Published: August 28, 2008 11:16 am         

Hospital board officially closes Santo clinic

By Libby Cluett
lcluett@mineralwellsindex.com

After trying to make it work, Palo Pinto Hospital District trustees voted Tuesday to officially close the Santo clinic.

Although it was not the sole reason for the clinic’s demise, it was closed when the provider, who traveled from Fort Worth, took a job at John Peter Smith Hospital.

When the clinic saw a transition in providers just over a year ago, it did not take off as hoped, according to CEO Harris Brooks. A town hall meeting to discuss the clinic last year drew a total of two community members and the clinic expenses were $68,000 in the negative.

“It breaks my heart,” said trustee J. C. Colton. “We had high hopes for [the Santo clinic].”

The clinic doors have been closed for close to a month. According to board vice president Kathy Boswell some Santo citizens are now using PPGH’s Gordon Clinic, approximately 13 miles away.

Board members agreed that an immediate solution is to send the PPGH “Bridge to Health” mobile clinic to Santo one day per week. This outreach will help PPGH fulfill its obligation to provide health care to taxpayers, according to board vice president Kathy Boswell.

In other business, PPGH received a visit from Texas Healthcare Trustees President and CEO Stacy Cantu. Cantu came at the request of board member Richard Dennis, a new member of the American Hospital Association Council of Government and liaison to the THT Rural Policy Board.

Cantu commented on the “good governance” and “improved health of their communities” she sees among the hospital boards she visited. She said that PPGH, which has a large percentage of trustees who are THT members and have advanced trustee training, are among those boards “taking leadership to the next level.”

Health care is highlighted more as a national initiative and is more at the forefront than it’s been in past years as seen this week in Democratic National Convention, said Cantu.

She said she challenges boards to become more involved in advocacy. Advocacy can range from speaking positively about the hospital and promoting community programs – what Cantu called advocacy with a “little ‘a’” – to “getting more involved by communicating with political officials to be sure the hospital remains healthy.”

She shared that when she informally asked board members from around the state if they get involved with advocacy – in the local, regional or state levels – “one in five say they will.” However, on a recent survey “99 percent [of THT members] say you can improve health care in Texas through advocacy.”

Cantu concluded by sharing one of THT’s goals for board members to become “educated, involved and engaged.”