Branson/Tri-Lakes News: Skaggs adds 'regional' to moniker

Skaggs Community Health Center became Skaggs Regional Medical Center on Feb. 3, to reflect the increasing area the hospital serves and the expansion of medical services available, hospital CEO Stephen Erixon said.

What was a 25-bed hospital when it opened in 1950 now is a 165-bed hospital with 22 clinics serving Taney and Stone counties and northwest Arkansas. The hospital was named after its first benefactors, M.B. and Estella Skaggs. M.B. Skaggs, a Missouri native, founded Safeway stores and owned a home and game preserve in eastern Taney County.

Since opening, Skaggs has added specialized centers for outpatient care, cardiac care, women's health, cancer care, orthopedic care, neurology and spinal care, as well as a health and fitness center, and urgent care and walk-in clinics.

Skaggs Center for Women's Health offers digital mammograms, said Skaggs board chairman Dennis Newkirk. More than 150 physicians are on staff, representing more than 35 specialties, with 1,100 nursing and support personnel.

The name change also was prompted by the quality of care, said Dr. Peter Marcellus, vice president of medical staff. For the fourth year, Skaggs is one of 270 hospitals nationwide and the only hospital in southwest Missouri to receive a HealthGrades Distinguished Hospital for Clinical Excellence Award, announced last month.

The ratings company studied 5,000 nonfederal hospitals, analyzing 41 million Medicare hospitalization records, according to HealthGrades. Hospitals awarded Clinical Excellence status had mortality rates an average of 27 percent lower than other hospitals, according to the study, available at www.healthgrades.com. The HealthGrades designation, which puts Skaggs in the top 5 percent of hospitals nationwide for overall clinical quality, is important with so many people of all ages now using the Internet to research health care, Marcellus said.

Skaggs' new regional title also may help recruit physicians and staff because it indicates a large service area. However, recruitment is not difficult now because people are attracted to Branson's quality of life, Marcellus said.

A new logo was designed for the new name by The Team Inc. in Ozark. The winning design was drawn by art director Shannon Perryman, a 1991 graduate of Drury University. Perryman was born at Skaggs.