Vital Signs - September 2005

Saint Mary’s Health Network

Still Growing After All These Years

by Cindie Geddes

In 1877, a group of intrepid nuns made an unplanned stop in Reno on their way from California to Kentucky. When they saw the need to educate the children of miners and farmers, they ditched their Kentucky plans and stayed in Reno to build a school. By 1908, the nuns had gone on to build a hospital for the rapidly growing community. While the Dominican Sisters could not have predicted what the area would become nearly 100 years later, they would have been happy to know that their legacy of compassionate healthcare continues to thrive.

Today, Saint Mary’s Health Network employs more than 2,500 people and consists of 11 healthcare facilities in Northern Nevada (including a health plans division and a philanthropic foundation). But just as it was when the sisters came through over 100 years ago, Reno is still growing and changing.

Lawrence O’Brien, president and CEO of Saint Mary’s Regional Medical Center, who came to Reno from Hawaii this year, was attracted to the balance of mission and margin at a faith-based facility. He was also attracted to the challenges of Reno’s dynamic community and Saint Mary’s active approach. "Healthcare is changing dramatically," he said. "It is becoming more of an outpatient business. And hospitals are built for inpatient service."

In response to this shift and to fill to the community’s needs, Saint Mary’s expanded its West Campus with a six-story, 215,000-square-foot Center for Health adjacent to the existing hospital. The building is owned by Ensemble Real Estate Services and leased by Saint Mary’s. The Center for Health focuses on the comfort and care of clients, with an emphasis on architecture and design elements to make people feel at ease. Halls are wide, ceilings high, colors soothing. Windows bring in ambient light where possible. State-of-the-art technology is balanced by a respect for privacy and individuality.

The center features clinical and fitness facilities (including a complete health, fitness and rehabilitation facility; radiation oncology with high-dose-rate brachytherapy, linear accelerator and CT scanner; a women’s center with digital mammography, breast MRI and cancer resources; outpatient physical, occupational and communication therapy; executive health and wellness; outpatient imaging services with a complete range of diagnostic and radiological services; cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation; a complete laboratory; high-tech auditorium and physician’s offices. To complete the picture, Saint Mary’s added a new 1,150-space parking garage and a unique second-story public plaza with grass, fountains and benches – all open to employees, families, patients and the public.

Saint Mary’s West Campus’s importance as a regional economic center, as well as its strategic location adjacent to downtown Reno, were some of the reasons this area was selected by the city to be included as part of a new Redevelopment Area.

A Redevelopment Area can offer property owners the staff, expertise and resources to spur economic development and reduce crime without levying a new tax. The Redevelopment Area allows some of the property taxes to fund projects designed to further private investment. Over time, property owners and residents in and around the Redevelopment Area see a more attractive community, increased property values, lower crime rates and increased services.

While a new Redevelopment Area could help lead to more retail and housing for employees and the public, O’Brien is concentrating on the healthcare needs of the community by expanding Saint Mary’s emergency room. "Our ER was built for 23,000 visits a year," he said, "but we are experiencing about 52,000." He hopes to see the expansion completed in late 2006.