Company Report: Methodist Healthcare Systems

Methodist Healthcare System

Methodist Healthcare System

If your computer stops working, you might go down to the local store and buy yourself a new hard drive. If you are a computer entrepreneur and your need for healthcare is urgent and major, then you might follow Steve Jobs, the head of Apple, whose life and health was saved by a liver transplant he received at Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare, in Memphis, TN, April 2009. The institute is one of the ten largest liver transplant centers in the US and has one of the highest patient survival rates in the country, two factors which influenced Jobs' decision to have the procedure performed there.

Steve Jobs is now – very visibly – back at work but he is far from being the only person who owes his continued wellbeing to Methodist Healthcare. It serves the communities of Eastern Arkansas, West Tennessee and North Mississippi, through seven hospitals, several rural health clinics and a home health agency. It has around 10,249 Associates and 1,805 licensed beds.

HISTORY OF THE HOSPITAL

The original Methodist Hospital was founded in 1918, as the embodiment of the dream of John M. Sherard. He was a successful and idealistic North Mississippi farmer and dedicated United Methodist layperson, as well. It was the culmination of 30 years of struggle to build a healthcare facility for the people of his community. The first meeting of the Board of Trustees was held in 1911 and since then, the organization has grown to become the US’ second largest private, not-for-profit hospital. While it has a philosophy and ethical foundation firmly based on Methodist principles, it provides healthcare services to people of all denominations.

One of the largest facilities within the Methodist Healthcare System is Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital, which is in downtown Memphis. It was founded in 1952 as a result of the dreams and determination of the Le Bonheur Club; this was, perhaps surprisingly, a women’s sewing circle. Its first purpose was as an orphanage and it was opened with the pledge, made by Club President Mrs. Howard Pritchard, that ‘The doors of Le Bonheur will never be found closed and will forever hereafter be open to those who come in need, seeking its help’. Its commitment to the young people of 95 counties and six states including Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama and Arkansas, was re-emphasized when it became part of Methodist Healthcare in 1995.

Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital has 225 beds and a worldwide reputation for its brain tumor program. It serves children from birth to the age of 18. Its emergency vehicle fleet includes two ambulances equipped for critical care transportation and a contract with Hospital Wing in Memphis for helicopter transports utilizing a crew dubbed ‘PediFlite', a group of specially-trained paramedics and nursing staff. The helicopter gives PediFlite a 150 mile primary ground radius.

EXPANSIONS

Throughout its history, Le Bonheur has expanded and upgraded its facilities to meet the growing and changing challenges in pediatric and child healthcare. It has just completed construction and will soon open a major new building. The 12-story, 255-bed hospital nearly doubles Le Bonheur’s total space for patient care, research and teaching. It incorporates up-to-date advances in medical technology and includes new facilities and standards for families. The new hospital will open in late September – a fitting milestone as Le Bonheur’s marches into its second half-century.

The construction costs of the project were $340 million. In the largest-ever fundraising campaign in the history of the City of Memphis, more than $103 million was directly donated by the people of mid-South community. Gifts were registered from nearly 5,000 individuals, foundations, corporations and other organizations. It is designed to be environmentally sustainable and features include modular energy plant, recycled construction materials, drip irrigation, natural light, motion sensors and energy efficient bulbs. The hospital will be recognized as the fifth sustainable children’s hospital in the country, once it has received LEED certification.

While the new Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital may be the most visible change on the Memphis medical cityscape, it is far from being the only one. In February 2010, it broke ground on a new, $7.9 million, 30-bed hospice facility on Quince Road in East Memphis. The general contractor, Montgomery Martin Contractors LLC, is scheduled to complete the LEED-certifiable building in 2011. The building will cater for accessibility for alternative transportation such as bicycles and preferred parking for fuel-efficient vehicles; as well as water-efficient landscaping and toilet fixtures; and energy-efficient HVAC systems. The contractor is committed to keeping waste out of landfill and will use recycled items such as concrete, reinforced steel and metal roofing. As far as possible, all materials used in the construction will be manufactured regionally, thus cutting down on the energy miles needed for transportation to the worksite. The facility will be operated as part of Methodist’s hospice division, whose patients’ stays are funded through Medicare, TennCare, private insurance companies and private donations.

Methodist Le Bonheur Germantown Hospital, also in Memphis, opened a new Women’s and Children’s Pavilion in February 2010. The $121 million project has added 100 beds and more than 600 parking spaces. Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare can provide an even more comprehensive care and support system to women and babies in the Memphis area. It has a neonatal specialist on staff 24/7 and is the first facility in the Memphis area to provide a 24/7 board certified OB hospitalist on staff. It houses seven operating rooms and a minimally invasive surgery suite. A special Women’s Boutique provides a wide selection of health garments and support products for women of all ages.

Healthcare is a fast-growing area of the economy. Methodist Healthcare System is demonstrating, through its patient and environmentally-friendly expansion that it remains true to the principles of its founding fathers – and mothers.

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