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PHILOSOPHY
Founded on the principle of patient-focused health care, the Kansas Heart Hospital brings together and unites human resources and technological advances for a single purpose: to provide each and every patient the best possible outcome.
From education and prevention through diagnosis, treatment, and cardiac rehabilitation, Kansas Heart Hospital’s physician specialists have treated tens of thousands of patients ... one patient at a time. Simply put, Gregory F. Duick, M.D, Chairman and founding cardiologist of the Kansas Heart Hospital, states, “At Kansas Heart Hospital, we believe in excellence beyond competence and provide a compassionate medical care environment which places the patient first.”
CHANGING MEDICAL LANDSCAPE
The 1990’s saw the development of corporate healthcare, ie., managed care, invade the Midwest which, in turn, rapidly and decidedly changed the medical hospital landscape forever. Cost containment, vertical integration of delivery services, reduced reimbursement to hospitals, and advent of hospital employed physicians, all demanded a new way of providing care to patients. “There was a lot of consolidation in the medical community which, inadvertently, was marginalizing physicians’ importance as well as physicians traditional input into hospital decisions, priorities and nursing staff which led, ultimately, to both a perception of decreased quality of patient care and diminished employee morale” comments Dr. Duick.
At the same time, physicians and their nursing healthcare partners were shouldering more and more paper work, spending less time with patients, and there were fewer RNs to care for patients. Dr. Duick recalls “that nurses and doctors alike were frustrated with these mega-changes and general negativism in their hospitals.”
For cardiovascular specialists and surgeons the time had arrived to take a bold move. The ability to change existing institutions was formidable, if not impossible, and to accept managed care and its negative impact on the practice of cardiovascular medicine and surgery was unacceptable. A vision in which patient-centered nursing surrounded by cardiac physician specialists, supported by the latest technology, in an independent hospital facility was the natural choice. The solution was to build one’s own heart hospital.
On February 15th, 1999, the Kansas Heart Hospital opened its doors and admitted its first patient from Garden City, Kansas. Since that time the Kansas Heart Hospital has continued to serve and treat patients throughout the state of Kansas and from northern Oklahoma.
YESTERDAY AND TODAY...
Since its beginnings in 1999, the Kansas Heart Hospital has become a premier destination for cardiac care. For the better part of its existence, the Kansas Heart Hospital has performed the highest volume of open-heart surgeries in the state of Kansas and has received, on multiple occasions, the designation as the Best Cardiac Surgery, Heart Valve Surgery and Peripheral Vascular Surgery recognition award for the state of Kansas by a nationally recognized healthcare rating agency. All cardiologists, vascular, and cardiac-thoracic surgeons are board certified. Three (3) full-time anesthesiologists exclusively practice at Kansas Heart Hospital. Additionally, seventy-five (75) plus board certified specialists consult and assist with patient care at the hospital.
The Kansas Heart Hospital is the only hospital in the state of Kansas and Oklahoma which mandates fixed nursing ratios: in ICU there is one nurse for two (2) patients; in the inpatient Telemetry unit, there is one nurse for four (4) patients and in the short-stay or One-Day Care Center unit, there is one nurse for three (3) patients. Streamlined administration is the hallmark of efficiency at the Kansas Heart Hospital. Dr. Duick credits an understanding of spending human capital and resources at the bedside by hiring RNs rather than supervisors and intermediary administrators, supporting the concept of personal care. Said differently, all managers or supervisors are working managers who work with and alongside their employees. Kansas Heart Hospital managers understand the issues, problems and potential solutions to problems as they arise “on-line” on the nursing floor. All managers, however, also have immediate access to the hospital’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Chief Operating Officer (COO) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) which facilitates effective communication and problem solving for nurses and administration alike. By charter, the CEO at the Kansas Heart Hospital must be a physician, whereas, traditionally, both the CFO and COO are non-physician administrators. This fluid structure has served the Kansas Heart Hospital well over the past number of years, likely, accounting for both a high employee retention rate and exceptional patient satisfaction surveys.
PATIENT CENTERED CULTURE
At Kansas Heart Hospital, patient care is immersed in a deeper meaning of patient culture which starts at the admission office, continues throughout the hospital, and culminates with dismissal. “When I truly thought about what was important in taking care of patients, I felt it centered on the individuals who spent the most time with their patients. In a hospital, that should be an RN. Thus, I felt it was important, to develop a paradigm which fostered as much time as possible for nurses to spend with their patients and their families in order to provide the best continuity of care” notes Dr. Duick. Thus, the introduction of standard twelve (12) hour shifts throughout the hospital was developed as well as fixed nursing ratios in order to maximize nursing exposure to both the patient and their family. In order to further enhance quality and patient care, only cardiovascular nurses, rather than nurse aides or nurse technicians, are hired by the hospital to staff the ICU, Telemetry in-patient unit and the One-Day Care center. Dr. Duick proudly states “This commitment to nursing has been the cornerstone of the Kansas Heart Hospital and a signature affirmation of our cardiovascular culture.” Although nursing is at the center of the cardiovascular culture at Kansas Heart Hospital, it is by no means an oasis. Each and every employee, each and every healthcare provider, from x-ray technicians to the laboratory and pharmacy staff, as well as all other departments in the hospital, take ownership and pride in fulfilling their job commitment and patient stewardship. It is unique and it is palpable.
BUILDING THE FUTURE...
On May 4th, 2007, Via Christi Regional Medical Center, the largest non-for-profit hospital in the state of Kansas, purchased a forty-nine (49%) percent partnership interest in the Kansas Heart Hospital recognizing the importance of cardiovascular care for their patients and acknowledging the cultural and professional success of the Kansas Heart Hospital. In the Spring of 2008, the Kansas Heart Hospital initiated its fourth expansion, a $4,100,000 project to expand and renovate its clinical laboratory, pharmacy area, respiratory therapy and sonography departments as well as the addition of a 64 slice state-of-the art CT scanner. Completion of this current building project was completed in February, 2009 which also included an expanded employee locker area and exercise facility for the hospital staff. Recently, an outpatient Sleep Laboratory has located on the Kansas Heart Hospital campus in the Kansas Heart Office Plaza, a medical office complex adjacent to the Kansas Heart Hospital.
PERSPECTIVE...
The success of the Kansas Heart Hospital has been a collaborative effort of vision and support by the hospital’s administrative team and its employees. However, without the support of the cardiovascular physicians and selected local Wichita businessmen, who provided both leadership and initial capital, there would have never been a Kansas Heart Hospital.
Dr. Duick, who was an original co-founder, firmly believes that it “is those physicians who shared the same cardiovascular vision in 1996 that made Kansas Heart Hospital a realty and continue to support the hospital ten years later. They include cardiologists, Thomas Ashcom MD, PhD (current CEO), Layne Reusser MD, Roger Roberts DO, Richard Steckley MD, Darrell Youngman DO as well as cardiovascular and peripheral vascular surgeons, Steve Hutchinson MD, Thomas Estep MD, Gyan Khicha MD, William Murphy MD, Douglas J. Milfeld MD, Alex Ammar MD and, the original administrative team, COO Mr. Lynn Jeane and CFO Mr. Steve Smith.”
Kansas Heart Hospital has faced challenges in the past, coupled with enormous success, and professional satisfaction. For Wichita, and the surrounding area, it has been a signature referral center for heart and vascular care. No small task but a beacon for future cardiovascular care … for all Kansans.
