Powell Valley Healthcare leaders plan to provide information, seek public input

Master facilities planning efforts at Powell Valley Healthcare have been put on hold while the organization’s leaders consider how extensive they want those plans to be.

Davis Partnership, the firm hired to develop a master facilities plan for Powell’s medical campus, presented three concepts for facilities planning during a meeting in January of the Powell Valley Healthcare board, Chief Executive Officer Bill Patten and the PVHC leadership team.

Those concepts later were presented to physicians and department leaders as well. After that presentation, Powell Valley Healthcare leaders agreed to delay a decision on which concept to choose until the public had a chance to weigh in on the matter.

The concepts are just that — concepts. They have not advanced to the point of becoming a plan; that is what Davis Partnership will develop once the Davis team knows which direction PVHC leaders want to go, and what changes they want to make.

The concepts range from modest changes to get the organization by for the next few years to a facility that would meet all of the organization’s anticipated needs for many years to come. Each concept aims at solving some — or in the case of Concept 3, all — of the nine priorities established jointly by the Davis team and PVHC leaders. Listed in order of priority, those are:

• Surgery

• Emergency

• Physicians’ clinics A, B and C

• Imaging

• Inpatient units and obstetrics

• Laboratory

• First Impressions

• Care Center

• Heartland Home

Concept 1

The first concept called for updating the entrance to Powell Valley Hospital and adding to the back of the hospital to expand the emergency department, then expanding and shuffling other departments, such as the operating rooms, imaging and the lab, to improve the use of space.

Concept 1 was rejected by Patten, his leadership team and the board because it would meet only basic facility needs for a maximum of 10 years, but it would tie up the organization’s debt capacity for 30 years. It also would do nothing to address problems and federal code deficiencies in other areas.

Concept 2

Powell Valley Healthcare leaders liked the second concept, which would add wings on the front of the hospital building to provide additional space. It also would finish space on the second floor of the new Powell Valley Clinic building. That space would house the remaining medical offices from the old medical buildings A, B and C into the new one.

Space now occupied by medical office buildings A, B and C would be converted into a parking area to make up for parking space lost to the new hospital wings.

But Concept 2 would would not correct deficiencies in the Powell Valley Care Center caused by changes in federal codes, and some said they believed that concept still might fall short of what the organization needs to be competitive and positioned for the future.

Concept 3

The third concept would move hospital in-patient rooms into the facility now occupied by the Powell Valley Care Center after constructing a new facility for the care center.

It also would convert one wing of the existing care center into a maternity and obstetrics center, and another wing could house medical offices from buildings A, B and C. Existing space inside the hospital would be reconstructed to organize departments efficiently.

That concept also would move medical offices from buildings A, B and C to the second floor of the Powell Valley Clinic building.

Concept 3 would address all nine priorities listed by Davis Partnership and Powell Valley Healthcare leaders, but it would be far more costly. While it provided the farthest-looking solutions to space problems and needs, many worried that the price tag could prove unreachable.

During a meeting earlier this month, several people suggested that a blend of Concepts 2 and 3 — one person labeled that Concept 2.5 — could serve the organization’s needs best while still being financially obtainable.

All three concepts called for an addition to The Heartland assisted living facility at some point in the future, but not as a part of the other renovations outlined.

The PVHC board — comprised of the seven members of the Powell Hospital board plus three physicians — began discussing Monday how to take those concepts to the public, along with a message about the need for building renovations in order for Powell Valley Healthcare to remain viable and competitive in an increasingly challenging and competitive market.

Those efforts dovetail with the organization’s ongoing “Journey 2 Excellence,” which aims at improving employee performance and morale, patient care and perception of care.