Chelsea L. McGowan

cmcgowan@weatherforddemocrat.com

As the nation anxiously awaits healthcare reform promised by an incoming presidential administration, Parker County residents can look homeward to see changes in the medical field. Donnie Romine, CEO of Weatherford Regional Medical Center, said 2009 will be a big year for the hospital, as the current expansion project will reach completion.

“All told, we’ll have 43,000 square feet of new construction, and 15,000 square feet of renovation,” he said. “Our facility will be 23 percent larger when we’re finished.”

The main areas of focus are the Emergency Department, which is tripling in square footage and will go from 11 beds to 23 beds. The ICU area will also expand, as the current Intensive Care Unit is only 750 square feet, and only has eight beds. The renovated ICU will be located directly above the ER, and will have 12 beds, and be more than triple in size. The radiology department and the lab are also increasing dramatically, and the new pharmacy will be 25 percent larger than the existing facility.

“We expect the emergency department and the ICU portion of the expansion to be done by August, and the rest should be done by the end of the year,” Romine said. “We’ve got steel coming on site around Jan. 12, and we’ll start seeing it go up pretty quickly after that.”

Technology on the WRMC campus is also advancing, one example being a new CT scanner which is about eight times faster than their current machine. Also, the entire facility is expected to be set up for Wifi Internet by sometime mid-January.

Romine is quick to explain the expansion isn’t confined to the WRMC campus, as changes are going on elsewhere in the local medical community.

“We have a new Primary Care office opening in the Hilltop Medical Complex behind the post office,” he said. “It’ll have two family practices, an internist and an urgent care center. The urgent care center, especially, will be useful for lower level emergencies. People can get care there at a lower cost than a trip to the emergency room.”

Romine also discussed the financial impact WRMC has had on the entire community through their efforts in recruiting new physicians to the area. According to a study he provided, each new physician generates an average of nine jobs, and has an economic impact of more than $2.4 million. Since WRMC changed hands a little more than two years ago, 15 physicians have been recruited and eight more are in the works.

"We’ve signed agreements with four new physicians to start next year, and that’s a big economic impact on the community," Romine said.

A particular point of pride for Romine are the quality scores WRMC has received in the last two years. Although those scores are currently commendably high, he said they are still shooting for the stars.

"We’ve always focused on our quality scores," he said. "The key is our core measure scores and we’ve brought that up from 70 percent to 98 percent since we took over. That will never go down – not in this hospital. We outscore the national average in every category. These scores are a matter of public information. The community can feel good knowing that you’re going to get quality care here."

One of the ways WRMC has improved their service on a more personal level is an ambassador program. The program ensures every patient is assigned to a member of upper management. That staff member will act as a personal advocate for the patient, assuring everyone feels like they can voice concern, dissatisfaction, or praise direction to someone who can have an impact.

"In the six quarters we’ve been here, we’ve taken this hospital from not-so-good to right in line with the national average," Romine said. "We’d like to make the lists of the nations top hospitals, and we will. It takes time and hard work, but that’s what we focus on. We want to provide this community with the care it deserves, and I think while we’re getting better, we’re right where we should be."