Newsworthy

Stormont Vail Health has had pivotal collaborations in its history that have changed the course of the organization.

• The first was in 1949 when two competing Topeka hospitals merged – and the resulting organization became the dominant acute care hospital in the region.

• The second collaboration occurred in 1995 – 30 years ago this month – when Stormont Vail Regional Hospital entered into a partnership with Cotton O’Neil Clinic. The two became a respected independent healthcare system providing ambulatory, procedural and inpatient services for the region.

Thirty years later the the joint venture has proven to be one of the most successful hospital-medical clinic mergers in the country, resulting in today’s Stormont Vail Health.

“The success of this was primarily because all operating decisions and governance became truly shared – through an Operating Committee made up of physician leaders from the clinic and hospital and clinic administration,” says Kent Palmberg, M.D., who at the time of the merger was Medical Director of Cotton O’Neil Clinic. Dr. Palmberg, now retired, later served as Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of Stormont Vail Health and was a member of the Operating Committee.

“As a single organization, we were able to quit competing and duplicating resources and put all of our energies into improving health care in northeast Kansas. The merger positioned us to operate successfully in a very competitive and ever-changing healthcare environment,” says Dr. Palmberg.

Maynard Oliverius, retired President and Chief Executive Officer of Stormont Vail Health, recalls that the leadership of the combined organization created the environment to merge the two cultures and staffs into a single system entirely focused on improving the health of the community. The combined team of 2,200 in 1995 grew into nearly 6,000 dedicated staff today – the largest non-governmental employer in northeast Kansas. To this day, Stormont Vail is locally owned, locally operated, and locally governed. It is truly the “community’s organization.” That is rare in America today.

“The vision was to assure that mothers would receive high risk delivery close to home, that infants born prematurely would receive the best in neo-natal intensive care, and that trauma services would be available here at home. That vision has been achieved,” Maynard noted. “It was an honor and privilege to be a part of this special family of healthcare professionals.”

Cotton O’Neil Clinic had originally started in 1956 as an internal medicine practice of Drs. Robert H. O’Neil and Robert T. Cotton. Located on 10^th Street in Topeka, the practice was just across the street from Stormont Vail Hospital. Drs. Cotton and O’Neil  had met in medical school and became lifelong friends. They recruited internists and subspecialists for their practice, creating a large physician group that delivered care in clinics across the region. The clinic name was changed from Internal Medicine P.A. to Cotton O’Neil Clinic in 1991 to reflect the decision to add family medicine physicians and honor the two founding members.

Following the merger with Stormont Vail Hospital, subspecialty clinic buildings were constructed, including a heart center, endocrinology and diabetes center, digestive health center, and cancer center. A behavioral health center was opened, and a large surgical services addition was added to the hospital. Additional physicians and physician groups joined the organization, including pediatricians, hospitalists, cardiovascular and thoracic surgeons, and emergency physicians.

What began as a vision of partnership between the two entities 30 years ago has resulted in a legacy of trusted healthcare, and greater accessibility to primary, specialty and procedural care. We continue today to build on the experiences and successes of our past;  developing plans and strategies for our future.

-Mark Slyter

President and CEO, Stormont Vail Health