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CKMC Announces New Direction Monday, 03 January 2011 The Central Kansas Medical Center (CKMC) board of directors is moving forward in response to the changing health care needs of the community. This will necessitate taking CKMC in a new direction. It will focus exclusively on outpatient services, including comprehensive urgent care services, same-day surgery and cancer care. “We are excited by our new focus,” said Ron Vratil, CKMC board chair. “Just as the Dominican sisters responded when the Great Bend community asked for a hospital in 1903, we are responding today. Medical care and the needs of our community are different now, so we are transforming our health ministry to assure access to health care services for the Great Bend community now and tomorrow.” CKMC will meet with community, government and civic leaders, local physicians and Great Bend Regional Hospital over the next several weeks to discuss its plans. “We want to ensure people have access to the medical and health care services they need,” said Tom Fitz, CKMC interim president and CEO. In addition to urgent care, surgery and cancer services, CKMC will provide physician clinics, imaging, laboratory services, outpatient therapies, home health care and hospice and a sleep lab. It will operate in two locations, the Heartland Cancer Center and the CKMC campus. “Over time, there is opportunity to enhance outpatient services in Great Bend. Imagine local physicians consulting with leading-edge cancer specialists as part of Catholic Health Initiatives’ expanding telehealth programs,” said Beth O’Brien, senior vice president and group executive officer of Catholic Health Initiatives. CKMC is part of Catholic Health Initiatives, a national nonprofit health system with headquarters in Denver. CKMC will return to its roots, with plans to become St. Rose Ambulatory and Surgery Center. CKMC first opened in April 1903 as St. Rose Hospital, named for the Peruvian saint known for her compassion to the sick and poor. New investments in clinical technology at St. Rose to enhance quality, safety and efficiency for patients are already planned. Outpatient services are becoming far more common than inpatient care across the country, including at CKMC. According to the American Hospital Association, outpatient visits are up 200 percent and inpatient days are down 28 percent in the past 25 years. CKMC, with 99 licensed beds, averages fewer than eight patients staying overnight per day and 80 percent of all services currently provided at CKMC are outpatient services. “We remain committed to providing high-quality, relevant and needed health care to the residents of Great Bend and that’s why we have chosen to take our health care ministry in a new direction,” Vratil said. # # # Central Kansas Medical Center is a regional acute care hospital serving a population of 60,000 in Great Bend, Kan. CKMC was founded in 1903 by the Dominican Sisters. The facility’s state-of-the-art technologies include a full laparoscopic system, cancer center and fixed-site MRI and CT equipment. Service offerings include rehabilitation, cardio-respiratory, laboratory, imaging, and home health and hospice care. Oncology, neurology, pulmonology, cardiology, and nephrology outpatient clinics are available at CKMC. For more information, visit www.ckmc.org. Catholic Health Initiatives is a national nonprofit health organization with headquarters in Denver. The faith-based system operates in 19 states and includes 73 hospitals; 40 long-term care, assisted- and residential-living facilities; two community health-services organizations; and Consolidated Health Services (Home Health) operating in Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky. In fiscal year 2010, CHI provided approximately $590 million in charity care and community benefits, including services for the poor, free clinics, education and research. With annual revenues in excess of $9 billion, CHI is the nation's third-largest Catholic health care system. For more information, visit www.catholichealthinitiatives.org. Last updated ( Thursday, 16 June 2011 ) FOR MORE INFO Mark Mingenback Executive Director--Business Development, Strategy 620-786-6136 MarkMingenback@catholichealth.net
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