Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

St. Michael To Build Health Center

July 1995 was a dark period in Prescott and Nevada County history.

It was then the Nevada County Hospital closed. At the time, then-administrator Karen Ward vowed to do whatever she could to get healthcare back in the county.

Working as a member of the Prescott City Council, Ward, along with Chandler Russ, executive director of the Prescott-Nevada County Economic Development Office, Mayor Howard Taylor, Jim Heflin, human resource director at Firestone, and others, began pushing for a new primary care clinic in the region.

This effort became a reality Monday when St. Michael Health Center, in conjunction with Southern Clinic, announced plans to construct such a facility in Prescott.

In a press conference Monday afternoon, Russ said the EDO started visiting existing industries to see what they needed about six months ago. From these visits, a trend developed. The trend was the need for more health care.

Russ said those in industry said they needed more access to health care providers, more providers, longer hours from the providers and better coverage.

"Our job," he said, "was to see these needs were met. We went to regional health care providers with a proposal and St. Michael responded."

The mayor and council recently met to discuss how to best use a one-cent sales tax which had been passed to help the financially plagued hospital. It was decided to use 14 percent ($49,000) of this money in the area of health care.

Part of these funds will be used to purchase two tracts of land the EDO has under option. One tract will cost $17,000, while the other will run $20,000, and conceivably be used for the clinic's future expansion.

Heflin said one of the most important things when recruiting people to work in the area is health care for them and their families.

"This will enhance recruiting ability, having this here," he said.

According to Heflin, it didn't take long once the project began to get to this point. He said the finished result will be something everyone on the county can be proud of.

"We approached them (Southern Clinic and St. Michael) as a partnership," he said, "and invited them in. They came."

But, it took a concerted effort from all those in the medical fields in the county to help bring this together, he said.

Don Beeler, CEO of St. Michael, gave a brief history of the Sisters of Charity, saying they helped build the new St. Michael hospital in Texarkana.

Beeler said the St. Michael family is excited to be coming to Prescott and Nevada County and are committed to fill the gaps in health care needs by providing additional services.

"We're not here to compete," he said, "but in the spirit of partnership and collaboration."

He said with everyone working together, a plan was developed to meet the needs of those in the city and county.

"Health care is changing," Beeler said. "It's getting away from acute care and focusing on wellness, not sickness. We must take it to the people where they work and live, keeping them healthy."

Lee Varnardo, with St. Michael's business development, said the project would be done in three phases.

Phase I, he said, has already begun with the start of recruiting health care providers for the area. This includes a full-time doctor to live in Prescott.

The initial phase also includes identifying a site and beginning construction.

The services to be provided in phase I include occupational services for local industrial needs, an after hours clinic with weekend capability, along with standard health care services.

Varnardo said the goal is to eventually have 24-hour coverage. "We'd like to have on-call rotation services and expand to an on-site physician."

The second step will begin once the clinic has been built. It will focus on the operational side of things, seeing patients, and working to recruit providers.

According to Varnardo, phase II will also include the beginnings of specialized services and providers, such as orthopedics, pediatrics, cardiovascular and OB/GYN.

In phase III, he said, additional services could be added, including expanded physical therapy. Need assessments will be done to see what other services may be required.

Should the need be there, more land could be acquired for expansion of the clinic.

Tom Kennedy, with Cooper Medical Buildings of Oklahoma City, Okla., discussed the initial design concept, which includes doctor's offices, X-ray capability, a laboratory for bloodwork, nurses station and exam rooms.

He said the plans will be refined and redefined to fit with the health care needs of the area in size, scope and quality.

There will also be a side entry for ambulances, along with a three-bay garage for ambulances, a work area, sleeping area, living quarters and kitchen for ambulance personnel.

Beeler pointed out this would be for members of the Nevada County Ambulance Service, as St. Michael does not plan to bring its ambulance service to the county.

Linda Owens, CEO of Southern Clinic, said Southern is a 30 physician clinic in business since 1929 in Texarkana.

She said as health care turned toward managed care, the clinic put its hands out to areas such as Prescott to help meet the needs of the people.

"We're working to get a full-time doctor to start practicing here in 1998," Owens said, adding the doctor and his wife have family in the area and look forward to returning to Prescott and Nevada County.

Russ said the EDO had developed an incentive package unique to health care, but not to industry. He said a proposal was put together saying the EDO would buy the land if someone would build a clinic.

The proposal also noted the $49,000 from the sales tax to be used to purchase land and help recruit a doctor.

Ward, at the end of the meeting, said this is a new day in the county. "The last time I was interviewed it was a sad occasion (the closing of NCH). I'm pleased to be a part of this, it's very positive."

St. Michael will be seeking designation as a "Rural Urgent/Primary Clinic" under a proposed act submitted to the Arkansas General Assembly. This designation would allow the clinic to serve as a resource for stabilizing emergency patients before they are transferred to an acute care facility.

This act applies to areas of Arkansas considered rural, which have lost their hospitals since 1980.

Should the act be passed by the legislature and signed into law by Gov. Mike Huckabee, the Prescott facility could offer a higher level of service to local and area residents normally provided in a hospital setting.

The estimated cost of construction for the clinic is $750,000, and taking about seven months to complete. Varnardo said the structure could be up and running by the first of 1998.