Memorial Hospital and Quincy Medical Group Seek Funding to Expedite Healthcare Transformation for the Region
Memorial Hospital and Quincy Medical Group Seek Funding to Expedite Healthcare Transformation for the Region
On Wednesday, November 17th, Memorial Hospital and Quincy Medical Group (QMG) submitted an application to the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services (HFS) as part of the Healthcare Transformation Collaboratives Public Act, which allocates $150 million annually for healthcare transformation collaboratives through 2027.
Memorial Hospital Chief Executive Officer, Ada Bair said, “We have been working on a number of transformational projects and so have our friends at QMG. As we assessed the needs of our region, we realized it made a lot of sense to be an applicant for these funds. Our goal is to bring this funding to the west central Illinois region. It provides a great opportunity to expedite high-priority projects, like expanding behavioral health services and creating new services, all while ensuring that we improve health equity for rural patients.”
The application submitted by the two organizations proposes to establish a collaborative, named the Ideal State Collaborative (ISC) with a stated goal of revolutionizing the patient care experience by engaging the rural community through new and existing partnerships resulting in a community-focused, patient-first approach to providing care with improved access through the project’s five pillars. This goal will be accomplished by embedding outreach where it is needed, especially into the most underserved areas, while concentrating on patient-focused care experiences for everyone – offering new personalized, affirming, affordable, accessible healthcare. In addition, the project includes a virtual and remote monitoring platform, expanded behavioral health services that have been identified as a significant need in the region, a small format hospital, birth center, rural health village, and a hospital at home program.
Memorial Hospital recently purchased a seven-acre site previously utilized as a nursing home facility in Hamilton, IL. If funded, the plans are to completely renovate the space and the grounds, offering comprehensive outpatient services, including a community health and wellness center and support for nutrition. In addition to providing resources to support health and prevention, the facility will include expanded primary care, behavioral health, and specialty care services.
QMG Chief Executive Officer Carol Brockmiller describes the opportunity as yet another way to deepen and strengthen the decades-long relationship with Memorial Hospital, “We’ve partnered with Memorial for years to deliver care to patients in the most rural parts of our shared region and this funding would allow us to bring truly transformational technology, facilities and support much quicker than we’re able to without it. Between community needs assessments and all of the many engagement conversations we’ve had with our community, it is very clear transformation would have a significant impact for our rural area and patients.”
This transformation project will increase accessibility and expand quality services to patients in Adams, Hancock, and the surrounding counties. Through these efforts, the region will see a healthcare transformation resulting in a more complete continuum of care for behavioral health, increased access to care for preventive services, primary care, and specialty care, and a decrease in the overall cost.
The State will announce funding recipients and award amounts in the spring of 2022, and Bair continued, “Our projects are ready to go; these are concepts that have been years in the making, and with the State’s funding available, everything really aligns well, and the future of healthcare in our region looks really bright.”
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