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KEARNEY - A second hospital could soon be under construction in Kearney.

The chairman of a physicians investor group today said 20 to 70 doctors are planning to build Kearney Regional Medical Center on a 78-acre tract in southwest Kearney.

"The same group of physicians who are practicing in the present hospital will be practicing in the second one. A second hospital guarantees we keep service lines open," said cardiologist Sean Denney of Platte Valley Medical Group in Kearney.

Denney is chairman of the board of Western Nebraska Hospital LLC, which was formed to build the hospital.

Denney said the size of the facility has not been determined, but the investors have options on property west of Yanney Heritage Park and it is anticipated the new hospital would employ 100 people.

Construction could begin in the next few months, and the hospital could open in 2010.

Denney said the physician investors have decided to strike out on their own because they have grown frustrated with management of Kearney's Good Samaritan Hospital, which is owned by Catholic Health Initiatives in Denver.

"Seeing the change in the hospital over the years from community-owned and -run to corporately run is of concern," Denney said. "Loss of control, ultimately having a say in service lines, and physician recruitment are concerns that have been brewing for quite some time."

GSH Interim CEO Steve Loveless said in an interview last week that he is aware a physicians group is planning to build a second hospital, but he hopes to open a dialogue that might dissuade the group from proceeding.

"These are folks we work with on a daily basis," Loveless said about the physicians. "They are people who we appreciate and who we helped recruit to this community. (Good Samaritan Hospital) is completely reliant upon these folks."

Loveless said Good Samaritan officials do not know who the physician investors are. "We're trying to identify who they are so we can have a dialogue."

However, Good Samaritan has identified a number of the physicians' concerns and is working to address them.

The list includes finding a way to pay physicians while they are on call, improving surgical services, working with cardiologists on a shared vision of cardiovascular services and obtaining capital for building and technology investments at Good Samaritan, according to Marsha Wilkerson, director of corporate communications.

Loveless said he is concerned about the harm a second hospital might do to Good Samaritan, especially if it were to draw away some of GSH's profitable services or undermine GSH's status as a Level II Trauma Center.

Good Samaritan's advanced emergency services attract patients from across central and western Nebraska and northern Kansas.

Loveless said the array of medical specialists and technology necessary for Level II Trauma status is the foundation for the "continuum of care" available at Good Samaritan, and so the ongoing health of the hospital depends on maintaining the emergency care designation. That means having enough physicians on call.

"We have to have these specialists committed to taking the calls," he said. "Some of that comes at considerable expense."

Offering specialties other than trauma care also is important to GSH's fiscal well being, Loveless said. Offering an assortment of services and specialties attracts patients, and it helps recruit physicians.

GSH currently has 120 physicians on staff, with 11 of those employed by the hospital. The remainder practice independently or in clinics and have privileges to refer and care for patients at GSH.

Denney said the physician investors believe a second hospital would benefit patients and the community in a variety of ways. "It's a good situation for every city it happens in."

Denney said patient benefits include an assurance that a greater variety of medical services would be available, while the community would benefit from the 100 jobs and the expanded tax base the for-profit hospital would create.

Physicians have paid research and development costs so far, Denney said, and they will be the major investors when the hospital is built, but it is possible other investors might be welcome when construction begins.

Denney said it is undetermined how much it would cost to build Kearney Regional Medical Center.

He declined to name other officers of Western Nebraska Hospital LLC, saying the doctors are concerned about repercussions with Good Samaritan.

He said concerns about Good Samaritan and its governance by Catholic Health have been percolating for several years.

"Ultimately, quality of care is the big concern," Denney added. He said patient care is excellent at Good Samaritan, but "chronically underfunding service lines does affect patient care over time."

Good Samaritan recently achieved a 90-percent patient satisfaction rating by Hospital Consumer Assessment of Health Care Providers and Systems.

Loveless said Catholic Health allows most decisions to be made locally because medical care occurs locally. He said Catholic Health is not planning to consolidate specialties at any of its four Nebraska hospitals or make changes that might compromise individual hospitals' services.

Patient care is very important to Catholic Health, he said, and GSH's affiliation with its parent has allowed the Kearney hospital to tap capital resources and collaborate in ways a stand-alone hospital might not be able to do.

CHI's four Nebraska hospitals include Saint Francis in Grand Island, Saint Elizabeth in Lincoln, St. Mary's in Nebraska City and GSH in Kearney.

Western Nebraska Hospital LLC has contracted with an outside company to help plan and construct Kearney Regional Medical Center.

Denney said when plans are filed with the city, they will include bed numbers and cost estimates for the project.

Denney said he is uncertain if GSH might be able to change the minds of the physician investors.

He would not specify actions by GSH that have frustrated or concerned physicians.

"This didn't just originate yesterday. There has been a long series of things that have gone into our decision to proceed with an alternate hospital in this community," he said.

e-mail to:

mike.konz@kearneyhub.com

Complete Text of Today's Press Release from Kearney Regional Medical Center:

"It is with great pleasure, that we, a large portion of the Kearney physician community, are announcing the development of the Kearney Regional Medical Center.

"We have planned for a multispecialty, state of the art, medical and surgical hospital encompassing the services regional patients have grown to expect from this medical community.

"As a group, we've grown to see the importance of a community-run and locally-owned hospital in this region for numerous reasons. This facility will allow us to guarantee service lines and recruit physicians who will stay in our community. We are also eager to provide another place of potential employment for healthcare workers in the city, a large taxpaying entity for the city, a hospital focused on local needs, and a collegial repository for referring physicians to send their patients.

"There will be some who say this hospital will hurt the local, established hospital. Studies by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC), and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) confirm that general hospitals are largely unaffected by competition from physician-owned hospitals.

"According to an April 22, 2009, study by the Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC), general hospitals are able to respond to the presence of physician-owned hospitals with few, if any, changes to the terms of care for their patients. The HSC study also pointed to the patient centered care offered at physician-owned-and-operated hospitals, acknowledging that such ownership results in higher patient satisfaction, as well as better quality, at lower cost.

"In order to help improve patient care and outcomes in our community, our state of the art facility will make resources available to obtain the best in equipment and technology. If there is a healthcare need that will arise, it will be this same local physician community that will best be able to meet that need.

"We are also excited to redirect a large portion of the proceeds this hospital will generate back into the local community. The same charities which have grown to appreciate the generosities of the local physician community over the years will be benefited all the more, and new proceeds will enable us to enlarge that list of local beneficiaries.

"For all these reasons, and many more, we are very eager to complete this project and initiate a new, exciting era in healthcare delivery in central and western Nebraska and Kansas.

"The Kearney Regional Medical Center is not affiliated with any other medical facility and will be licensed by the Nebraska Department of Health, subject to the same stringent requirements of any other medical facility. Construction of the facility will begin in the next few months."

End of Press Release

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• Consultant: Second hospital no threat to GSH
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• Consider 2 hospitals’ real cost
• Some Kearney leaders not convinced 2nd hospital best for all
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• Kearney needs second hospital
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