River Cities Business Journal: Health

Valley View hospital certified for Medicare; Mohave Community College obtains state grant to expand nursing program

FORT MOHAVE - Valley View Medical Center received final certification May 29 from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for Medicare inpatient and outpatient coverage.

"We are pleased to have completed the Medicare certification and are very proud of Valley View's staff," said LifePoint Hospital's president Kenneth Donahey.

The notification by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services follows a review of all Valley View practices and procedures.

"Anytime you open a new facility, CMS or Medicare requires that the facility be inspected to ensure proper care for patients," said Sherry McDonald, vice president of clinical operations at LifePoint Hospitals. "You have to meet the conditions of participation."

The hospital is awarded certification when all the requirements of the inspection are met.

Inspectors look at things like medical staff, nursing, general operations of the hospital and safety, McDonald said.

"The CMS review process gives us an opportunity to show the high level of quality care we provide for our community and to receive their recommendations for how we might do an even better job of that," McDonald said.

The hospital was inspected once and given points to improve on. McDonald said improvements to the hospital were made based on the recommendations of inspectors. The hospital received its Medicare certification after their second inspection.

"We have added some additional information about patient's rights and responsibilities that will be given to patients as they register for services ... . We have also strengthened our process for review of documentation in how medications are ordered and delivered," said McDonald.

Valley View Medical Center is a 60-bed, 102,000-square-foot acute-care facility.

The hospital includes all private rooms as well as an emergency department, Women's Center and rehabilitation units.

Hospital finance veteran named Valley View/Colorado River CFO

Veteran health care finance professional Brian L. Craven has been named chief financial officer of Valley View Medical Center in Fort Mohave, Ariz., and Colorado River Medical Center in Needles, Calif.

Craven assumed his new duties June 1. He will oversee all financial operations for both hospitals and their medical clinics along with the hospital's home health care programs, business office, information systems, materials management, case management, medical records, plant operations and dietary departments.

He has been chief financial officer for Russellville Hospital in Russellville, Ala, and Lakeland Community Hospital in Haleyville, Ala. All four hospitals are operated by LifePoint Hospitals, Inc. (NASDAQ: LPNT).

Valley View Medical Center is Arizona's newest hospital, opening last November. Colorado River Medical Center, 13 miles away and just across the state line, is the most established hospital in the region. Both serve the Tri-State area around Bullhead City and Fort Mohave along Arizona's west coast, eastern San Bernardino County, Calif., and Laughlin, Nev.

"I feel Valley View has enormous potential to fill the growing healthcare needs of the Tri-State area," Craven said. "The new state of the art facility will help recruit and retain the highest quality physicians and care givers available. My family and I are excited about relocating to the area and becoming a part of this wonderful community."

Ruth McDaniel, RN, the interim CEO for Valley View and Colorado River Medical Centers, said that Craven's experience as CFO for two hospitals, assistant CFO for another and director of financial operations for a network of health care providers, is what she was looking for.

"Brian's most recent duties included two affiliated hospitals not unlike Valley View and Colorado River," she said. "Each serves distinct needs in distinct communities, complementing the other whenever possible. We look forward to his expertise in the Tri-State area."

Craven is a 1991 graduate of Union University in Jackson, Tennessee, where he received a bachelor's degree in accounting. He is married with two children.

Grant helps MCC expand nursing program

Mohave Community College received a $160,736 grant from the Arizona Department of Commerce earlier this month to help the college expand its nursing program.

“This is great news for the college and great news for all of Mohave County,” MCC Chancellor Tom Henry said. “We have a very good nursing program now, but this will help us enhance and enlarge the program so we can increase the number of nurses trained to move into the workforce, helping to fill the shortage that exists.”

The grant application states that in order to keep pace with the professional nursing needs of its service area in rural Arizona, MCC will expand enrollment in its nursing program through two avenues.

The first avenue is to increase enrollment on the Bullhead City campus by 10 students per year and admit another 12 students per year - six each spring and fall semesters - from the program waiting list to the Kingman and Lake Havasu City sites.

The second avenue is to establish a paramedic-to-registered nurse (RN) track that features an accelerated program of study.

Ten paramedic-to-RN students will be admitted annually once the program is established.