Summit Healthcare presented information on the $80 million improvements they are making to the Show Low hospital at a recent meeting in Snowflake. Summit’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Ron McArthur, gave an overview of the changes that Summit is making.
The hospital was originally built in 1970 on 16 acres of land. For the last eight years Summit has been working on improvements to completely replace the original structure. Then in 2014, Summit acquired another 19 acres of land for expansion where a mobile home park was located and helped with the relocation of those residents over a multi-year process.
The new and improved Show Low campus is planned for completion this fall and will add approximately 180,000 square feet to the facility. It will also provide an additional 200 jobs.
Summit’s portion of the improvements total $45 million. NexCore Group, healthcare real estate professionals out of Colorado, will own one of the new buildings and will rent it to the hospital. They are funding the remaining $35 million.
The improvements include expanded outpatient services such as a pharmacy, a 12-bed geriatric psychiatric floor, doctor’s offices, a separate outpatient surgery center and consolidated administration offices. “Everything is moving to outpatient, to be a one stop shop for patients. It’s all right there and convenient,” said McArthur.
Another improvement is the addition of expanded telemedicine and electronic health services. Telemedicine allows patients to have appointments with doctors or specialists via video over the Internet. This is helpful for patients who alternatively would need to travel to Flagstaff or Phoenix.
A mobile phone application is also in development called Summit Cares that would allow regular doctor’s office visits entirely via video on a mobile phone similar to Skype. McArthur said, “On the weekends or after hours you can get a physician and a prescription without driving to the doctor’s office.”
McArthur was excited to announce that Summit was notified in December of 2017 that they achieved a five-star rating by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. There are only six other five-star rated hospitals in Arizona and none of those are in Flagstaff. “Bigger isn’t always better. We are celebrating our five-star,” said McArthur.
At the Snowflake Taylor Medical Centers they have brought on additional doctors, expanded the hours, including walk in hours and provide lab and imaging services. In Holbrook, the offices of Dr. Flint Hales that were located at a facility at the Navajo County Governmental Complex will be moving to the North Country HealthCare facility on Navajo Blvd. on April 9.
Summit is working hard to bring expanded care to patients on the mountain. In this last year, they have brought in 40 additional physicians including many specialists. Summit is also part of the Mayo Clinic care network.
To shop healthcare services for the best price Summit participates in the www.mdsave.com program to enable patients to price needed procedures if they are paying out of pocket. McArthur said, “It’s an exciting time to see the buildings go up and expand and offer more services.”
