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Lesa Stock, left, chief clinical officer; Cathy Molder, executive assistant; and Donald Babb, CEO/executive director
Lesa Stock, left, chief clinical officer; Cathy Molder, executive assistant; and Donald Babb, CEO/executive director

2016 Economic Impact Awards 16-29 Years in Operation 30+ Years in Operation Finalist: Citizens Memorial Healthcare

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For 34 years, Citizens Memorial Healthcare has provided medical services for rural Missourians, growing alongside the population it serves.

Since its founding in 1982, the Bolivar-based CMH has grown from fewer than 100 employees and less than $5 million in revenue to almost 2,000 employees and nearly $407 million in 2015 revenue.

CMH covers nine counties and encompasses two entities, says Don Babb, CMH’s chief executive officer. CMH includes the hospital and ambulance service and employs the doctors, while the nonprofit Citizens Memorial Healthcare Foundation owns and operates long-term living facilities, home care, hospice, clinics and the surgical center. Babb serves as the foundation’s executive director.

“CMH is one of southwest Missouri’s largest employers and a significant economic driver to surrounding communities,” says Tamera Heitz-Peek, director of marketing. “Since 1982, we have invested millions of dollars in capital projects and community programs, but at the end of the day, what really matters most are the patients and their families who trust their lives to us.

CMH has experienced revenue growth of about 10 percent the past several years, and Babb expects 2016’s numbers to continue the trend. In 2015, CMH expanded walk-in hours for all of its family medicine clinics, with four locations now offering weekend walk-in hours. Primary care has been a focus the past few years.

“We didn’t have the coverage we needed,” Babb says, noting that physicians and nurse practitioners volunteer their services for a free clinic once a week.

Also in 2015, the 80,000-square-foot expansion to the Kerry and Synda Douglas Medical Center, which houses outpatient surgery, specialty physician clinics, breast care center and imaging, was completed. Two new facilities also were built: the CMH Women and Children’s Center and the CMH Education Center. The former includes 14,000 square feet of integrated services, while the latter is a vital addition that includes Bolivar Technical College, which offers nursing courses and a new paramedic program. An associate degree will soon be added, Babb says.

“With the shortage of nurses and paramedics in southwest Missouri, Bolivar Technical College’s programs are giving area residents the opportunity to study and learn locally, train in CMH facilities and, once they graduate, have secure employment at one of CMH’s numerous health care clinics, facilities and programs,” says Heitz-Peek.

A new clinic in El Dorado Springs is scheduled for completion by December and a 22,000-square-foot expansion to CMH’s cancer center is planned, with a potential autumn groundbreaking, Babb says.

CMH continues to benefit from managing Ellett Memorial Hospital in Appleton City, a first-time endeavor that began last year. CMH specialty doctors visit Ellett, which helps those patients while also generating referrals for CMH, Babb says.

“Our goal is to help them with growth and recruiting, all things a critical-access hospital struggles with in a rural area,” he says. “We’ve had it on our radar for a while.”

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