March 12, 2004

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Publication Date: Friday, March 12, 2004

Health care shifts for baby boomers

In his first year as chief executive officer, Gary Sloan has moved San Ramon Regional Medical Center out of the shadows of a troubled corporate hospital and into the forefront of cutting edge technologies that are recognized throughout the West.

Sloan, a 26-year veteran in the health care industry, took the post last April at a time when both the San Ramon facility and its parent company, Tenet Healthcare Corp., had come under investigation on issues ranging from Medicare billing charges to questionable medical treatments at its Redding, Calif., medical center. With those issues resolved, Sloan moved quickly to focus on the strengths of San Ramon Regional, including its new state-of-the-art outpatient surgery center and its younger - by hospital standards - nursing, medical and surgical staffs.

"We are a reflection of the community we serve, which has a younger population," Sloan said. "This is a 14-year-old hospital, which means that the makeup of our medical staff is quite young. At the same time, they are physicians and nurses who have been trained in the most advanced procedures. They're helping to put this hospital on the cutting edge of medicine."

Sloan, who was chief executive of Doctor's Medical Center in San Pablo/Pinole before taking the San Ramon position, found that the fastest growing population segment in the Dougherty Valley and Tri-Valley areas served by the San Ramon Regional Medical Center is between the ages of 44 and 55. With its new state-of-the-art outpatient surgery center, Sloan found the hospital was particularly appealing to this surging baby boomer generation that doesn't want or need hospitalization.

"Whether it's gynecological oncologists or diagnostic services for the early detection of other medical problems, we have those procedures and services that many in this age group need," he said. "We only have 123 patient beds, which makes us small by comparison to the larger 300-bed hospitals in big cities. Still, with our innovative procedures and young, highly trained and specialized medical staff, we are large enough to provide specialized care, but small enough to offer personalized service."

Sloan frequently walks the halls of the hospital and visits with patients at the outpatient surgery center. He's on a first-name basis with everyone. Nurses, who recently unionized after a long and often confrontational battle, have found Sloan more interested in their work needs.

Sloan also said the number of patient beds, particularly at a facility like San Ramon Regional, isn't a problem.

"Many procedures that used to be done in hospitals can now be done on an outpatient basis," he said.

He cited patients with hernias, who once needed to stay in the hospital for a week but can now be treated on an outpatient basis. Even hip surgery has been simplified through a minimally invasive procedure. The surgeon cuts a small incision, inserts the prosthetic and the patient can walk almost immediately and leave the hospital within two days.

"Our surgeon tells me that hip surgery could become an outpatient procedure," Sloan said. "Unbelievable!"

San Ramon Regional is also one of the first hospitals to offer endoscopic surgery to repair an irregular heartbeat, a procedure that used to require major surgery. It also leads in computer and robotic technology, where the lead surgeon uses video screens to magnify his precise movements of delicate instruments. These and the hospital's new gynecological/oncology center are drawing patients from throughout the West.

Sloan also has expanded the hospital's community outreach, including offering free flu vaccinations last fall.

"It's been a misnomer that hospitals are 'health care' providers," Sloan said. "We have been more like 'sick care' providers. When you get ill, we take care of you. This hospital and the Tenet Corporate group are trying to change that. We joined with others in offering the vaccinations and, frankly, I think that's why last year's epidemic petered out so fast."

Although Sloan is focusing on the baby boomers that comprise the hospital's largest health care segment, he also recognizes the aging population ahead. The first vanguard of baby boomers will turn 65 in 2011.

"My father was a physician and I asked him before he died what he would want if his one wish could be fulfilled," Sloan said. "His reply was health. Without that, what good is anything else?"

Sloan said that as Americans age, they'll want the same thing. They will live longer but want treatment for arthritis, heart disease, back pain and other physical and medical problems that health care facilities like San Ramon will have to provide.

"We are part of the fabric of our community," he said. "There's nothing more important than health."

With the population continuing to grow in the Dougherty Valley and Tri-Valley, Sloan sees the need to expand San Ramon Regional Medical Center. The hospital's master plan calls for enlarging the emergency room, adding more operating rooms and outpatient services, and eventually adding to the hospital structure, itself.

"If you're serving an under-65-year-old population, you can expect 200 patient days per 1,000 of population," he said. "But for people over the age of 65, that number is five times the amount - 1,000 patient days per 1,000 population. So you can see that as we get closer to the age of 55 or to 65 and above, the number of patient days and the demand for our services will increase. That will require us to greatly increase our capacity for outpatient services and preventive care."

Tenet Healthcare downsizes

Tenet Healthcare Corp., which owns San Ramon Regional Medical Center and is the second largest for-profit hospital company in the country, has announced that it will sell 27 hospitals by the end of the year. The sale will include 19 hospitals in California, although San Ramon Regional is not one of them.

Tenet spokesman Dave Langness said the sale is part of a restructuring of operations designed to focus its financial and management resources in 13 states. Among hospitals to be given up are Doctors Medical Center in San Pablo. Gary Sloan, chief executive officer at San Ramon, was formerly the CEO at Doctors Medical Center.

Langness said Tenet managed Doctors Medical, but did not own the facility, which was built in the 1930s and will require major earthquake seismic refitting.

Of the 17 hospitals Tenet will continue to operate in California, the company expects to spend $300 million to meet seismic standards.

"We believe that California is an attractive market for us because of the state's good growth dynamics and competitive positions of our 17 core hospitals in California," said Trevor Fetter, Tenet's president and chief executive officer.

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