Doctors Hospital proposes 45 beds to state reviewers

by Paul Flemming

SBJ Staff

John Moran is back working in Springfield, trying to get Doctors Hospital of Springfield to do the same.

Moran, a Drury graduate who last was here in 1988, worked then for what was called Springfield General Hospital at 2828 N. National. He is now the administrator for the proposed Doctors Hospital at the same site.

The Missouri Health Facilities Review Committee will June 28 decide on the hospital's application to operate 45 acute-care beds in 45,000 square feet of the building.

"This is going to be the future of health care across the country," Moran said. "Smaller facilities with one or two larger ... facilities" in a given market. "With the larger facilities in town, we are going to possibly be a gateway. I would hope (St. John's and Cox) would see us as a partner in providing quality health care."

Moran cited 18th century British economist Thomas Malthus and his views on competition.

"He said you can easily enter a crowded market if you just provide something different," Moran said.

That something different includes access, both geographic and timely.

"There is a fierce loyalty up here (in north Springfield) to this place," Moran said. "Instead of a small hospital, this is a personal hospital."

The hospital was closed as an operating hospital in 1995 by Columbia Hospitals. As part of the 1998 deal in which Columbia sold its local operations to Cox Health Systems, 10 doctors who had an equity stake in its holdings here were given an option to buy the North National building.

That group of doctors exercised that option in November. It was initially thought the project would not have to go through state regulatory review, Moran said, though state officials decided it was necessary.

"The last (certificate of need application) for this hospital, I wrote," Moran said. "It's a good process it makes you stop and think" through the details of the plan.

As part of Cox's deal, it agreed to transfer its license for 45 acute-care beds to Doctors Hospital. The Cox Walnut Lawn facility that was formerly Columbia South no longer operates as an acute-care facility. Therefore, there will be no net increase in the number of acute-care beds in the area.

The equipment that was in place when Columbia operated the building as a hospital (and was subsequently transferred to its south hospital) is also being moved to Doctors Hospital as part of the deal.

The owner doctors, known corporately as SGOH Acquisitions Inc., bought the hospital for $2 million, their portion of the price Cox paid in the Columbia deal. A loan agreement for up to $3 million from Cox is also in place as part of the agreement.

A key part of the contract is the inclusion of the owner doctors, and other independent physicians in Doctors Hospital's employ, in Cox's managed care plans.

Up to 35 independent physicians are a part of the operating arm of the project, Doctors Hospital, which will lease the facility from SGOH.

State regulatory staff will present June 9 a report on the hospital's application to the review committee in Jefferson City. Tom Piper, director of Missouri's Certificate of Need program, said the staff review considers three topics: an area's need for acute-care beds, the financial feasibility of a project, and whether the plan presented is the best alternative available to address an area's health-care needs.

No local public hearing will be held on the Doctors Hospital application, Piper said. Individuals and other institutions may take part in the review committee's June 28 meeting. Thus far, no opposition has been expressed to the plan. Moran said he expects no opposition from local institutions.

In addition, letters of support were solicited and received from north-side individuals and employers.

Included in the hospital application are plans to renovate the North National building. It needs roof repair and some layout changes to suit the plans of the doctors. The structure was originally built in 1967 and comprises 75,000 square feet of space. Only the more recently constructed 45,000 square feet will be used for the hospital, which, in addition to the 45 beds, will include two operating rooms, a laboratory, and an urgent-care clinic.

Moran said the remaining space of the hospital will be leased for doctors' practices.

Doctors Hospital's application to the state forecasts 1,000 surgeries, both inpatient and outpatient, performed in the year 2000, increasing to 1,369 in 2002. The projections also include an average occupancy in the hospital of 15 in 2000, increasing to 20 in 2002.

Those stated services notwithstanding, the health care provided at Doctors Hospital will not be all-encompassing.

"When we need more (medical services), we're going to look to the two that have it. We're not going to be all things to all people," Moran said. "I believe we need to be cooperative to make it work."

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