Information About McCall Memorial Hospital
Joining St. Luke's Health System
From Dan Krahn, Board Chairman , McCall Memorial Hospital District
I would like to take a moment to answer some questions you might have about why McCall Memorial Hospital would join St. Luke’s Health System.
The primary responsibility of the hospital’s Board of Trustees is to assure that
everyone living in and visiting our area has access to high-quality health care.
Changes in healthcare make it increasingly difficult for independent rural hospitals to survive. Our budget shows decreasing reimbursements from Medicare and Medicaid, shrinking cash reserves, and increasing charity care and bad debt. We believe it is necessary to proactively explore our options in order to continue offering the quality
of health care our patients have come to expect. The Board has identified two possibilities:
1. Remain an independent hospital district and face the possibility of a reduction of services.
2.
Join an existing health system to reduce expenses through efficiencies and enhance access to care and services.
All Trustees and the hospital leadership agree a closer partnership with St. Luke’s Health System is the best option. This conclusion was reached after studying industry research, attending medical leadership conferences, and analyzing the choices made
by other hospitals facing similar challenges.
This opportunity would provide crucial cost savings and enhance access to care.
This new relationship with St. Luke’s gives us the advantages of a network while
maintaining local control of hospital operations and services. Another important advantage will be our ability to continually improve patient outcomes through
evidence based practices and the standardization of protocols.
We believe joining St. Luke’s Health System is the best solution for addressing the future needs of our patients, the hospital, and our employees. Community
involvement in this process is very important to hospital leadership as well as the
Board of Trustees.
Please email or call us at (208) 634-4061 ext 131 if you would like more information
or if you want to share your input.