program returns 22 years after the last delivery at McCune-Brooks.

Barton County

The new Barton County Memorial Hospital in Lamar started serving patients in October. The $18 million project took one year to complete.

Angela Bryant, public relations coordinator, said 2008 will bring a variety of new programs. She said the hospital is trying to be more patient-friendly, and it will start a pet-therapy program in the next six months.

Mount Carmel

In March, Mount Carmel Regional Medical Center in Pittsburg, Kan., completed a $4.3 million expansion and renovation of its intensive care unit. The project added 12 private rooms and an additional 9,000 square feet.

In May, the hospital installed technology that allows critical-care nurses and physicians to monitor patients 24/7 from a remote location, said Chris Kelly, director of marketing and public relations.

Kelly said that in November, Mount Carmel signed an agreement with the EagleMed helicopter service to provide medical flights and staff in a 90-mile radius around Pittsburg.

Melissa Dunson is the business writer for The Joplin Globe.

Ozarks clinics

Ozarks Community Hospital has clinics in Webb City, Mount Vernon, Nixa, Springfield and Rogersville.