Mercy system to invest $192 million in Fort Smith area

Officials with the St. Louis-based Sisters of Mercy plan to invest about $192 million in St. Edward Mercy health care facilities in the Fort Smith region as part of a 10-year plan to invest $4.8 billion in its operations in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma.

Construction of a more than $8.1 million primary clinic on Dallas Street in Fort Smith near the Mercy Fitness Center, completion of the off-again, on-again orthopedic hospital began by River Valley Musculoskeletal Center (RVMC), and a $500,000 investment in Mercy’s operation in Waldron are included in the package of regional capital projects.

Arkansas is set to capture about $400 million of the overall investment, said St. Edward Mercy CEO Jeff Johnston — who will be leaving Sept. 1 to be the CEO of the Mercy System flagship hospital in St. Louis.

Investments in the Fort Smith region, partially driven by a “community roundtable” process that gathered public input, focus primarily on improving facilities and increasing the number of doctors in the region.

The unveiling of the large capital project package was held Thursday night (Aug. 25) in Fort Smith during a roundtable meeting of about 125 people from the region. Lynn Britton, president and CEO of the Mercy System, attended and spoke briefly about the “multi-state commitment” plan that includes expanding the system’s footprint, reaching underserved populations, increasing the number of doctors in the system and boosting telemedicine.

St. Edward Mercy in the Fort Smith region is comprised of the 365-bed hospital in Fort Smith, critical access centers in Paris, Waldron and Ozark and the Mercy Clinic. More than 85 doctors and 2,100 employees operate in nine locations in the region.

FACILITIES
The planned 12,977-square foot Mercy Clinic Primary Care clinic will provide room for up to 10 doctors, 28 exam rooms and lab and x-ray rooms. The new clinic could be open by the end of 2013.

Expansion of the Hembree Cancer Center will include more room for patient treatment and a new “linear accelerator” that better targets radiation treatment and reduces or eliminates damage to tissues near a tumor. This expansion could be 2-3 years away, Johnston said.

Work will also include expansion of the swimming pool area and other spaces within the Mercy Fitness Center.

Possibly the largest project will be the completion of the RVMC facility. The structure is now nothing more than rusty steel girders that outline the shell of what was an aggressive vision among several orthopedic surgeons in the area. Dr. Cole Goodman, president and CEO of Mercy Clinic, said $4 million is in the budget for planning during 2012 on how to build out what was originally to be a $20 million modern orthopedic surgical center.

St. Edward acquired RVMC in a deal announced Feb. 4. The move added 15 doctors and a total of 100 employees to the St. Edward system.

Orthopedic surgeon Greg Jones, one of the original RVMC investors still active in the operation, said the original RVMC vision was to create a facility that would continue to provide orthopedic services typically only offered in bigger city hospitals. When doctors “began to flee” Fort Smith, Jones said, RVMC helped retain orthopedic specialists in the region. He said it continues to be a struggle to retain and build the physician base.

“We’re seriously trying to reverse what has occurred in this community,” Jones told the audience.

Goodman said he hopes the new ortho surgery center is in operation sometime within the first half of 2014. Britton praised the vision of Jones and other RVMC doctors, saying the ortho center will likely be the second such center in the Mercy System.

PHYSICIANS
Designing and building the facilities during the next 10 years may be the easy part. The Fort Smith region is in a deep hole in terms of physician shortage.

In the Mercy System, only the hospitals in St. Louis and Oklahoma City meet or exceed the U.S. average number of physicians per capita. Systemwide, Mercy facilities are 26% below the U.S. average.

Unfortunately, the Fort Smith region is 42% below the national average for primary care physicians and 47% below the average for specialists.

“That’s a significant difference,” Goodman said of the percentage below the national average. “We’ve got some real problems here.”

But the facilities and an aggressive doctor recruitment campaign is showing signs of recovery, Goodman said. About a year ago, the Mercy Clinic had 52 doctors. They are now up to 78, and have at least 12 physicians expected to arrive by next summer. Goodman believes the clinic is on pace to have up to 135 physicians on the roster within 3-5 years.

“We are working at it, and we are continuing to work at it,” Goodman said of physician recruitment, adding that they also work with Cooper Clinic and Sparks Health System to create an environment attractive to physicians.

In an interview prior to the roundtable, Goodman was asked if the new facilities will help with physician recruitment.

“Oh, I hope so,” he said. “I know it will be outstanding for the patients, and they (doctors) will like that.”

When wrapping up his comments on the new facilities and doctor recruitment plans, Goodman predicted the region will soon be home to much-improved medical care.

“I know a lot of people like to talk about how great Northwest Arkansas is, but you don’t want to be like Northwest Arkansas with this (facilities) here, because we’re going to be better,” Goodman boasted.

THE PACKAGE
Johnston said the meetings during the last several months have been intense. During an early round, a plan for Fort Smith regional capital projects was presented to Britton and other top Mercy System officers.

“He (Britton) said, ‘You guys are not thinking big enough. Go back and give it another look,’” Johnston explained.

And then Joplin happened. A powerful tornado ripped through the southwest Missouri city of about 50,000 on May 26, essentially destroying St. John’s Regional Medical Center.

But Johnston said insurance proceeds will help the Mercy System stay on track with its plans in other hospital regions.

“That (Joplin disaster) is not anticipated to slow this (Fort Smith regional plans) down,” he explained.

Other regional expansions in the $4.8 billion, 10-year plan include:
• Up to $772 million in expansions are planned in the Oklahoma City area, to include the construction of a new $14 million rehabilitation hospital;

• The St. Johns hospital network in Springfield, Mo., will receive $650 million in the next 10 years for several projects, including a doubling in size of the hospital’s level II neonatal intensive care facility, and construction of a new heart hospital; and,

• Up to $1 billion to build new medical facilities in Joplin, which will include the construction of a new hospital and several ancillary facilities.