Rob: A new attitude, along with some creative financing, is helping some
Oklahoma towns save their local hospitals.
Our Alisa Hines visited Drumright where local residents are investing in
a healthier future.
Alisa: When the Drumright hospital closed in 2001, residents knew without a
medical facility, they would suffer both
a medical and a business hardship.
So, they decided to do something about it.
Alisa: Drumright's business community took a
big hit when the hospital closed.
Danny Cooper: We were losing people right and
left after the hospital closed.
Alisa: Danny Cooper is the former chair of Drumright's healthcare
authority and says a community hospital makes a difference.
Cooper: When you're trying to grow a community, schools and healthcare are
two of the major issues.
Alisa: Local residents agree.
So much so, they voted to open a new critical access hospital.
Jim Martin is the chair of Drumright's healthcare authority.
Jim Martin: Critical access is a designation granted by Medicare that
dictates your reimbursement levels.
And by being a critical access hospital in a rural community, as long as our
payer-mix is right, the ratio of Medicare patients verses Medicaid, self-pay,
and insurance, we can re-coop our fixed costs for the operation of the
hospital from a Medicare reimbursement.
Alisa: For long-time Drumright resident, Betty Cass, having a local
hospital is preferable.
Betty Cass: I'm not one who likes to get out and
go a long ways just to go see a doctor.
If I can have one at home, I'd much rather have one where I'm at.
Alisa: And in smaller communities, doctors get to know their patients
very well.
Just ask doctor in residence, Doug Brant.
Doug Brant: It's kind of like the movie, Doc Hollywood; people around
town get to know who you are, and it's a really neat experience.
Alisa: One Dr Brant takes very seriously.
Brant: I've practiced in Oklahoma City, and then out here in the rural
community and the real, I think, advantage that rural medicine has,
we all live in the same community, small community, and there's a
level of accountability.
You know, people that I take care of here, I'm going to run into their
family member down at the grocery store, or at the bank; and so, there is a
whole lot more accountability.
I want those patients to be taken care of, just like I would my family.
Alisa: And according to hospital administrator, Darrel Morris, in this
rural hospital, you're not just a number.
Darrel Morris: I think we've done some things here, made arrangements
with people that we know that maybe couldn't get care at other places.
Alisa: Care given using state-of-the-art equipment.
Ron Dyer serves on the hospital's foundation and says that equipment is
what is helping make the hospital successful.
Ron Dyer: We've been able to bring to rural Oklahoma, equipment and
procedures that are not common to a small community in Creek County.
Alisa: Technology that's creating a home-grown workforce.
Dyer: Central Tech's been in Drumright now for over forty years, and our
health programs have been a very vital part of our offerings.
So, it's been a great relationship to have this close a proximity to the
hospital and our healthcare facilities.
Alisa: And is also helping the community grow.
Martin: I think that we could directly attribute some of our folks that
have chosen to locate here, or chosen to remain here, simply because we
have adequate healthcare available locally.
Alisa: With only fifteen beds, the Drumright hospital is a shining
example of how a small hospital can not only survive but prosper
in a small community.
Cooper: I think we've exceeded everybody's expectations.
Cass: It's never a joy to go to the hospital, but if I had to go somewhere, I
think I'd just as soon come right here.
This is my number one choice.
Alisa: A choice that's easier to make because it's right at home.
Alisa: Now they not only take care of their patients, but they take
care of their patients' families as well, by placing comfortable
recliners in each of the rooms.
Rob: So, Alisa, it sounds like this hospital, while small,
is becoming quite popular.
Alisa: That's right Rob.
Not only do people come from surrounding communities, but so far,
the farthest patient has traveled all the way from Branson, Missouri,
mainly because of the state-of-the-art equipment,
and the quality of care.
Rob: And, let's talk a little bit about
that state-of-the-art equipment.
They use something called, telemedicine; explain to me how that works.
Alisa: Well, they don't have a radiologist on staff.
But, they do have an x-ray machine that they can take the image and email it to
a radiologist in Edmond who can then give them the results in about thirty
minutes, giving big city care in a small town setting.
Rob: Well, thank you, Alisa.