Banner Health to Shut McKee Holistic Center

LOVELAND – Moving to cut costs and focus on essential services, Banner Health will close the McKee Center for Holistic Medicine Sept. 30.

The move affects 14 mostly part-time practitioners of alternative medical services such as acupuncture, reiki and therapeutic massage.

Many of the practitioners have offices and studios elsewhere in the community where they can continue to treat patients, said Dale Hand, a McKee professional services administrator who oversees the holistic clinic.

“Fortunately for the community, there are other providers out there,” he said.

The center opened in 2002 in leased space across Boise Avenue, just west of the hospital.

The range of services offered through the center include:

* Studio McKee, a venue for classes in yoga, tai chi, Qigong and other non-traditional arts.

* A clinic where patients can choose from a menu that includes acupuncture, biofeedback, naturopathic and therapeutic massage, among other services.

* A retail store offering natural supplements and herbal products.

“Although this was a difficult decision, it is one we had to make in order to continue our focus on core patient services,” said McKee CEO Rick Sutton, who is in his third month on the job.

Hand, whose job will also end when the center closes, said the decision was made following a yearlong review of the center’s performance.

“We were told when we were in the 2005 budget process that this was the make-or-break year,” he said. “One of the problems is that holistic medicine is a cash business. Most insurance companies don’t cover holistic expenses, so patients are left with the necessity to pay their own way.”

Sutton, when he arrived earlier this summer, said he would refocus McKee’s services on “centers of excellence” and other services. The holistic center fit neither category, hospital officials said.

“We needed to see some kind of turnaround in a certain time frame, and it didn’t happen,” McKee spokeswoman Betty Patterson said. “One of the things we look at in a case like this is the issue of exclusivity of service. Can it, or can it not, be duplicated somewhere else in the community? In this case, it could.”

Hospital officials said they are looking at opportunities to continue some holistic services in other areas. The hospital is also discussing with alternative practitioners “some sort of private model” for providing service.

Hand, who also oversaw professional services in the hospital’s pharmacy, rehabilitation and medical-imaging departments, said the elimination of his job was disappointing, but not necessarily a surprise.

“I came from Denver, and went through all the downsizing and reorganization and consolidation there,” he said. “I’ve always dodged the bullet; this time it caught me. You have to prioritize, I guess … I understand that.”

Copyright Northern Colorado Business Review Jul 22, 2005