THE AFTERMATH OF A CAMPAIGN

The cooperative venture of the “Simply the Best” Capital Campaign by the Pratt Health Foundation and hospital opened a new era. While the work of collecting the campaign pledges will continue for another 2 or 3 years, many positive changes were made as well. Campaign preparations affected the way the PHF cultivates donor relationships, markets the hospital and the foundation, requests donor gifts, and even the way gifts are acknowledged. All of the campaign changes improved the Foundation and allowed the organization to effectively pursue its mission: to support PRMC and promote health. The PHF also increased its staff with the addition of Karyn Rinke.

PRMC continues to grow in the number of services it offers as well as its usage of technology. The hospital is expanding its usage of technology with the goal of becoming a “paper-less” environment as soon as possible. Computers run most of the new medical equipment which is faster, requires less storage space and is easier to access. But even computers need “server” storage which needs its own climate controlled space. Unfortunately or fortunately, depending on your perspective, the Foundation office is located in prime “server” location territory. With this in mind a committee was put together to study the options. The results of this study revealed that the simplest solution was to move the Foundation office offsite. Who could have anticipated a relocation?

But, since the Pratt Health Foundation works with people and professionals of all walks of life, an offsite location has its advantages. So the Foundation office will be moving to 203 South Main in downtown Pratt during the month of July. Any mail sent to the hospital will get to the Foundation office whether you use the new address or the old address.

Although we would encourage you to call ahead to make sure we are in, the Pratt Health Foundation will have an “open door” policy and would invite you to come in and see us. When you call the current PHF Office phone number, it will be forwarded to the new location. Office hours will be 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. The Foundation staff is anxious to serve you better and this new location should provide the kind of privacy and respect our donors have come to expect.

PRMC EXPANDS

PRMC administrators and staff work continuously on the recruitment of additional surgeons to expand the number of surgical services available at PRMC. Their most recent recruiting task was to recruit a General Surgeon and another Orthopedic Surgeon. This is the most difficult aspect of hospital expansion.

The PRMC recruiting team has been successful in recruiting two surgeons who will begin their work soon. Dr. Michael Yost, D.O., an orthopaedic surgeon, will join the South Central Kansas Bone & Joint Center and Dr. Jake Breeding, M.D., a general surgeon, will join the Surgicenter.

The recruitment of the surgeons led to another significant project, the need for more surgical space. Presently, there are three surgery rooms which are scheduled for surgical procedures. The two new surgeons will require an additional Surgical Suite with two operating rooms and appropriate technical medical equipment.

When the PRMC Complex was built in 1999 a new birthing area called the Family Birth Suites was developed. In the intervening years the former birthing unit was converted into space for sleep studies and out-patient procedures. Now, the new Surgical Suite will occupy this third floor space where the former birthing (OB) area was located.

The Pratt County Hospital Board has agreed to fund the heating and air conditioning equipment as these are permanent changes to the physical plant. The cost of the renovation project and additional equipment costs for the new Surgical Suite will total $1.2 million. The Suites are an investment in medical care for south-central Kansans.

“Now that PRMC has a full complement of surgeons and additional visiting surgeons for specialized in-patient and out-patient surgeries, the hospital had to move forward with additional surgical space,” Page commented. “We had hoped to receive Kansas Tax Credits to help fund the project but since they did not materialize, the PRMC Board decided to move forward using a combination of cash reserves and a commercial loan. The bottom line is that PRMC can now offer more medical services for the people and communities it serves.”

A publication of the Pratt Health Foundation (PHF)
203 S. Main * Pratt, Kansas 67124
( PHF and PRMC are 501(c)3 charitable healthcare organizations.)