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By the numbers:
$235,000 — Amount Mercy Memorial Hospital Association paid to renovate the facility
80 — Percent of chronic patients who can reduce symptoms by meeting physician regularly
$26.7 billion — Estimate of chronic care costs statewide in 2010
77 percent — Expected increase in costs from 2010 to 2010
Sources: Community Mercy Health Partners, Ohio Department of Health
Mercy Memorial Hospital will open a new Chronic Care Clinic this month, designed to ultimately slash the need for more expensive hospital visits.
The unit will be housed in a previously vacant wing at the hospital that underwent a roughly $235,000 renovation. The cost will be paid for by the Mercy Memorial Hospital Association, said Karen Gorby, administrator and chief nursing officer at Mercy Memorial.
The new clinic will provide assistance to patients with additional resources to manage conditions like diabetes, congestive heart failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. An estimate from the Ohio Department of Health showed chronic care and resulting issues like absenteeism from work cost the state almost $27 billion in 2010.
The goal is to help both patients and medical providers better manage care and expenses.
A previous survey conducted by the Champaign Family YMCA and the Champaign Health District showed there were few resources to deal with chronic conditions available in the county, Gorby said. The survey showed Champaign County also had higher than average rates of problems like diabetes and hypertension, she said.
Officials from the health district were not available for comment.
“If you saw this place eight months ago and saw it today, it’s a big transformation,” Gorby said of the renovated space.
The availability of chronic care facilities varies across the region, said Bryan Bucklew, president and CEO of the Greater Dayton Area Hospital Association.
“The common denominator is that the number of chronic disease cases coming through hospitals and physician offices are steadily increasing,” Bucklew said. “We’re seeing a greater percentage of our patients from all the GDAHA hospitals coming into the emergency room and being treated for symptoms of chronic disease, which is the absolute worst way to deal with chronic disease because you’re not dealing with the underlying condition.”
The agency estimated chronic disease care cost the state an estimated $26.7 billion in medical costs and absenteeism in 2010. While only an estimate, the Ohio Department of Health calculated annual medical costs including absenteeism from work for six chronic diseases in Ohio, including heart disease, diabetes, stroke, cancer and asthma based on information from that year.
“These costs are expected to rise to nearly $44 billion in 2020, representing a 73 percent increase in only 10 years,” said Michelle Loparo, a spokeswoman for the state health department.
Community Mercy Health Partners, which operates both the Springfield Regional Medical Center and Mercy Memorial, also plans to open a chronic care center in Springfield this fall, although the exact timeline is unclear, Gorby said.
In Urbana, the new facility will utilize current staff, as well as hire a new nurse practitioner and a small number of other employees. Hiring is expected to grow along with the practice. It will offer a wide range of services, including medication management, dietary counseling, physical therapy and support groups.
Initially, the facility could see as many as 100 patients a month but that could escalate, Gorby said. It also includes exam rooms, a classroom, an adult gym and space for speech therapy and pediatric therapy.
“The clinic really affords them that opportunity to stay well and stay out of the hospital,” she said.
Many of the problems the hospital deals with could be prevented if patients learn the correct way to manage their health problems correctly, Gorby added.
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