Jan 2, 2007: PracticeMatch Finds New Medical Director for BVHA!

St. Louis, MO ­ -- January 15th Dr. Kirk Crouser will be making a move to Findlay, Ohio.  Dr. Crouser is joining Blanchard Valley Health Association (BVHA) as Medical Director for a new Hospitalist Program.  The program has plans to add two more Hospitalists by mid 2007.

"The hospitalist program is necessary to support the hospital at our current volume”; states Dr. Bill Kose, Vice President of Medical Affairs at Blanchard Valley Hospital. “The specialists are not enough.”  

Blanchard Valley Health Association is forming the group as part of a larger scale expansion plan based on a recent Needs Assessment and admitting physicians’ desire to better serve their patients.(See Expansion)

Motivation
Dr. Crouser is leaving a private Internal Medicine practice in East Central Ohio.   His move comes as a result of frustrations in private practice.  “Only 40% of my time in a private practice is spent in actual patient care.”  This factor coupled with the decline in reimbursement and soaring malpractice premiums make it difficult to maintain financial stability.

 The motivation for the move to a Hospitalist role is the higher acuity of care and the personal fulfillment to focus on the practice of medicine.  Another benefit to the program is the higher quality of care.  A hospitalist program allows for faster study results, happier patients and reduced patient stays.  The program will be a win – win for the hospital and the admitting physicians.  Referring physicians are allowed to spend more time in the office and concentrate on out-patient care; while the hospitalist group focuses on follow up and in-patient care. 

Medical Community
Crouser’s motivation was not based on the change in practice preference alone.  “The medical community at Blanchard Valley is cutting edge.  The administration’s attention to private practice physician recruitment and  retention is unique in its perspective.”  The physicians at Blanchard Valley are busy, but they are happy.  One of the first things a physician notices when they interview at BVHA is the dynamic and communication among the physicians.  Blanchard Valley Medical Association (BVMA) is a medical multi-specialty group that accesses the Blanchard Valley Health System.  “BVMA is head and shoulders above other groups I’ve been in,” stated Dr. Ricketts, an Internal Medicine physician in the group, resulting in a high retention rate and quality of care.  BVMA is known within the community as a tight collegial group and Blanchard Valley Regional Hospital  was named as one of the Top 100 Hospitals by Solucient in 2005.

Expansion
The addition of the hospitalist group comes on the heels of the completion of the new 150 bed in-patient pavilion, a $110 million expansion.  The pavilion is a state-of-the-art facility with high-end amenities including all private rooms, valet parking, hard wood floors and a fireplace on every floor.  The pavilion is not the only addition to the Blanchard Valley community.  Blanchard Valley Regional Health Center just completed a three million dollar expansion to their Cath Lab and also newly renovated OR suites.  Other recent additions include Birchaven Retirement Village, Cancer Treatment Center, Family Practice Group and Physicians Plus, a new Urgent Care center.

 

PracticeMatch is the exclusive, full-service, recruiting resource for BVHA

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