Medical makeover: County hospital works to improve image

Angela Gonzales
The Business Journal of Phoenix
July 20, 2007

Maricopa Medical Center is working hard to shake its image as the county hospital for the poor.

The hospital, operated by Maricopa Integrated Health System, is known within the medical industry as an academic research institution with a trauma But hospital officials hope to change the way the general public -- those with health insurance -- view the facility.

They got one step closer this week, receiving a new designation from the National Association of Children's Hospitals and Related Institutions. As a result of becoming a member of this national advocacy group, Maricopa Medical Center's pediatric unit is transforming into a hospital within a hospital.

Called the Arizona Children's Center at Maricopa Medical Center, the center treats more than 22,000 pediatric patients each year, plus more than 30,000 on an outpatient basis.

Because pediatric patients require 30 percent more care than adults, MIHS hired more than 160 nurses between January and May to work in pediatrics throughout its health system.

It took about nine months to prepare for and earn the designation, but it was worth every effort, said Paulina Morris, who just passed the baton as chair of the Maricopa County Special Health Care District Board, which oversees MIHS. Michael Cowley moved up from vice chairman to the chairman position. Taking the vice chairman post is Gerald Cuendet.

"Part of the reason this designation is so important to us is it gives MIHS access to increased research dollars," Morris said. "We want to increase the amount of research we do at MIHS. It is a perfect fit for us."

MIHS becomes one of 213 members nationwide, joining Phoenix Children's Hospital, Banner Desert Medical Center, Scottsdale Healthcare Shea and St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center.

Bob Meyer, president and chief executive of Phoenix Children's Hospital, said it makes sense for MIHS to become a member of NACHRI. "If you look at the numbers, Maricopa Medical Center has the fourth- or fifth-largest pediatric program in the Valley today," Meyer said. "It's substantial."

PCH and MIHS have a collaborative relationship: PCH residents do their rotations at MIHS. Meyer expects to see further collaborations now that both are members of NACHRI, a national advocacy group for pediatric health issues.

Morris said she doesn't see the pediatric hospital within Maricopa Medical Center as competition with its collaborators because there is so much demand for pediatric services. However, Bill Byron, spokesman for Banner Health, said the local hospital market is intensely competitive.

"I want to believe that within these expanded plans, from a market perspective, MIHS will fully retain its tax-mandated and traditional role of serving as an important safety net for many patients in the Valley," Byron said.

"MIHS' voter-approved mission is to meet community needs," responded MIHS spokesman Gibson McKay.

Jim Hertel, publisher of the Arizona Managed Care Newsletter, said he doesn't think MIHS' current push will make its competitors very nervous.

He said the hospital's location, at 24th and Roosevelt streets, doesn't place it in head-to-head competition with other hospitals serving the broader public.

"But clearly, if their plans to relocate the hospital go through, it could become a more competitive entity," Hertel said.

MIHS officials had wanted to build a new hospital near the Phoenix Biomedical Campus, which houses the University of Arizona College of Medicine. But UA officials picked Banner Health to build the new facility, prompting a public firestorm between Banner and MIHS.

Despite the setback, MIHS officials still are eyeing the downtown Phoenix area to build a new hospital.

In June, the health care district board unanimously approved MIHS' 2008 budget of $414 million. Calculated into that budget is $43 million in property taxes from Maricopa County residents.

Last updated on September 2, 2008