Sunday, January 23, 2011
Friday, December 31, 2010
Middle Park Medical Center: Questions Answered
The construction of the new medical center, scheduled to open early 2012 in Granby, has generated a lot of questions from the public.
Is the Grand County Rural Health Network building the new medical center?
A: Kremmling Memorial Hospital/Middle Park Medical Center took over the lead on the Middle Park Medical Center project in late 2007/early 2008. Kremmling Memorial Hospital District conducted the feasibility study and attained the financing. The project is based on principles and community feedback developed by the Network over the years, but the hospital is leading the project solely.
Why is it being built in Granby?
A: Granby is the demographic hub of the east side of Grand County. The land was also donated by Grand Ranch Holdings, LLC.
Why was the name, "Middle Park Medical Center" chosen?
A: We felt the name signified a more regional approach to healthcare. it also speaks our past where the hospital used to be called Middle Park Hospital. It helps tie in the entire region whether your coming from Fraser, Granby, Winter Park, Hot Sulphur Springs, Parshall or Kremmling. Part of the branding strategy is to say that we are not just Kremmling anymore, it is Middle Park.
We know that there are somewhere between 12,000-14,000 full-time, year-round residents in Grand County, so we know the market exists. The problem is the net out-migration of healthcare from those who have felt they couldn't get all of their healthcare needs met here in the county and as a result go down to the front range for services. With the development of Middle Park Medical Center in Granby, we believe people will be more apt to stay put and receive their healthcare services in the county.
We also know that roughly 80%-90% of all healthcare related services are utilized outside of the county. Between all of the primary care providers within the county, a good estimate is around $20M worth of healthcare services purchased within the county. So, if $20M is provided within the county and that amounts to only 10%-20% of the total healthcare dollars demanded, then that number extrapolates to a big number, possibly upwards of $200,000,000. Part of our forecasting model is based on those projections and our ability to retain a portion of that lost business.
how is the capital construction financed?
A: The Middle Park Medical Center project in Granby was financed with revenue bonds, backed by lease payments to the Middle Park Facilities Corporation. The District liability is limited to the lease.
Will the Kremmling Memorial Hospital District seek to expand its taxing district to include the rest of Grand County?
A: There are no plans to expand the tax district. This possibility was investigated in 2008. The board determined that it was not going to take it to the November, 2008 ballot for a variety of reason, including the general economy. There has been no talk of extending the boundaries since 2008. We feel that the money we will be receiving from operations is going to be sufficient to not only fund the debt on the new facility and grow and sustain on the east side of Grand County, but to also sustain and grow on the west side of the county.
Will the hospital in Kremmling close?
A: No, it will not close. We see that there is a sufficient size populations on the west side of the county to support the hospital. The services that we offer and the frequency of those services is going to change to meet the demand of the people on the west side. The configuration of the rooms, how the ER is set up, how surgery services are organized and how laboratory and radiology work with ED will be logical to how a facility should be operated in a rural setting. Our overall goal, hopefully in 3-5 years, is to secure additional financing to and build a facility on the west side of the county that people can be proud of. In the meantime, we are undergoing a beautification process which will include a face-lift to the nurses station, improvements to the patient financial services area and newer fixtures in the clinics and patient rooms.
Do you have questions about the Middle Park Medical Center? email me: eric@kmhd.cc
Is the Grand County Rural Health Network building the new medical center?
A: Kremmling Memorial Hospital/Middle Park Medical Center took over the lead on the Middle Park Medical Center project in late 2007/early 2008. Kremmling Memorial Hospital District conducted the feasibility study and attained the financing. The project is based on principles and community feedback developed by the Network over the years, but the hospital is leading the project solely.
Why is it being built in Granby?
A: Granby is the demographic hub of the east side of Grand County. The land was also donated by Grand Ranch Holdings, LLC.
Why was the name, "Middle Park Medical Center" chosen?
A: We felt the name signified a more regional approach to healthcare. it also speaks our past where the hospital used to be called Middle Park Hospital. It helps tie in the entire region whether your coming from Fraser, Granby, Winter Park, Hot Sulphur Springs, Parshall or Kremmling. Part of the branding strategy is to say that we are not just Kremmling anymore, it is Middle Park.
We know that there are somewhere between 12,000-14,000 full-time, year-round residents in Grand County, so we know the market exists. The problem is the net out-migration of healthcare from those who have felt they couldn't get all of their healthcare needs met here in the county and as a result go down to the front range for services. With the development of Middle Park Medical Center in Granby, we believe people will be more apt to stay put and receive their healthcare services in the county.
We also know that roughly 80%-90% of all healthcare related services are utilized outside of the county. Between all of the primary care providers within the county, a good estimate is around $20M worth of healthcare services purchased within the county. So, if $20M is provided within the county and that amounts to only 10%-20% of the total healthcare dollars demanded, then that number extrapolates to a big number, possibly upwards of $200,000,000. Part of our forecasting model is based on those projections and our ability to retain a portion of that lost business.
how is the capital construction financed?
