Doctors interested in buying River Park Hospital
Local doctors are interested in buying River Park Hospital and conducted a meeting to discuss those intentions Wednesday night.
But doctors say it’s still very early in the process and they don’t know several pieces of key information from HCA, the hospital’s parent company. Doctors also stressed their primary concern is providing quality health care for the community.
“We would be interested if the opportunity arose and the price is right,” said Dr. Harry Burck, one of about a dozen doctors at Wednesday’s meeting. “But there are some things we don’t know, and HCA could already have a buyer. Whatever happens, we would want it to be for the betterment of the patients to see if we could improve health care here.”
In an announcement most doctors have described as shocking, HCA said Monday it plans to sell 10 of its rural hospitals in six states, including 127-bed River Park.
The prospect of local physicians buying the hospital became an immediate topic, especially since several doctors joined forces to open a same-day surgery center here in November, 2003.
“We have a very tight medical community,” said Dr. Randal Rampp, chief of staff at River Park. “It was shown through the surgery center that physicians can get together to form a facility that benefits the community.”
However, River Park Hospital would be an entirely different animal than the surgery center, which only caters to people who need minor surgery. Even United Regional Hospital in Manchester, which was recently purchased by physicians, can’t compare to River Park.
“It’s nowhere the size of River Park,” said general surgeon Dr. Brad Brock referring to United Regional. “We have patients at River Park from every surrounding county. Patients really seem to like the same-day surgery center, and it’s good for the physicians, but it can only do certain things. It’s not a hospital.”
HCA has not yet priced River Park and the company’s only statement about the sale is it would like to sell all 10 hospitals together, if possible.
Several doctors expressed concerns about who might buy the hospital if they don’t. HCA has done a commendable job of providing state-of-the-art equipment and a full staff, but another corporation may not have the same commitment.
Pulmonary specialist Dr. Eric Lang says patients really are treated to quality care when they visit River Park. And being from Miami, Fla., he should know.
“People don’t realize how good this hospital is compared to other places,” said Lang. “The people here actually care about the patients that come through. In other places, there’s something missing from the patient-nurse relationship.”
Doctors said it is very early in the process and there are still several factors which need to be examined, most notably River Park’s financial records. There is also concern about expected TennCare cuts since a large portion of River Park’s patients use TennCare. Several doctors also listed Carrier’s closing as an issue.