Prague Healthcare Authority, DBA Prague Regional Memorial hospital

PROJECT PURPOSE

The purpose is to replace the aging and outdated Prague Regional Memorial Hospital with a new 25 bed, state of the art, Critical Access Hospital that will meet the healthcare needs of the area now and in the future. The current building with 25 licensed beds, opened in 1952, and a clinic addition was done in 1971. There are two main reasons for replacement. First, the building itself is beyond repair. Costs for repairs, (the building had more than 20 years of deferred maintenance under previous management), additions, and updating for new technology or ADA compliance would far exceed any realized or useful value. Second, all available space is in use. Hospital staff are using storage rooms as offices, and due to Covid, semi-private rooms are no longer feasible, cutting the bed capacity to 13. The hospital board would like to add services such as diagnostic procedures, dialysis, behavioral health, and additional primary care. There is no space within the current footprint for any expansion at all.

EVIDENCE

According to the Health Resources and Services Administration?s booklet Critical Access Hospital Prototype, ?Hospitals by nature are complex, technically sophisticated, and mechanically intensive structures that are expensive to build and maintain?. The booklet goes on to say ?Many of the hospitals that have received CAH (Critical Access Hospital) certification operate in facilities that require replacement or renovation. It has been demonstrated that more often than not it is less expensive to replace old hospitals that do not meet existing building codes than to renovate them?.

POPULATION DESCRIPTION

According to the American Community Survey of the 2020 US Census, Lincoln County has 952 square miles and is the 25th largest county in Oklahoma. The total population of 33,458 with a median income of $51,206 (roughly $3,000 below the state average) and a 54.4% employment rate (persons over age 16). 16.9% of the population are without healthcare insurance, and 13.8% live in poverty. Lincoln county has had to date 7,819 Covid cases and 112 deaths. Covid had drastic impacts on healthcare and showed that the aging Prague hospital was tested to its very limits during Covid surges.

PERFORMANCE MEASURING

Project performance will be measured by: 1. Timely completion of construction and transfer of patients as determined by the state of Oklahoma, 2. Successful compliance with state and federal licensure and quality surveys, 3. Achieving targeted outpatient visits and inpatient average daily census.

ONGOING INVESTMENT AMOUNT

$

ONGOING INVESTMENT DESCRIPTION

None

ONGOING INVESTMENT REQUIRED

Able to continue operation without additional funding from the State of Oklahoma