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Cancer center plans among YRMC's 2011 achievements
As 2011 drew to a close, the Yuma Sun met with community leaders to discuss the year, as well as what they expect for 2012. This story is one in the series.
Yuma Regional Medical Center celebrated several accomplishments in 2011, including opening a new floor and announcing plans for a new cancer center.
As the year winds down, Pat Walz, YRMC's chief executive officer, reflected on some of those achievements.
“The biggest accomplishment I would say is the cancer center.”
A newly formed YRMC Community Cancer Center Board is leading efforts to develop a comprehensive cancer program projected to open in 2013.
The program will offer more than cancer treatment. Patients and families will also have access to emotional and physical support, education and guidance.
The hospital hopes to build a structure to house the comprehensive program. “We are currently looking for a location,” Walz said.
In the meantime, YRMC acquired Sonoran Desert Oncology, 1320 W. 24th St., and renamed it Yuma Regional Cancer Center.
The program will be affiliated with the University of Arizona, which will “allow screening and access to trials here in the community rather than going to Tucson,” Walz noted.
The hospital has already welcomed an oncologist and is expecting another one this month.
The hospital continues to be very busy, a fact reflected in an overcrowded emergency room and the need for additional beds.
In November, YRMC expanded into the fourth floor, adding 36 inpatient beds in private rooms and bringing the total of hospital beds to 369.
The project was put on an accelerated schedule and finished on time. “We were focused,” Walz said.
Hospital staff is also in the midst of a conversion to electronic health records, which will eliminate the need for paper records. The five-year project will go live May 1.
“Every patient will have one record. Now we have a number of different systems that don't tie together. Information will be able to move easier between doctors and within the hospital,” Walz explained.
“It's a heavy investment, but it will change the culture of business here and will benefit patients.”
The hospital will train 2,500 staffers and 400 physicians. “For the first half of the year, this will be the main thing,” Walz added.
YRMC continues to address physician shortages. The hospital is in the application stage for three residencies focused on internal medicine, family practice and emergency medicine.
“(The resident physicians) would provide additional services for the community, especially in areas with manpower shortages,” Walz said.
The hospital is working with the Rural Health Initiative and Sunset Community Health Centers in this project.
This year the hospital recruited 22 physicians, in many cases recent medical school graduates in a number of disciplines, by offering loans in exchange for a five-year commitment to the community.
“They have students loans, they don't have a lot of credit history. We offer them enough to cover their expenses and get them off the ground,” Walz said. “That means a pretty heavy investment.”
The community is still in need of several orthopedic physicians and ear, nose and throat specialists, Walz said.
YRMC has continued to weather the economic downturn and significant cuts to the state's Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System without having to cut staffing.
“We're still strong financially,” Walz noted.
In September, Moody's Investors Service affirmed the hospital's A2 bond rating, calling the hospital's outlook “stable.”
“This is important because we want to continue to do things like the fourth floor (expansion) and the cancer center,” said Walz.
The next big project is expansion of the emergency department, which will take 18 to 24 months to complete and be paid through a bond issue. The current emergency department was designed for 40,000 patients a year but handles 70,000.
The new emergency department will be moved to the East Entrance, which currently houses administration and is the oldest part of the building. The department will include a new basement, parking and helipad.
Administration will move off site, either to a property across the street or the YRMC Corporate Center.
The project is in the design stage. It will be followed by soliciting bids and then demolition and construction.
“We're real excited. The emergency department will be significantly different,” Walz said.
“We're now looking at best practices for the emergency department. We want to improve the work flow. You can't cram that many people and get the flow to work out.”
The hospital will also replace technology in the cardiac area with new equipment over the next two years.
“We've done phenomenal stuff and we're very excited about what we've been able to do in the last year,” Walz said.
Mara Knaub can be reached at mknaub@yumasun.com or 539-6856. Find her on Facebook at Facebook.com/YSMaraKnaub or on Twitter at @YSMaraKnaub.
