Hospital Prepares for Opening
By David Pittman, Amarillo Globe-News, Texas
Jun. 15–A specialty hospital will soon open its doors in Amarillo and put treatments of three medical conditions under one roof.
High Plains Hospital hopes to start taking patients the week of June 25 at its two-story, 65,000-square-foot building at 7501 Wallace Blvd.
The $14 million, 76-bed hospital will specialize in pain management, physical rehabilitation and adult and senior psychiatric care.
High Plains officials say having all three services under one roof makes its hospital unique and improves patient care. Patients won’t have to transfer between specialty care clinics while being treated.
Treatment of the three conditions High Plains provides is becoming increasingly intertwined, Chief Executive Ted Kubicki said.
“What we’re doing is bringing all three of those services in one concentrated area,” Kubicki said. “No one has put all three services together in one stop.”
“They can get all the treatment under one roof without being transferred,” Marketing Director Allan McCutchen said. “A lot of times they won’t need all three services, but they’ll need two.”
High Plains’ psychiatry services will focus on adult and geriatric care.
McCutchen said its focus distinguishes High Plains from Amarillo’s most notable psychiatric provider, the Pavilion.
“With us being here, it’s not going to benefit Bivins. It’s not going to benefit the Pavilion. It’s going to benefit the patients,” McCutchen said.
Pavilion Chief Executive Charlene Arnett said it treats patients of all ages but is the only provider of psychiatric care for children and adolescents in the Panhandle.
“The Pavilion has been here 40 years, and we have always treated patients for chemical dependency and psychiatric care,” Arnett said.
High Plains holds 41 semi-private psychiatric beds. It also has 30 private rehab rooms and five medical detox beds.
In addition to the Pavilion, Northwest also has a rehab and pain management center off the hospital’s main campus.
“All of those services, whether its offered by Northwest or BSA, they’re already offered in town,” Arnett said. “It’s a duplication of the services that are already available. It gives people another choice.”
The hospital will employ 150 people when fully operational, Kubicki said, but will start with between 80 and 100 people.
The Nashville-based SeniorHealth will manage the hospital and provide infrastructure services, McCutchen said.
The company already operates five specialty hospitals in Texas.
NEW HOSPITAL
Who: High Plains Hospital
Where: 7501 Wallace Blvd.
When: Plans to open for services the week of June 25.
What: A 65,000-square-foot, 76-bed specialty hospital.
Why: High Plains officials say having all three services under one roof makes its hospital unique and improves patient care. Competitors say the new hospital is just duplicating services already provided in town.
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