The assurance of longevity comes from this. The people who use our facilities will continue to get the best treatment, stated Kindra Mulch, RN, Director of Administrative Services for KCCHSD.

Were ensuring future generations of Kit Carson County residents have access to health care, added Centura Vice President of Integration Josh Neff.

The union became official in mid-January with a two-year contract amid the hopes of continuing the relationship for many years.

Centura Health is the largest health care network in Colorado and Western Kansas. It is a faith-based nonprofit organization formed in 1996 by Adventist Health System and Catholic Health Initiative. Centura Health has 21,000-plus mission-centered professionals sharing the organizations ministry and mission to extend the healing ministry of Christ by caring for those who are ill and by nurturing the health of the people in its communities.

Among the services Centura will provide is helping to vet and employ a permanent CEO for the KCCHSD. Darcy Howard has been CEO in an interim capacity since mid-summer, but has not expressed an interest in the position permanently. Howard has said she will remain onboard as long as the process takes to bring in her replacement.

Centura will also help and advise in a variety of other capacities, including operations, finance, quality, human resources, patient/safety experience, service line development, and additional health care providers including specialists if necessary, while not stepping on the toes of those providers currently working with the district.

Centura has no intent, nor do we have the capability to make sweeping staff changes, Neff stressed. Centura will consult with the board, but make no decision on staff.

These folks have been in the community a while, established patient care. We want to be careful to point out this is not a Centura-or-nothing situation.

There is no ownership change in this agreement. The KCCHSD Board retains all decision-making authority for the district, and Centura does not share in any financial or operational risk.

Also, Centura will have no say in charges administered by the KCCHSD. Howard acknowledged any price decisions are made with the help of a service named Chargemaster and are entirely separate from this union.

In fact, Neff noted that Centura has been working with Governor Jared Polis task force to reduce medical costs in the state.

We understand the cost of health care is expensive too expensive, Neff stated.

In other words, those receiving services from KCCHSD will continue to get the best treatment available, Howard noted.

KCCHSD has always put our patients and our communities first, and the relationship with Centura will not change that. Our patients will continue to maintain the same high-quality interaction with the hospital and our providers, Howard declared. Centura Health has a number of prestigious awards and honors recognizing their outstanding care, quality outcomes and patient satisfaction. We are confident our relationship will serve to help KCCHSD continue to achieve our goals of providing high quality patient care, patient experience and outcomes.

Howard commented that the decision was made to include Centura because, like many rural hospitals, Kit Carson County Memorial Hospital simply needed help to keep its doors open, particularly in the COVID-19 pandemic. While the quality of service has never been affected, maintaining a hospital is anything but cheap.

The rural healthcare landscape is complex and seeing rapid change; moreso now than any time in our history. The industry has seen over 100 independent critical access hospitals in communities just like ours across the country struggle to the point of closing the doors since 2010, with more than 600 rural hospitals vulnerable to closure today, Howard pointed out. The challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic will only increase that for many rural hospitals. Many of the critical access hospitals that are surviving today are partnering with a larger organization or system to give them additional layers of support and help.

Neff added, What we do well is understand the needs of the rural community, Neff stated, adding that Centura is able to translate bigger systems into a local level is key to the success of such a union. He noted that it allows staunchly independent rural hospitals to maintain their independence while maintaining the highest quality of health care.

Stability can be a physical thing and an emotional thing. They are looking for both, Neff continued.

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In a union centered around longevity, Centura Health has joined forces with the Kit Carson County Health Services District (KCCHSD). - Burlington...