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KRMC plans for expansion Posted: Sunday, Jan 07, 2007 - 11:49:10 pm MST By CANDACE CHASEThe Daily Inter Lake
Not long after opening a new patient tower in 2003, Kalispell Regional Medical Center officials realized they were serving more patients than anticipated. “It’s a good problem to have,” said Jim Oliverson, vice president and spokesman for the hospital.As a result, the medical center has begun research for new expansion to serve the growing valley and graying population during the next 15 to 20 years. Even with the best data available, forecasting the future remains a dicey proposition. Studies completed eight or nine years ago for the recent expansion underestimated growth and maximum patient loads. The hospital spokesman said a later-than-planned opening of HealthCenter Northwest caused initial high occupancy rates in the new patient tower. Once open, the separately licensed hospital provided a safety valve for spikes in patient loads. Rehabilitation was subsequently moved from the medical center to HealthCenter Northwest. “Now they’ve been running pretty full,” Oliverson said. He said the medical center experiences peaks and valleys in room demand. Some days have strained its capacity with new-admission patients waiting in holding areas as staff prepare freshly vacated rooms. Occupancies in the medical center’s 68 acute-care beds reached highs of 73 in July, 78 in August, 85 in September, 79 in October and 69 (twice) in November. Patient-census numbers include both discharged and new admissions each day. The figures don’t include patients in other areas such as obstetrics and rehabilitation. “It’s obvious we don’t have enough beds,” Oliverson said. The hospital hedged its projections by financing its most recent expansion for seven rather than 15 years. Even if medical center officials decided tomorrow to build a new patient tower, Oliverson said that it would take at least three years “to get a shovel in the ground.” No meetings with architects or engineers are scheduled yet. To cope with patient overflow, the medical center plans to add a prefabricated nursing unit in June to the south end of the first floor medical/surgical unit. Resting on a foundation, the unit will meet hospital code, including rooms with private showers. Oliverson said the director of nursing inspected the prebuilt unit purchased by the hospital. It comes complete with interior appointments such as wall and floor coverings. “The rooms are very nice,” he said. When a second patient tower is complete, plans call for moving the prefabricated nursing unit to Brendan House. The addition provides 14 more beds for a total of 24 medical/surgical beds. Exactly how many beds Kalispell Regional Medical Center needs for the next two decades remains an important question. “We’re still trying to get a handle on that number, ” Oliverson said. He said it’s very costly to have large numbers of vacant beds in a hospital because of ongoing insurance, heating, cleaning and other expenses. But Oliverson said the community expects the medical center to plan for beds for future needs. Toward that end, he has requested data from projection experts such as Larry Swanson, associate director of UM’s O’Connor Center for the Rocky Mountain West. Oliverson also consulted local planners about subdivision approvals. He needed to know how many houses to expect and the average number of people per household. “I talked to people at the college, airport — people who have to be out there 25 years,” he said. He said population growth projections range from 2.5 percent to 3.5 percent a year. Oliverson said that planners must temper immigration numbers with out-migration to arrive at a net number. He said for every three people who move here, one moves out. “The number is kind of a moving target,” he said. Even with out-migration, recent move-ins form a sizable chunk of the Flathead Valley population. According to figures from the real estate industry, half of the people now living in the valley arrived in the last eight and a half years. To plan for health-care facilities, hospital officials need to know the demographics of the future population. Age demographics, for example, plays a significant role in determining the mix of obstetrics, surgical and long-term care beds in a new patient tower. “Cancer and heart disease — they are still the two big diseases of aging,” Oliverson said. Adding complexity to the task, the advance of medicine requires that new hospital facilities include infrastructure to handle the latest treatments. Changes in the political landscape affecting Medicare reimbursements impact the economic viability of expansion. Before finalizing the number of beds for a new patient tower, Oliverson said the medical center will consult a broad range of people from medical staff and hospital advisory committees to community leaders such as those serving on Kalispell Regional Medical Center’s board of directors. “We have to come up with a number that everyone feels that’s a good number pushed out 25 years,” he said. Reporter Candace Chase may be reached at 758-4436 or by e-mail at cchase@dailyinterlake.com.
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The Daily Inter Lake
727 East Idaho
Street / Kalispell, Montana 59901 / 406-755-7000