Two Toledo-based health care companies, HCR ManorCare and ProMedica, recently announced a collaborative agreement to develop anew skilled nursing and rehabilitation center to be built on the campus of Flower Hospital in Sylvania. The 120-bed facility will replace the ProMedica Lake Park skilled nursing facility on that campus afterit opens in 2015, said Randy Schimmoeller, senior vice president of operations for ProMedica.
The facility will provide “medically complex and intensive rehabilitation services for short-term patients transitioning from hospital to home in addition to 24-hour skilled nursing care,” according to a news release.
The agreement is an example of how collaboration among providers can have “a positive impact for our communities with the anticipated changes in the healthcare environment,” according to a joint statement sent to ProMedica board members from board chairman Stephen Staelin and President and CEO Randy Oostra.
“HCR ManorCare is an ideal partner both because it has local connections and is a nationally recognized expert in achieving successful outcomes for patients transitioning home,” said Oostra in the statement.
“We are excited about combining the excellence of two premier healthcare providers in Northwest Ohio to provide the community with enhanced post-hospital services,” said Paul Ormond, HCR ManorCare chairman, in the release. “ProMedica and HCR Manor-Care working together will offer a unique alternative to care in our community for those recovering from illness, injury or surgery.”
The goals of the collaborative agreement are to improve the quality of patient care and transitions among providers across the continuum of care; to help reduce preventable and unnecessary rehospitalizations; to enhance patient satisfaction in a post-hospital setting; and to increase efficiencies and reduce costs, according to both organizations.
“It’s an evolution of our existing relationship. We have a relationship with them for acute-care patients, but it’s the first time we are coming together by bringing our expertise and resources to build a skilled nursing and rehabilitation facility,” said Schimmoeller of HCR ManorCare.
“It was a natural development in our relationship with them. We’ve done it differently in other parts of the country, but this is the first for a skilled nursing facility with a collaborative agreement,” said Gerry Ann Stolzenburg, regional director of operations for HCR ManorCare.
“With the two large organizations based in Toledo, it made sense forus to work together on this project.”The next step in the process is to apply for Certificate of Need approval with the Ohio Department of Health,which is required for long-term care beds.
That process could take six to 12 months once the document is filed,which is expected to happen in the next few months, according to officials from both organizations. Schimmoeller said it is actually a replacement of beds from Lake Park to the new facility and not an addition of beds to the regional system.
He said Lake Park will continue to operate until the new facility opens and through a transition period.Construction would begin several months after the Certificate of Need is approved by the state to allow HCR ManorCare time to design the new facility and prepare for construction. It is expected to be completed in 2015.
A key provision of the collaboration is forming a quality committee, comprised of clinical staff representing ProMedica and HCR ManorCare, to consider overall operations, best practices and what the two organizations can do jointly to improve patient care with the new facility, according to both organizations.
The new facility is expected to feature an innovative gym, spacious private and semiprivate rooms with flat-screen televisions, Wi-Fi service,attractive social areas and multipurpose rooms with personal care services, including a barbershop and beauty salon.
“The quality committee working to plan the facility and develop the project is quite unique,” Stolzenburg said.
“This type of partnership is good for the community and our patients,” Schimmoeller added.
The committee will also review the six existing Heartland skilled nursing facilities operated by HCR ManorCare in Northwest Ohio, Stolzenburg said.
HCR ManorCare recently opened similar facilities in Michigan, New Jersey and Washington. Last month, it broke ground for a center in Twinsburg, near Cleveland, and has plans for another in the Columbus area, Stolzenburg said.
HCR ManorCare is a leading provider of post-hospital skilled nursing and rehabilitation services with more than 500 centers, including 45 in Ohio and six in Northwest Ohio operatingu nder the Heartland name.
ProMedica, a not-for-profit health care organization formed in 1986, is one of the region’s largest employers with 14,300 employees,1,700 physicians on staff at its 11 hospitals and 306 facilities for medical and surgical services.
