Facility Development/Strategic Planning Case Study
THE CASE: Doctors’ Hospital, Bridgeport, TX
The town of Bridgeport, located just north of Dallas, had award-winning schools, booming industry and a growing population – but no hospital. A facility was located in nearby Decatur, but Bridgeport native Dr. David Ray didn’t believe that was enough – and so he took action, only to come face-to-face with the realization that, ultimately, he would need assistance in securing financing for the new facility and in overseeing its construction, management and opening.In the beginning, Dr. Ray, a handful of area physicians and others invested their own money to begin the process of building a new hospital – a not-for-profit facility owned by the community. The group recruited Texas native Paul Owens as CEO, arranged for financing, hired an architect and construction began, but, then, funding for the hospital fell through.
Q Solutions
In an effort to resolve their funding issues, Dr. Ray and his associates contacted Alan Richman, president and CEO of InnoVative Capital, a financial advisory firm. Richman, in turn, brought in QHR to help with hospital development and management. QHR:
- Began with a demand analysis
- Validated the construction budget with a feasibility study
When the study confirmed the hospital could be successful, the public rallied
- The Bridgeport Economic Development Corporation provided a grant to assist the hospital in purchasing land in Bridgeport.
- The City of Bridgeport pledged assets to assist the hospital in obtaining a $3 million line of credit.
- The State of Texas pledged $750,000 in matching funds to build access roads.
- A seven-member board of community supporters was formed.
- A foundation pledged $1 million to the project.
Alan Richman leveraged his financial expertise to negotiate favorable bond financing terms with an investment banking firm. QHR, in turn, began its work in overseeing pre-opening operations and will later assume responsibility for managing hospital resources, including:
- Recruitment of an experienced CFO
- Consulting expertise to create effective financial and operational systems
- Group purchasing power for supplies and equipment
- Support for managed care contract negotiations
- Education programs to support staff needs
The Outcome
QHR successfully created an infrastructure for Doctors’ Hospital, including:
- A means of financial reporting to investors/auditors
- A staffing plan and support in its recruiting efforts
- A strategic and management action plan Policies and procedures
- Assistance with state licensure/certification/accreditation
- IT systems
- Assistance in managed care negotiations
Doctor’s Hospital opened in August 2008 with 36 beds. The new hospital provides state-of-the-art medical and general surgical care, OB, ED and the latest in radiology, including PACS.
QHR provides pre-opening and ongoing hospital management advisory services, consulting and implementation support, education and training programs to independent hospitals and health systems.
“I’ve worked with QHR before, and I’m 100 percent behind their pre-opening and management expertise. We could never have sold the bonds without QHR and InnoVative Capital. And I’m grateful to have QHR’s ongoing support.”
