Heywood Hospital Plans New Wound Care Center
Net revenue expected to start at $200K
Faced with rising costs, competition from big teaching hospitals and the need to maintain worthwhile services that don't pay for themselves, many community hospitals are seeking niches they can fill in the health care market.
Heywood Hospital in Gardner is betting that it can meet a community need and make money at the same time with a new wound care center that it plans to open in June.
Hospital President and CEO Daniel Moen said Heywood expects the center to bring in 300 new patients in the first year, with many returning for multiple treatments over several months. Moen said he expects it to provide ancillary volume as well, with many of the patients also using the hospital for other procedures.
"We think it will have a positive operating margin," he said. "That's not our driver in this, but we want to have a service that's at least going to cover itself."
Moen said the hospital projects a net revenue of $200,000 from the center in its second year.
Demand On The Rise
Stacey Kolceski, northeast regional director of Jacksonville, Fla.-based Diversified Clinical Services, the national company that Heywood has hired to get the center started, said there is a growing need for specialized wound care, with at-risk populations of seniors and diabetics on the rise. Patients who fail to get the care they need may face amputation, she said.
Kolceski said the center will employ several staff members: a director, a nurse manager, an administrative assistant and a certified nursing assistant.
The center will provide a variety of services, including the scraping and bandaging of wounds, specialized casts to prevent patients from putting their weight on foot injuries, vascular testing, surgery, infectious disease prevention and nutritional support. Patients who do not respond to those treatments may receive hyperbaric oxygen therapy, in which they are enclosed in an oxygen chamber with two atmospheres of pressure, the equivalent of being 33 feet underwater, Kolceski said. People undergoing the hyperbaric treatment may have to go to the hospital five days a week for months, for a total of 30 to 40 treatments, she said.
Currently, Moen said, the closest facilities for that kind of treatment are in Concord to the east and Springfield to the west.
Hospital spokeswoman Lisa Lastella said the wound care center will not be the first specialized facility at Heywood. Already, she said, the hospital's transitional care center, for patients recovering after a hospital stay, and its cardiac rehab center draw patients from around the state.
Spreading The Word
Kolceski said the hospital will let potential patients know about the wound care center through one-on-one visits with doctors, community activities at the hospital, outreach through area chambers of commerce and newspaper advertisements targeting both doctors and patients.
At the Berkshire Medical Center in Pittsfield, which used Diversified to start its wound care center three years ago, Director Sean Livey said demand for the specialized treatments has been high. He said family physicians today are more likely to suggest that patients with chronic wounds seek special care, rather than trying to treat themselves, as they might have in the past.
Moen said that kind of need can help small hospitals grow, something that is increasingly important as labor, drug and supply costs rise faster than the rate of reimbursement. New, specialized facilities cover increased costs and also provide the funds to invest in new technology and buildings. Moen said the wound care center should provide some funds to help with a new wing that Heywood plans to build before long.
The hospital's ability to expand is important not just because it provides important services in the area, but also because it's a driver of the local economy, Moen said. He said Heywood is the largest employer in Gardner, with a $38 million payroll this year.
"Even though we're small as far as hospitals we're still a pretty good size business," he said.
WBJ Web Partners
Most Recent
0 Comments