To the Fulton Sun
On Thursday, the Fulton Area Development Foundation engaged Newpoint Healthcare Advisors, an experienced national health care advisory firm, to assist in its continuing process of identifying and assessing alternative models to improve local health care value for the constituents served by the Fulton Medical Center.
FADF is a nonprofit development arm of the Callaway Chamber of Commerce.
Acting for the benefit of Callaway County and the city of Fulton, FADF has tasked Newpoint to present ideas on acquiring the hospital or identifying other sustainable solutions to serve the acute care hospital, emergency, outpatient and overall health needs of the community.
Newpoint’s team has experience representing public-sector hospitals in rural areas. Joseph Lupica, chairman of Newpoint and head of the firm’s Phoenix office, will lead the project. Lupica pioneered an award-winning public collaboration model incorporating the input of citizens, hospital leaders, physicians and community leaders and to develop their objectives for the future of their local healthcare.
Lupica will be assisted by Dr. Clint MacKinney and Steve Hobbs of the firm’s St. Louis office. MacKinney is a family practice physician and director of a think tank on rural health policy at the University of Iowa. MacKinney is currently working on a project at the university on rural community responses and adaptation strategies when threatened with hospital closure. Steve Hobbs is a veteran elected official in county and state government who championed rural health care innovation while serving in the Missouri House of Representatives. The project leaders will have access to more than a dozen of Newpoint’s other professionals in its other offices across the country.
“As a development authority, it is part of our mission to protect the delivery of needed health care services to the people of the Fulton area,” FADF spokesman Bruce Hackmann said. “Newpoint brings a broad range of health care knowledge, both in Missouri and around the country. With their help we will have the advice we need to perform a thorough assessment of our alternatives to secure a healthy future for our citizens and our economy.”
“Collaborative relationships in health care take many forms and often go unnoticed because communities make assumptions based on the past,” Callaway County Presiding Commissioner Gary Jungermann said. “As public entities, Callaway County and the City of Fulton must remain on the lookout for all options and collaborative partners who want the privilege of helping us serve the people of Callaway County.”
The Fulton Area Development Foundation was created by the Callaway Chamber of Commerce in 2015 as a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization for the purpose of acquiring real or personal property, making contracts, and administering revolving loan funds that further the civic activity of economic development within Callaway County.
Newpoint is a group of experienced professionals who advise community health care clients on improving their performance, delighting their patients, and building value for their communities. For more information go to www.newpointhealth.com.