This community hospital is planning for its future while not forgetting the importance of its past. Michael King outlines the plan.

For 110 years, the mission of Camden-Clark Memorial Hospital has remained the same: to meet the healthcare needs of its community for a lifetime. As its population ages and its standing as a community hospital merges into one of a regional medical center, a new CEO and a $56 million expansion project promise to build on that historical commitment while growing to meet the needs of the future.

Michael King, President and CEO

King’s previous position as COO of the hospital made it possible for him to watch the expansion project evolve from conception to fruition, but he’s also experienced the frustration of cutting through the red tape. Because West Virginia is a certificate-of-need state, between 2001 and 2005, the hospital conducted feasibility studies and put together conceptual diagrams with the end goal of receiving state approval. Since accomplishing that goal in 2005, said King, construction has moved quickly, and careful planning and a dedicated staff have enabled Camden-Clark to move through an extensive process with grace.

When the administration at Camden-Clark applied for the finances to back up its expansion plan, the hospital had minimal debt. As an independent organization, financial responsibility isn’t pushed to a big-brother-type of parent company. Consequently, when planning for the $56 million project, King and his team carefully analyzed where to apply the capital.

“If you look across the country, many physicians are getting into non-traditional, hospital-based businesses, like imaging,” he said. “When we looked at how to invest in and modernize the facility, we looked at high-end services that wouldn’t shift out of a hospital in the foreseeable future.”

Placement planning
The core of the hospital’s facelift lies in upgrading and replacing its critical care units, namely its ICU and CCU. What had been 13 beds divided between two units was transformed to a consolidated 18-bed unit located on the top level of the hospital adjacent to a telemetry unit. The additional critical care beds increased the 248-bed hospital’s private-room percentage from 20% to 40%.

The rooms will include private bathrooms, showers, and enhanced family areas for work and relaxation, including a pullout loveseat that converts into a bed. “These rooms encourage a family member to stay with the critical care patient,” King said. “The belief is having a family member present speeds recovery.”

The next piece of the project will be the replacement of the hospital’s perioperative services, including a same-day-care area that occupies one-third of the hospital’s lower level. The first floor additions also include support space for the newly renovated ORs, including lounges and call rooms, and a new sterile processing plant, cafeteria, and kitchen.

One of the hospital’s fastest growing service areas is endovascular surgery. When looking at how to expand those accommodations, King and his team looked at both number and size. “We’ll go from 10 ORs and two endoscopy rooms to 11 ORs and five minor surgery endoscopy rooms with expanded capacity,” King said. “These changes will enhance the patient experience, but they will also provide our physicians and nurses a better environment in which to work.”

Four of the 11 ORs will be 800 square feet, while the other seven will be 600 square feet—a significant increase from the previous size of 550 square feet. The second floor will also include an endovascular suite, complete with $2.3 million worth of technological enhancements enabling the hospital to perform angioplasties and balloon stenting.

When completed, the renovation and expansion project will add 174,000 square feet of new space on a campus that was previously only 300,00 square feet. Camden-Clark has also added hyperbaric and wound therapy and a behavioral medicine unit.

Maintaining efficiency
Efficiency and expansion goes hand in hand. The hospital’s FTE ratio is 3.8, which is less than the national average of 4.0, and its ED was received a national Gallup award for making the most progress on ED wait times.

“In terms of culture, this project created a way for us to shift away from thinking backward to thinking forward, knowing we needed to prepare for the large mortgage payment that would result,” King said. “Three years ago, we started with a productivity initiative to make sure our labor costs were in line so we could bear the fixed cost that would replace the variable cost.”

The hospital also developed the Mid-Ohio Valley Rural Health Alliance, which comprises a number of smaller hospitals, federally qualified and primary care centers, and health departments. Camden-Clark acts as the hub in the middle of the hub-and-spoke network, with all 11 members connected the hospital’s IT infrastructure. Camden-Clark is also an active participant of Massachusetts-based IHI (Institute for Healthcare Improvement), as well as a participant in the Five Million Lives Campaign.

“We believe healthcare is a grassroots service,” King said. “Understanding who we are, why we’re here, and staying connected to the community is why we’ve been successful. We’re in a relationship with our community, and we want to make sure we’re handling our resources and our patients’ safety in a way that shows we care.”