A: The Middle Park Medical Center project in Granby was financed with revenue bonds, backed by lease payments to the Middle Park Facilities Corporation. The District liability is limited to the lease.
Will the Kremmling Memorial Hospital District seek to expand its taxing district to include the rest of Grand County?
A: There are no plans to expand the tax district. This possibility was investigated in 2008. The board determined that it was not going to take it to the November, 2008 ballot for a variety of reason, including the general economy. There has been no talk of extending the boundaries since 2008. We feel that the money we will be receiving from operations is going to be sufficient to not only fund the debt on the new facility and grow and sustain on the east side of Grand County, but to also sustain and grow on the west side of the county.
Will the hospital in Kremmling close?
A: No, it will not close. We see that there is a sufficient size populations on the west side of the county to support the hospital. The services that we offer and the frequency of those services is going to change to meet the demand of the people on the west side. The configuration of the rooms, how the ER is set up, how surgery services are organized and how laboratory and radiology work with ED will be logical to how a facility should be operated in a rural setting. Our overall goal, hopefully in 3-5 years, is to secure additional financing to and build a facility on the west side of the county that people can be proud of. In the meantime, we are undergoing a beautification process which will include a face-lift to the nurses station, improvements to the patient financial services area and newer fixtures in the clinics and patient rooms.
Do you have questions about the Middle Park Medical Center? email me: eric@kmhd.cc
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Middle Park Medical Center Construction Pictures Update December 8 2010
The walls are going up today at Middle Park Medical Center, Granby, Colorado.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Flights at Kremmling Memorial Hospital
Kremmling Memorial Hospital District, soon to be doing business as, Middle Park Medical Center, Kremmling gets a variety of flights to major terciary hospitals in Denver. This is a collection of photos taken by Charlotte, KMHD employee.
full collection of photos can be seen here:
full collection of photos can be seen here:
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Ground Breaking Ceremony Pictures
Thanks to all who attended our ground breaking ceremony! We're happy to share these pictures taken by Helen Sedlar of KMHD.
Ground Breaking Ceremony a Success: Middle Park Medical Center Project offically launched!
Opening Speech Gave Appreciation, Reasoning and Goalsby Kent Whitmer, President of the Kremmling Memorial Hospital Board of Directors
[From his speech given at the groundbreaking ceremony on November 12, 2010]: Good after noon ladies and gentlmen and welcome to the groundbreaking ceremony for Middle Park Medical Center by Kremmling Memorial Hospital District.
The idea for this project has been germinating and building for a very long time. About 10 years ago, an organization known as the Grand County Rural Health Network was formed. The Network is a non-profit composed of concerned citizens and groups that truly care about Grand County's present and long-term health care needs. Kremmling Memorial Hospital District was a charter member and remains a member of the Grand County Rural Health Network.
At the time, studies were conducted by the Network to determine the present and long-term health care needs of Grand County ciitzens. Out of those studies, a number of things were determined:
1. First, it was determined that the county, in general, was and still is, severly deficient in available health care services.
2. As a result of this health care services deficiency, it was found that 90% of the people in Grand County go outside the county for their healthcare needs, which often means traveling more than 100 miles each way to meet those needs; not a good situation from a couple of perspectives: First, people need the availability of quality health care where they live, and second, Grand County needs those dollars spent on health care here in the county.
3. The recommendations from those studies said that a significant facility was most needed in a central location in the county, namely the Granby area.
The conclusions from these studies weren't earth shattering. The big question was who and how to accomplish the task. Many players and ideas were considered. It boiled down to finding the resources and someone to take the risk, and it needed to make economic sense to whoever was that risk-taker.
At the same time as the Network was sorting through this conundrum, IKMHD was struggling to determine a strategy for its own long-term survival and viability. KMHD realized it was not going to survive long term, even with tax dollars subsdidizing it, if it focused only on providing health care within its district.
With this in mind, about five years ago, KMHD purchased Timberline Family Practice, Dr. Rojec's family practice here in Granby. With that purchase it became appareent that it made a lot of sense for KMHD for its own well being, and for the well being of the community in gerneral, to take the lead and fill the health care void illuniated by the studies conducted by the Network.
KMHD began thinking hard about how to accomplish this goal. Over the last five years, that thought process has taken so many twists and turns that, frankly, it's been hard to keep up.
KMHD looked at a number of different possible sites in the Granby area, and different ways to finance the project. With each potential site or financing proposal, there seemed to be insurmountable hurdles and roadblocks and it seemed this project was never going to happen. Then the perfect storm happened.
Granby Ranch was gracious enough to donate the land; KMHD found a way to finance the project; the town of Granby was more than accommodating; and the economy is such that building costs are within our budget. Lightening struck and so did KMHD.
So, we're here today to celebrate the beginning of a total win-win for KMHD and the citizens of Grand County. And I'm here today to personally thank and acknowledge all of the people that cared enough about this project and have devoted endless time and energy toward making it happen. Thank you.
~Kent Whitmer, President of the Kremmling Memorial Hospital Board of Directors
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