Increasing access to needed health care services can have an immeasurable and beneficial impact on the general wellness of the people within a community and elevate their overall quality of life. This is a daily objective of Chad Grant, the Chief Operating Officer for Grand Blanc-based McLaren Health Care.
With 12 hospitals, several comprehensive care campuses, and dozens of medical offices throughout Michigan, McLaren currently has several projects in various stages underway that will expand its care further into its communities, closer to its patients, and make access to frequent-used or potentially lifesaving services much more convenient.
Grant discusses the importance of expanding access, the decisions that lead to new initiatives, and the challenges that can arise.
Why is it important to increase access to care services?
Everyone deserves to receive the necessary medical attention they require in order to maintain their health and well-being and to not have barriers in their way when getting that care. When committing to an expansion project, we are providing an avenue for patients to receive care in a timely manner, making for a more satisfying experience and increasing the likelihood they will benefit from the advantages of convenient care, the most significant being an improved overall quality of life.
How is it determined where to develop an expansion project?
We continuously evaluate the care needs of a community, and after committing to a project and determining its size, we spend a significant amount of time analyzing those gaps in care and what would be most impactful to that area. Our clinical staffs have a very strong voice on these planning committees.
Our project in Grand Ledge is a great example. The people of Delta Township, just west of Lansing, were a significant distance away from their closest emergency department. In a serious medical emergency, that amount of time could be the difference between life and death. By bringing a freestanding emergency department to the township, we are substantially cutting that distance and time-to-care.
As part of that same evaluation, primary care and imaging — very commonly used services — were also determined to be lacking in the area, and those services will also be added into that community as part of a comprehensive care campus. This is only one of several similar expansion projects we have currently underway, each addressing a need specific to that community.
What challenges are there with these projects?
The costs to build a new facility or renovate an existing one can be significant. I would not go as far as to call that a challenge, but it is certainly considered when conceiving a project. And once those facilities are completed, they have to be staffed, some with specialized clinicians who may not be as readily available as others. The health care hiring challenges have improved, but there are still some lingering effects from the critical shortage over the past several years.
These, though, are points that influence a project during planning — these are not the deciding factors of any proposed project. The overall purpose of our organization is to provide for the needs of our patients and bring care to the communities we serve, and that is what we are going to do.
Learn more about the services offered by McLaren Health Care throughout the state at mclaren.org
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