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Hospital can now keep up with growth

Brooksville Regional had a goal to better accommodate the county's ever increasing population. With a larger facility, that is starting to happen.

By CHANDRA BROADWATER
Published October 9, 2006

BROOKSVILLE - Tony Stack can't believe he's not in more pain.

Less than a day after having hip replacement surgery at Brooksville Regional Hospital, the 64-year-old said his other hip - the one he plans to replace next - gave him more trouble this past Tuesday morning than the one doctors just operated on.

"This is crazy," he said, sitting in a chair in his private room as nurse Dee-Ann Marsh prepared him for the team of physical therapists about to enter.

"I don't know how they can do what they do," he said.

Stack is one of a group of the latest patients to go through "Joint Camp," a special orthopedic wing in the hospital's now year-old building on Cortez Boulevard. Brooksville Regional, which officially turned 1 on Oct. 5, started the program a few months after moving into its new facility.

The camp helps put joint replacement patients on a quicker track to recovery by integrating physical therapy, the patient and family members in the healing process much sooner - typically the day after surgery.

Hospital stays are cut in half. Before, Stack could have expected to stay twice as long as the five days doctors plan on keeping him.

The program is one of many new initiatives that hospital chief executive officer Tom Barb says Hernando County residents can look forward to now that the hospital has room to grow.

After a five-year battle, which was partially delayed by the efforts of competitor Oak Hill Hospital to stop construction approval, the $53-million gleaming white facility was finally built.

Now, the company that operates the hospital, for-profit Naples-based Health Management Associates - which also operates Spring Hill Regional Hospital - is starting to see its goal of keeping pace with the county's rapidly growing population come to fruition.

The new 120-bed Brooksville Regional, which the county owns, sits on 30 acres of a sprawling 133-acre site.

The location puts the hospital closer to Hernando County's large westside population and the fast-growing corridor along the Suncoast Parkway.

The 183,000-square-foot building dwarfs the hospital's old building, located on 11 acres off Ponce de Leon Boulevard, southwest of downtown Brooksville. For comparison, the old 117,000-square-foot building had eight emergency room treatment cubicles; the new one has 20.

"We're very pleased with the success we've had," Barb said, sitting in his first-floor office. "I don't know where all the naysayers went."

With more capabilities, HMA can most likely expect to see its 2005 profit of $4.1-million from Hernando County - a number that represents both Brooksville Regional and Spring Hill Regional hospitals, as they are filed with the state together - go up when the state Agency for Health Care Administration releases 2006 numbers in October 2007.

According to the 58-year-old chief executive officer, since the hospital moved into its new digs, "everything has gone up."

Surgeries are up 40 percent. Emergency room visits are up 35 percent. Overall, admissions are up 40 percent.

"As an example, in the old place last year we had 19,000 ER visits," Barb said. "We've had 24,000 so far. And next year we'll have more."

The new location, while only about 3 miles away from the old hospital, has made a great difference in who the hospital can reach and treat, Barb said.

"It's another world in Brooksville," he said. "That 3 miles makes a difference."

Growth can also be attributed to patients like Tony Stack, who probably would have ended up at another hospital if it weren't for the joint program recommended by his doctor.

Stack's wife, Billie, 59, said the couple usually go to Oak Hill Hospital. But after hearing rave reviews from her husband's surgeon, Tony decided to have his surgery at Brooksville Regional.

Before the procedure, Tony used a walker for nearly two years to get around. A proud New Englander, he kept his complaining to a minimum, periodically letting out moans of agony that made his wife shiver.

In order to sleep, he used to have to rotate from the head to the foot of the bed every few hours to alleviate some of the pressure on his hips.

"It was a great choice; it really was," Billie Stack said. "I'm really amazed by all the attention they give him. One nurse had four patients, and I swear, she's in his room so much, asking if he needs this or wants that. They're friends now. She even switched around her schedule so she could be with her patients until they leave.

"He calls her 'Dee,' " she said. "She calls him 'T.' "

Expansion isn't only taking place inside the hospital. Around the building, where some land is in the process of being zoned for medical use - to make room for pharmacies, imaging centers or doctors' offices - development is expected to begin soon.

It was one of several selling points HMA used to get the County Commission to approve the new hospital.

The county has a 40-year lease with HMA on both the Brooksville Regional and Spring Hill Regional buildings.

To gain approval, HMA agreed to increase the Brooksville hospital's rent by about $500,000 a year. The company also helped build and nurse a Ridge Manor health clinic to self-sufficiency.

"It worked out for everyone," Barb said. "And we certainly did a lot for land values."

According to Spring Hill real estate agent Ann McRae of ERA Pearson Realty, inquiries have been coming in from all over the state for a 16.5-acre parcel just east of the hospital. The asking price is $3.95-million.

Barb said the hospital paid about $25,000 an acre for its land.

Whether the property is sold or not, the current owners, who have developed similar properties in other parts of the state, plan on building a professional facility made up of office condominiums doctors can purchase, Pearson said.

The building differs slightly from Brooksville Regional's Medical Arts Complex, located just to the west of the hospital, where doctors can rent office space.

That 63,800-square-foot building recently opened with four physicians that have offices inside. Another three are expected to move in over the coming months.

Along with successes, Barb is quick to admit that the hospital move hasn't been without pains. For one, everyone had to get used to the increased space, adjusting for the time it now takes to get from one end of the hospital to the other.

Barb said that in the old ER, nurses could sit at the main station and see everyone in each of the eight treatment bays. After moving into the new building, they had to devise a new way of walking around to monitor patients.

According to the Agency for Health Care Administration, the hospital also continues to be marked with "higher than expected" rates of patients with postoperative sepsis, serious infections that occur in the bloodstream after surgery.

Brooksville Regional received similar marks in 2004, when the hospital ranked second in the state for having the most postoperative sepsis cases.

Barb said that an independent review shows that the hospital does not have problems in that area.

In the case of blood infections, patients came into the hospital with them, and subsequently left with them, he said.

The way that the state data was collected did not statistically account for that, he said.

"A lot of things look funny every now and then," he said. "Most times they aren't accurate."

Since moving in, Barb said, the hospital has also been busy growing a neurosurgery program. A new spinal expert recently joined the hospital, which Barb said the hospital wants to make an area of expertise with other doctors the hospital is recruiting.

In the coming years, Brooksville Regional hopes to expand its emergency facilities into a Level II trauma unit. As the community grows, a bigger center will be needed to provide services, Barb said.

"There are lots of subspecialty needs because the community is growing now," he said. "And it certainly won't be a one-man show. It takes every one of the people here, I don't care if it's the housekeeper or coding clerk; everyone is important to our success."

With his recent experience at the hospital in mind, Tony Stack says he agrees. He didn't expect to look forward to coming back to get his other hip replaced.

"People kept telling me, 'Get it done as soon as you can,' " Stack said.

"I see why. I used to rejoice when I walked into a grocery store and saw one of those carts I could drive around. Now, if it continues to go this good, I'm going to be walking."

Chandra Broadwater can be reached at cbroadwater@sptimes.com or 352 848-1432.

[Last modified October 8, 2006, 21:49:11]