Health system's revenues hit $1.5 billion

CoxHealth

Address: 1423 N. Jefferson Ave., Springfield, MO 65802

Top executive: Bob Bezanson, president and CEO

2003 revenues: $1.1 billion

2004 revenues: $1.3 billion

2005 revenues: $1.5 billion

3-year growth: 36 percent

Employees: 9,250

CoxHealth grew considerably in 2005 – but it wasn’t all voluntary. In fact, it was what the system’s coverage area demanded.

“Springfield really is the center for health care for a large, large area,” said President and CEO Bob Bezanson. “As the community expands, the pressures expand also.”

A growing and aging population, and an expanding service area that includes more neighboring communities pushed CoxHealth’s revenues to $1.5 billion in 2005, up 6.3 percent from $1.3 billion in 2004. Since 2003, system revenues are up 36 percent.

The integrated health system spent the year adding to its facilities, planning for the future and positioning itself for the extensive growth that CoxHealth officials predict.

A July donation for an undisclosed amount from Bill and Ann Turner is behind the transformation of the Medical Arts Center at 1000 E. Primrose into the Turner Center for Women’s and Children’s Services. The $1.5 million project includes an external entrance, a boutique and enhanced consultation services for The Women’s Center, plus the addition of a 14-bed pediatric urgent care facility.

The health system also continued in 2005 to improve its BrainLab technology, first offered in 2004.

But perhaps the most important advancement in 2005, Bezanson said, wasn’t about adding new technology or constructing a new clinic. It was the emphasis CoxHealth placed on investing in the company’s employees and leadership development.

“The greatest investment you can make is in your employees, and that’s the one area we have really focused on in the last year,” he said. “That’s developing our leadership, having a commitment to it, involving everybody in it and communicating it.”

Laurie Cunningham, vice president of corporate communications, said that effort has included multiple employee forums, newsletters mailed to employees’ homes and an overall promise to communicate more consistently.

“Bricks and mortar are the easy things,” Bezanson said. “It’s the investment in the human capital that’s important.”

And, as Springfield’s largest employer, CoxHealth has quite the human capital. The health system has 8,981 local employees, and approximately 9,250 employees work for CoxHealth systemwide, which includes hospitals in Springfield and Monett, Burrell Behavioral Health, Oxford HealthCare, Home Parenteral Services, Primrose Place Healthcare and regional services physician clinics.

In August, nurses began using CoxHealth Resource Extension Workforce, or CREW. CREW is an internal staffing agency for nurses, which offers flexible scheduling and higher hourly pay in place of set hours and benefits.

Though Bezanson said CoxHealth had a successful year, he summarizes 2005 as “challenging.” With growth comes ever-increasing needs, and higher health insurance costs. Cuts to Medicaid required health system officials to work even harder to eliminate costs elsewhere.

The company also spent the year dealing with two lawsuits filed against it – one filed in June by two former employees and a federal criminal investigation into alleged Medicare fraud launched in December 2004. Both are still pending.

Bezanson said CoxHealth was able to balance its growth with its challenges because of the company’s commitment to serving people.

“It’s all a matter of priorities,” he said. “You’ve got to put everything in perspective.”

In 2005, CoxHealth had about 401,000 patient visits within its regional services clinics – compared to 164,500 in 1995. Also in that decade, same-day surgeries rose from 12,700 to 38,500, visits to CoxHealth’s north and south campuses increased from 75,600 to 134,000, and ambulance runs rose from 16,000 to 27,000.

The last 10 years have been the health system’s most productive years, Bezanson said. But, rather than focus on the past, CoxHealth officials are thinking about the future.

CoxHealth spent all of 2005, as well as several previous years, planning for a complete redevelopment of its north campus, announced Feb. 17. The $55 million overhaul is part of a $200 million plan to update its entire system.

The Cox North project is scheduled for completion in five years, while the system’s overall redevelopment is expected to take 15 years.