Dennis Barts, Deaconess Medical Center's new CEO, says he intends to oversee both quick and long-term improvements at the venerable Spokane hospital, starting with a big infusion of capital before year-end. He also vows to ramp up physician recruitment to bolster the hospital's medical staff and to boost patient admissions.

Barts was appointed CEO on Oct. 1, the day Franklin, Tenn.-based Community Health Services Inc., a for-profit corporation that owns 118 hospitals, completed its $156 million purchase of the nonprofit Empire Health Services, the Spokane operator of Deaconess and Valley Hospital & Medical Center.

Robert Quist, who had been Empire's president and CEO and took over as administrator of Valley Hospital in May 2007, will continue to serve as CEO of Valley Hospital. Barts and Quist now report to Bill Hussey, president of Community Health's Division IV Operations, based in Nashville, Tenn.

"One thing (CHS) promised is that we're going to bring capital to the hospitals," says Barts, who's been with the company for nine years, most recently as administrator of its Ponca City Medical Center, an 85-bed hospital about 100 miles north of Oklahoma City, Okla.

"We'll spend $10 million in the first 90 days" in the former Empire system, he says.

That's just the first installment of $100 million CHS has committed to spend on capital improvements here in the next five years, Barts says.

Although specifics of that first $10 million in spending still are being decided, and there's currently no breakdown on how the funding will be split between Deaconess and Valley Hospital, it likely will be in the form of clinical equipment and information systems, he says, adding, "Health care is so much about the flow of information."

Additionally, Deaconess plans to "remodel some areas and take advantage of our real estate," Barts says. "We have opportunities in buildings we own that aren't being used to full capacity."

One top candidate for a remodel is the 49,700-square-foot Women's & Children's Center, located just east of the main Deaconess building, he says. "We have opportunities to improve the physical plant in all patient-care areas," Barts adds.

Staffing

While Barts says Deaconess' current medical staff and employees are one of its strengths, CHS also plans to invest in recruitment.

"We have world class-physicians doing great things in the fields of cancer and cardiology, among other fields," Barts says.

He says he's talked to about 1,000 employees in a variety of forums and has the general impression that they are "incredibly loyal."

"Some have been here 20 to 35 years," he says. "They treat patients like family. They're vital to our ability to provide personalized care."

He says employees supported CHS's acquisition of Empire.

"These people are excited about providing this care," Bart says. "They've been saying they're filled with great hope for the future."

Also, Barts says one of his primary responsibilities will be to boost admissions, although the hospital hasn't set a goal yet of how high it wants admissions to be.

Deaconess, which has 388 licensed beds, admitted 12,250 patients in 2007, up from 12,087 patient admissions a year earlier. It's too early to tell whether it will meet or exceed that number this year, he says.

Any significant increase in admissions next year will depend on how successfully the hospital can recruit physicians to practice there, he adds, adding that a greater number of physicians would be able to treat a greater number of patients.

Barts says gaps in medical coverage here include a communitywide shortage of primary-care physicians. He's encouraged, though, that Spokane offers a lot to attract medical personnel.

Barts says he didn't know much about Spokane and had never visited here until CHS asked him to act as a consultant in its acquisition of Empire. Since then, he's been impressed with the Inland Northwest.

"My wife and I like all the healthy activities here: biking, kayaking, and skiing," he says.

Barts' wife, Becky, is now a teacher at Spokane Valley Seventh-day Adventist School. They have one son, a Marine Corps veteran, who is attending college in Columbia, Mo.

Barts says most of his administrative team at Deaconess is in place.

"We've got a strong team, and I've got a couple of key people to bring in—people whom I've worked with in other hospitals," he says. "We're always recruiting for additional strong physicians and nurses interested in working in a world-class hospital."

Deaconess has about 1,650 employees, down from a peak of 1,960 in 2002.

By comparison, Sacred Heart Medical Center & Children's Hospital, the Spokane-area's largest hospital, had nearly 3,200 employees as of late 2007, up about 150 employees from a year earlier.

Barts isn't expecting a quick turnaround in employment at Deaconess.

"I expect some growth (in employment) over time as we build our services," he says. "I wouldn't look for that up front."

He says the hospital will place as many employees as possible in direct patient-care positions.

"Our focus is on bedside services, not on support services," he says.

Profit motive

Barts says there's no stigma in being a for-profit, investor-owned hospital, and notes that every hospital must either generate revenue or go out of business.

"Hospitals require extremely expensive equipment and highly skilled people," he says. "One advantage we have is access to capital."

For-profit hospitals undergo heavy scrutiny, he contends.

"We have a lot of people looking over our shoulders," Barts says. "Our accounting is very transparent. There are Wall Street analysts who make their living deciding whether or not we're doing a great job with health care."

He says he participated in healthy competition between investor-owned and nonprofit hospitals in the Oklahoma City region, which has 14 hospitals, most of which are nonprofits.

Barts expects such competition to continue here between CHS and Providence Health Care, which operates Sacred Heart and Holy Family Hospital here.

"We intend to compete vigorously and make both health-care providers better," he says.

Barts adds that he sees Deaconess continuing its partnerships with Inland Northwest Health Services (INHS), which was created in 1994 as a joint venture between Empire and Providence.

INHS operates St. Luke's Rehabilitation Institute, a multihospital electronic medical records system, a videoconferencing network, and Northwest MedStar air ambulance service, among other services.

"I think the future of INHS is bright," he says. "We're fortunate to have a partnership with INHS."

Barts says he hopes his future here is as bright.

"My wife and I would like to be here a long time," he says.

Dr. Jeff O'Connor, president of the Spokane County Medical Society, says Barts has a lot of work ahead of him to improve Deaconess' facilities and recruit physicians.

"The challenges are steep, but there's tremendous potential and talent there," he adds. "Community Health owes the people there a debt of gratitude."