Health Care & Insurance  January 17, 2014

Hospital moves, expansions planned for 2014

Hospitals and other health-care industry systems will continue to make changes to how they operate, as various pieces of the federal Affordable Care Act go into effect, according to hospital executives in the Boulder Valley.

Three hospitals in the Boulder Valley have announced expansion plans to respond to changing demands – mainly brought about by the Affordable Care Act, passed by Congress in 2010. The ACA changes include the expansion of the federal Medicaid insurance program to currently uninsured people, and a new rule that every person in the United States must have health insurance or pay tax penalties.

When it comes to expansion plans, Boulder Community Hospital plans to move all of its hospital acute-care services to its Foothills campus on the northeast corner of Arapahoe Avenue and Foothills Parkway in the middle of the year, said David Gehant, president of the Boulder hospital. The move is scheduled to be complete by Oct. 31, Gehant said. The move is the key piece of the hospital’s 10-year, $110 million expansion project. The hospital most recently sold a 14.9-acre campus at 311 Mapleton Ave. in Boulder for $12.9 million and plans to move rehabilitation services located there to the hospital’s current main location at 1100 Balsam Ave.

SPONSORED CONTENT

Solar Operations and Maintenance for Commercial Properties

One key qualification to consider when selecting a solar partner to install your system is whether they have an Operations and Maintenance (O&M) or service department. Since solar is a long-term asset with an expected lifecycle of 30 plus years, ongoing O&M should be considered up front. A trusted O&M partner will maximize your system’s energy output and therefor the return on your investment.

Avista Adventist Hospital in Louisville plans to spend more than $10 million to build at least two new “ambulatory sites” in communities it serves in 2014, said Dennis Barts, Avista’s chief executive. The two new medical centers will offer patients an alternative to conventional hospital care, Barts said, without giving details. He also did not give specific site locations or give a more specific time frame as to when the two new centers might open.

SCL Health System Inc., which operates Exempla Good Samaritan Medical Center in Lafayette, plans to build four new hospitals in the Denver metro area, including one in Westminster, representatives said in December. The three other hospital sites were not named.

Even as hospital executives are scrambling to figure out how the Affordable Care Act will affect them, calculations from the Colorado Hospital Association show that many hospitals across the state may get paid less because of changes in the way Medicare reimbursements are made, Gehant said. For Boulder Community Hospital, that could mean a $4 million negative impact.

Hospitals are trying to figure out how to navigate the new “pay for performance” model of reimbursement, representatives from the county’s four main hospitals said.

Under the new model, hospitals can be penalized by insurance companies for longer patient stays and rewarded for shorter stays, Barts said. Medicare will no longer reimburse hospitals when they re-admit patients for pneumonia or congestive heart failure, Barts said. Many insurance companies say they will follow Medicare’s lead when it comes to reimbursements, he said.

In the midst of all the change, Exempla expects residents in the Boulder Valley to be more selective about the services they receive, said Dave Hamm, president and chief executive at the hospital in Lafayette.

“We will continue to place our patients at the center of all we do at Exempla Good Sam Medical Center as we navigate these and other impacts to our industry,” Hamm said.
Longmont United Hospital plans to deal with expected uncertainty by investing in information technology systems — especially electronic medical records, said Peter Powers, the hospital’s business development director.

Across Colorado, the health-care industry accounts for more than $40 billion in annual economic activity by employing more than 360,000 workers, according to “Health Economy, Healthy Colorado: A strategic action plan for Colorado’s health and wellness industry,” a state report issued in December. Health-care industry receipts make up 15.3 percent of the state’s gross product.

 

Hospitals and other health-care industry systems will continue to make changes to how they operate, as various pieces of the federal Affordable Care Act go into effect, according to hospital executives in the Boulder Valley.

Three hospitals in the Boulder Valley have announced expansion plans to respond to changing demands – mainly brought about by the Affordable Care Act, passed by Congress in 2010. The ACA changes include the expansion of the federal Medicaid insurance program to currently uninsured people, and a new rule that every person in the United States must have health insurance or pay tax penalties.

When it…

Sign up for BizWest Daily Alerts