OCTOBER 1, 2009 ISSUE
Intergovernmental Retreat Report
Municipally Selected Aspects of the Road Ahead in Healthcare and Recreation
Four-year ASU Nursing Program Almost a Reality
Elected officials and administrators from the High Country’s municipalities, Watauga County and ASU came together to hear presentations on healthcare and parks and recreation last Monday, September 28, at the Broyhill Inn and Conference Center.
At first glance, the two agendas may seem puzzling, but in a wider view, the future of the community’s collective health depends upon many shared responsibilities, which include opportunities for individuals to exercise and enjoy nature.
Appalachian Regional Healthcare System’s (ARHS) Chief Executive Officer Richard Sparks alluded to the need for lifestyle changes in his detailed remarks saying in effect that some Americans indulge, ignore healthy habits and then ask others to fix them.
Sparks shared notable concerns about the potential of healthcare reform in his delivery that also covered plans for replacing the Blowing Rock Hospital facility. He said that if the cost of healthcare in high-spending regions—based on Medicare statistics—could be brought around to match the cost in efficient areas of the country, Medicare spending would fall 29 percent. That’s a tremendous amount of money and billions in potential savings.
“Medicare presently represents 50 to 60 percent of revenue to hospitals,” Sparks said. “Reimbursement rates drop below costs now.” This is especially true in rural areas as the reimbursement rate for rural areas is lower than more populated areas. Sparks hopes the final reform legislation addresses this disparity. “This would improve healthcare overall in my opinion,” he said.
Jim Deal, chair of the Watauga County Board of Commissioners, asked Sparks, “What can we do to make ARHS more successful?”
Sparks responded that elected officials can advocate for the system, “Listen to your constituent’s concerns and share them with us.” He then brought up an actionable item. Apparently the new state hospital plan does not designate 100 skilled nurses beds for the Blowing Rock facility—only 72 beds out of 100. “We need this technical methodology changed so we can take care of more long-term patients. We already have 84 long-term patients in these beds in what’s termed swing-bed mode.” He asked the elected officials to call the state on ARHS’s behalf and ask the state to take a more global view.
Many elected officials interviewed agreed with Sparks and committed themselves to calling, including Boone Mayor Loretta Clawson and Watauga County Commissioner Tim Futrelle.
After relating ARHS’s working relationship with ASU to the audience, Sparks passed the baton to Lorin Baumhover, chief of staff for ASU’s Chancellor.
Baumhover announced that the North Carolina Board of Nursing granted approval to ASU’s four-year, standalone, bachelor of science degree in nursing (BSN) on September 25. The University of North Carolina System Board of Governors is scheduled to sign off on the degree program on October 8.
A founding dean will lead the preparation for a May 2010 start. Baumhover said the new BSN will serve 80 degree students. Forty will be accepted the first year, then 40 each year thereafter. The BSN will eventually be housed in the new College of Health Sciences and Applied Professions building.
Unfortunately, like other worthy projects, the approved funding of $4 million planning money for the multipurpose $50 million facility suffered Raleigh’s depressed economic budget axe this summer. Both Baumhover and Sparks expressed confidence that in time the new facility planned for the property across from the Watauga Medical Center off Deerfield Road would come to fruition.
Also in the works at ASU, according to Baumhover, are new masters programs in nursing, radiology, physical therapy, occupational therapy and a PhD in rural clinical psychology.
After the healthcare portion of the agenda, officials from Boone, Blowing Rock, Seven Devils, Beech Mountain and Watauga County gave parks and recreation presentations, many of which included attractive videos and visuals. So many laudable developments are underway across the High Country, including new hiking trails and river access areas for boating on local rivers that each community’s efforts are worthy of an article.
The loudest applause and laughter of the evening came in a discussion about how to connect the county’s Brookshire Park on the South Fork of the New River with Boone’s Greenway Trail. Presently, ‘four-laned’ Highway 421 is in between the two, preventing a safe merge.
“How do we connect Brookshire to the Greenway? Is there a DOT representative here?” Deal asked Boone Public Works Director Blake Brown looking around the banquet hall. “Let’s just you and I go out there one night. We’ll figure it out.”
Seriously, Deal and Brown are discussing the needed connection with the state.
All participants interviewed after the intergovernmental meeting profusely praised the event saying it was educational, inspiring and that they should work and get together more often.
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