Phil Castle, The Business Times

Community Hospital faces challenges in refinancing debt and installing a new medical records system, but Chris Thomas believes the Grand Junction hospital can take on those challenges as an independent operation.

What’s more, that independence gives the organization agility and flexibility to react to a changing health care environment, said Thomas, president and chief executive officer of Community Hospital. “We can adapt to the market and changes. We can move quickly.”

Two accreditations for Grand Valley Oncology offer another indication of how Community Hospital has progressed in its efforts, Thomas said.

The Community Hospital Board of Trustees had considered a merger with Centura Health, but announced the discussions had been discontinued.

Officials at neither Community Hospital nor Centura Health would comment on the negotiations, but issued a statement: “After thoughtful consideration and thorough due diligence, Centura Health and Community Hospital have agreed to discontinue merger discussions. Although this was a difficult decision and one the Community Hospital Board of Trustees did not take lightly, the board has made the decision to remain independent. The board wants to do what is best for the hospital and the community. The entire (board of trustees) and leadership team at Community Hospital were impressed with the Centura Health organization and the great work they are doing across the state and region. Likewise, Centura leadership respects the tremendous growth and physician partnerships that have been developed by the team at Community Hospital. Both parties remain open to discussing future partnership opportunities.”

Centura Health constitutes one of the largest health care providers in Colorado with a total of 17 hospitals and 13 affiliate hospitals and 21,000 health care professionals in Colorado and Kansas.

Under the initial proposal, the agreement would have involved a member substitute merger in which Centura health would  have assumed the seats on a governing board and along with them authority over Community Hospital. Employees of Community Hospital would have become employees of Centura Health.

While a transaction wouldn’t have involved a cash payment, Centura Health would have assumed the $70 million in debt on the new building housing Community Hospital. Centura Health also would have installed an electronic medical records system at the hospital and its clinics and committed capital to new service lines and equipment.

Thomas reiterated the Community Hospital Board of Trustees decided it was important for the hospital to remain independent. Moreover, the trustees took into account comments from physicians, staff and residents in favor of independence, he said.

Community Hospital still faces the prospect of dealing with debt on its new building and installing a new medical records system, Thomas said. “Now we do it ourselves.”

While the hospital initially struggled after opening a new, four-story building in 2016, the financial situation since has improved, Thomas said. New services offered through an oncology center and the addition of orthopedic and spine surgery practices have brought in additional patients and revenues, he said.

A $6.5 million loss in 2016 shrank to a $1.4 million loss in 2017 and turned into a $400,000 gain in 2018, Thomas said. Through the first two months of 2019, net revenues were up 38 percent and the operating margin surged 3,500 percent, he said.

Last fall, Community Hospital received national recognition for efforts to improve its financial and operational performance. Quorum Health Resources, a hospital management firm, presented Community Hospital with its most improved financial and operational performance award.

Thomas said he’s optimistic Community Hospital will soon reach a position to refinance debt on the new building at a lower interest rate.

He’s also hopeful to soon proceed with efforts to replace what he said was a piecemeal medical records system with a single new system.

While nothing’s off the table, Thomas said the hospital will move forward in building on partnerships with physicians and exploring opportunities with joint ventures.

Community Hospital already partners with University of Utah and Huntsman Cancer Institute in Salt Lake City to offer patients and staff resources.

Other partnerships still could include Centura Health, Thomas said.

Independence gives the hospital and its board the ability to make quick decisions, Thomas said, like the one that resulted in opening a cancer center in just 100 days.

That center recently received full accreditation by the Commission on Cancer. The center is also the first — and so far, only — in Colorado to achieve the recognition from the National Committee for Quality Assurance as a Patient Centered Medical Home.

The ultimate goal for Community Hospital remains unchanged, Thomas said, in providing quality health care and continuing to give patients a choice in where they go for that care.