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Construction is stalled

By FOSS FARRAR
Traveler Staff Writer

Construction of a new hospital for Arkansas City has been stalled because of financing issues, leaders of the CoVista Medical Center project said today.

Almost a year ago, a ground breaking ceremony was held for the new CoVista Medical Center located two miles northwest of town. It would replace South Central Kansas Regional Medical Center at 216 W. Birch Ave.

But there has been little visible progress on the project since that April 28 ceremony.

Local medical personnel and members of the SCKRMC board of trustees met Monday with officials of Wichita-based Cardiovascular Hospitals of America (CHA), the majority owner of the new facility. Present at the meeting were CHA president Badr Idbeis and CHA executive vice president Adib Farha.

Farha told Ark City physicians and SCKRMC trustees that the CoVista project remains "very viable," he said today.

"We are still optimistic and see it as very viable," said Farha. "We're fighting against negative attitudes that financial institutions generally have toward rural hospitals."

But CHA sees CoVista as more than just a rural hospital, Farha added.

"This hospital is unique," he said. "It's never going to be a huge money-maker but it will break even and make some money and give excellent care to patients."

CoVista will be successful because it will attract more specialists than SCKRMC, "under the present dated conditions" of the current hospital, he said.

"It will bring more Ark City medical personnel back to their hometown and also will attract Wichita specialists to come down," Farha said.

The new center would offer more sophisticated care in an updated facility, he added. "There's no reason to not believe it will do better."

"This particular project has very special meaning to CHA," Farha said. "We want to do it for the Ark City community. We've seen the level of commitment and dedication from the people and the physicians, and they deserve to have a new hospital."

CHA is 51 percent owner of CoVista. Minority owners are a group of Ark City physicians who formed Midwest Healthcare Alliance. MHA owns 48 percent of the project and the City of Arkansas City owns 1 percent.

"Of course, there's frustration (with the delay in the project)," Dr. David Schmeidler, one of the local physicians, said today. "But it's complicated from all the deals with financing."

He said the delay in getting the new hospital built has nothing to do with efforts of the medical staff but with financial institutions.

"It's a slow and tedious process," he said. "They say they'll take a risk but they want a risk-free environment."