The potential affiliation of Perry County Memorial Hospital with another healthcare system has resulted in much discussion among the community. The ramifications of such an affiliation will greatly affect the health care providers of Perry County. It is of course the doctors, nurses and administrative team that will be charged with adapting to a new system to continue to provide caring, high-quality, healthcare we all desire.
We have approached this evaluation by thoroughly researching and answering three questions. Do we need to affiliate? When is the right time? And finally, who should we choose?
The medical staff agrees with administration that affiliation is needed in order to continue to grow and expand services to meet the needs of the community. It is becoming very difficult for rural hospitals to remain viable with changes in reimbursement, the need for integrated medical record systems and new contracting trends.
Our group has understood for some time that affiliation was likely in our future. With recent developments and expansion of surrounding healthcare systems we feel this is the right time to proceed. Recent challenges from the Covid pandemic and changes in local insurance trends has made this even more evident. Currently the hospital and medical community are in a strong position and will be a desirable addition to any affiliating system. This allows for us to engage in negotiations moving forward to ensure a mutually beneficial arrangement for the hospital, the providers, and the community.
Lastly, the most important question, who is the best partner? PFCC has defined distinct goals of any affiliation in order to proceed. We desire to maintain our group identity and would like to maintain a close working relationship with the hospital. We desire a robust integrated medical record system that allows for expanded services for our patients such as telehealth and population health management. We desire a health system that is financially stable. Most importantly we will demand to maintain autonomy in clinical decisions between us and our patients. This includes decisions regarding referrals and best treatment practices.
Trust that we have thoroughly vetted each system being considered for affiliation. This has included financial assessments, many discussions with physicians, nurses and administrators currently working with each system and a thorough review of their past experience with similar rural hospitals and their surrounding communities.
While the Perry County Memorial Hospital Board of Trustees has not made a recommendation to move forward with further negotiations, our physicians and nurse practitioners have all come to the same conclusion. We feel Mercy Health is the system that is most able to meet our needs as stated above. Please be assured that our only goal is to continue to provide quality primary care to Perry County now and for future generations. As we proceed with our negotiations, also be assured that we will walk away if we do not feel this can be accomplished in a way that achieves our goals and improves the health services of Perry County.
Sincerely,
Dr. David Kapp, MD
Dr. David Melchior, DO
Dr. Mark Schabbing, MD
Dr. Laurie Womack, MD
Dr. Daryl Green, MD
Dr. Theo Rogers, MD
Brad Hennemann, FNP
Theresa Lipe, FNP
Bayley Little, FNP
April Kibble, FNP
Brooke Hotop, FNP