Stormont care touches thousands in region

Topeka Capital-Journal, The, Feb 27, 2008

Stormont-Vail HealthCare

The physicians and staff at Stormont-Vail HealthCare have had nearly 1\u2009million opportunities to provide care and compassion to patients in the past year, through visits to the hospital or one of the primary care or specialty clinics the regional integrated health care system operates throughout northeast Kansas.

"Quality health care is a critical pillar in any successful community," said Maynard Oliverius, president and chief executive officer of Stormont-Vail HealthCare, adding that investments in facilities, technology and people are also investments in the community.

Stormont-Vail provides a broad brush of access to health care for northeast Kansans, with clinics in Topeka and 10 other nearby cities, as well as increasingly sophisticated specialty clinics. The combination is giving northeast Kansans access to medical care that they once had to travel to larger metropolitan cities to obtain.

A case in point is the Cotton-O'Neil Cancer Center, where patients have access to state-of-the-art diagnosis and treatment in medical oncology, radiation therapy and clinical research trials similar to those offered in a major metropolitan areas. That was recently strengthened when the cancer center became a major founding partner of the Midwest Cancer Alliance, which is a network of cancer professionals dedicated to increasing access to the latest advancements in cancer care.

Another key for the regional reach of Stormont-Vail is the development of an extensive trauma services program, which provides residents of northeast and central Kansas with 24-hour, seven day a week access to trauma surgeons, neurosurgeons and support staff in the event of a traumatic injury or accident.

While the program - the only certified trauma program in Kansas outside of Kansas City and Wichita - has been developing over the past several years, the community has recently been seeing visible signs of the program with the construction of an Emergency and Trauma Center on the northeast corner of the Stormont-Vail complex. It is expected to be completed in the spring 2009.

The growth begins

Stormont-Vail HealthCare began experiencing fast-paced growth after the merger in 1995 of Stormont-Vail Regional Health Center and Cotton-O'Neil Clinic, Topeka's largest physician practice.

In the years since, Topeka has seen the construction of the Cotton-O'Neil Heart Center, Digestive Health Center, Stormont-Vail Surgery Suites and Cotton-O'Neil Cancer Center; the opening of Stormont-Vail West and the Cotton-O'Neil Diabetes and Endocrinology Center and the reconstruction of Neonatal IntensiveCare.

In the spring of 2007, ground was broken on a joint venture project - a medical office building and outpatient surgery center with the physicians of Topeka Ear, Nose and Throat P.A. The two- story building at S.W. 10th and Lane houses the TENT offices and the ExcellENT Surgery Center where outpatient ear, nose and throat procedures are performed.

Groundbreaking for the new Emergency and Trauma Center, the largest construction project in Stormont-Vail history, occurred in July. And work continues on the South Patient Tower renovation project, where the Neonatal IntensiveCare unit was completed several years ago and the Total Joint Replacement Center and the Spine Center were developed. Work on the South Tower will continue until every floor has been completely renovated, providing larger, more comfortable patient rooms that will better accommodate new technologies.

Projects during the past 10 years and current construction represent a total capital investment of $291\u2009million.

Access to care

Core services provided by Stormont-Vail HealthCare in past years have seen growth and expansion as technology became available and patients sought services.

n The addition of highly trained general, cardiothoracic and orthopedic surgeons and neurosurgeons, as well as specialized centers for recovering surgical patients, has improved Stormont- Vail's surgery department capabilities. The Stormont-Vail Spine Center opened last June, giving patients access to all medical and surgical specialties 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The Total Joint Center, which is a comprehensive program for joint replacement surgery, provides pre-operative education to post-operative rehabilitation.

n The combined efforts and expertise of the cardiologists and the cardiothoracic and vascular surgeons at the Cotton-O'Neil Heart Center has resulted in extensive outreach and access for northeast Kansans to the latest in prevention and treatment of heart disease.

n In its first full year of operation, the Cotton-O'Neil Cancer Center forged alliances with medical programs and community groups to bring patients and families a comprehensive list of services. The state-of-the-art center opened in December 2006 and consolidated the outpatient cancer services of Stormont-Vail and Cotton-O'Neil. An outreach clinic in Junction City was also developed to provide services in the region, joining an already existing clinic in Sabetha.