Hospital closer to contract

Alliance of Greeley, Fort Collins hospitals may be ruled out

GREELEY — Contract negotiations between Greeley’s North Colorado Medical Center and Banner Health Systems, its Phoenix-based operator, seem to be progressing towards some type of agreement, according to officials from both sides.

“Negotiations are progressing very positively,´ said Banner Colorado CEO Scott Bosch.

Don Cummins, spokesman for NCMC’s board of directors, said while the board is not in any rush to make a decision, it is focusing on revising and enhancing the current contract to meet NCMC’s future needs.

“We’re looking to see if there’s anything we can improve on the contract or any changes we wish to make,” Cummins said.

Banner has operated NCMC since 1995 under a management contract. A renewed agreement between the two would likely rule out any collaboration in the near future between NCMC and Fort Collins-based Poudre Valley Health System, a concept that was considered early last year, but scuttled in late May 2001 by the NCMC board.

The possibility of a combined effort resurfaced in November when NCMC temporarily halted contract negotiations with Banner, following the discovery of conflicts of interest between NCMC board members and Banner officials.

But Bosch said, as he understands the situation, NCMC is not interested in collaborating with PVHS.

“Down the road there may be some interest, but there isn’t now.” Cummins said.

Still, Poudre Valley’s vision of regional collaboration has not died on the vine because of NCMC’s apparent lack of interest.

In mid-September, PVHS announced it is discussing building a new regional hospital, likely in the Interstate 25 corridor, with Regional West Medical Center of Scottsbluff, Neb.

The current concept includes about 145 beds in a Level 2 trauma center specializing in three major services: neurosurgery, cardiac care and trauma care.

Establishing a regional hospital that specializes in more critical services, such as open-heart surgery, would increase the volume of procedures performed, which has been shown to improve patient outcomes, said Rulon Stacey, CEO for PVHS.

Additionally, a regional center would likely attract high-caliber surgeons, and pooled resources could allow investment in the latest technologies.

“We’ll continue to work with as many regional providers as we possibly can so we don’t duplicate services,” Stacey said.

Todd Sorensen, CEO for Regional West, said the collaboration is attractive because it could bring higher-level services closer to his hospital and give Regional West a governance position, as well as provide an attractive investment opportunity. Currently, cardiovascular, coronary, complicated neonatal care and some neurosurgery patients are referred to other hospitals.

“One thing we’re finding out about in health care is that it’s important to collaborate,” Sorensen said. “Competition does funny things in health care. It can lead to excess capacity, and that leads to extra costs.”

But so far, Regional West, which is about 150 miles northeast of Fort Collins, is the only hospital to step up for discussions.

Mitchell Carson, CEO of Longmont United Hospital, said he sees great merit in PVHS’s plan, but could not commit his own hospital to the venture.

“There is so much to do right here to meet our own needs, I don’t see that we would become a partner in another hospital,” he said.

Longmont United recently expanded its cardiovascular services to include open heart surgery. The hospital also plans to open a pediatric unit in November, build additional patient rooms by January 2003 and double the size of its intensive-care unit by May 2003. “We are very, very busy here,” Carson said.

But as a Trauma Level 3 designated hospital, Carson said the hospital’s more critical patients are usually referred to Denver hospitals. “I would imagine that for some people in Northern Colorado it would be easier to drive to the new hospital Poudre Valley is proposing, as opposed to driving into downtown Denver,” he said. “It is a possibility that we would use it. But you have to keep in mind that administrators don’t refer patients to other hospitals, doctors do.”

Platte Valley Medical Center in Brighton is so close to Denver that its referral patients tend to go south, said John Hicks, CEO of the community hospital. “It’s really too far north for me to have a lot of comment,” Hicks said. “It certainly wouldn’t be for us.”

Last year, PVHS commissioned a study that showed a $47 million savings could be reaped if NCMC joined in a collaboration. But to date, Banner has not been included in any discussions because of what Stacey calls “enormous philosophical differences.”

“We could never justify sending millions of dollars a year to support health-care growth in Phoenix,” Stacey said. “It’s against our mission statement.”

But Bosch called Poudre’s plans, “potentially risky,” adding that any collaborative discussions should be held with Banner, not NCMC. “Poudre Valley insists that it’s only area of interest is in talking with the NCMC board,” Bosch said. “They never approached us in doing something collaborative.”

Meanwhile, on Sept. 26, Banner firmed up its plans for a $50 million expansion to the Phoenix-based company’s McKee Medical Center in Loveland.

Expected to be completed in two to three years, the Banner-funded improvements will add about 50 beds to McKee, bringing total capacity to 150, and expand the intensive-care and surgical units, laboratory services and emergency department.

“Competition is alive and well in health care throughout the state,´ said Peg O’Keefe, spokeswoman for the Colorado Health and Hospital Association. “A lot of people feel competition is very valuable in keeping on the cutting edge of technology and affordable service. There are many in the state who believe that the marketplace works better than regulations.”

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