SIERRA VISTA, Ariz. –Officials from Sierra Vista Regional Health Center and Tennessee-based RegionalCare Hospital Partners have signed a letter of intent for a long-term hospital lease and the development of a new hospital. The agreement, slated to close on or about April 30, provides the resources SVRHC requires to enhance and expand the medical services available within southern Arizona.
Through this partnership, area residents will be able to receive medical care at a new, technologically advanced, 100-bed hospital that RegionalCare Hospital Partners has agreed to fund and construct over the next three years. Changes in federal and state healthcare reimbursements made it impossible for SVRHC to secure the capital needed to build the new facility and keep pace with the region’s longer-term healthcare needs.
“The board of trustees is pleased to announce this important first step in our partnership with RegionalCare Hospital Partners, said Bruce Dockter, chairman of the board of trustees for SVRHC. “We chose RegionalCare Hospital Partners after an extensive search to find a respected organization that would build a new medical facility, maintain local control over the quality and delivery of services, and work with the hospital’s physicians and staff. Additionally, the hospital’s name, mission, vision, and values will stay the same.”
In addition to providing funding for a new hospital, the partnership will give SVRHC access to the resources of a system of hospitals, including competitive pricing on supplies, equipment and other purchased services. Best practices, systems, knowledge and experience of other hospitals will also be available to the hospital’s employees, medical staff and administration.
SVRHC operates a Joint Commission Accredited 88-bed acute-care hospital in Sierra Vista with an outpatient surgery and imaging centers located on its east campus. Additionally, the hospital has two outpatient rehabilitation offices and an outpatient lab/infusion/hospice center in Sierra Vista and operates three outpatient clinics in Sonoita, Douglas and Tombstone, Ariz.
Margaret Hepburn, CEO and president of SVRHC, stated, “We are confident that this partnership is the right step forward for SVRHC. For the general public, this will be a seamless transition. Existing services will continue and, with RegionalCare’s commitment of capital to our current hospital, key growth, service and quality initiatives will not be delayed, while the new facility is being built.”
