Capella's comments on the recent Supreme Court decision

The Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will assist efforts to ensure quality health care for the Hot Springs region.

In recent weeks, Mercy Health and Capella Healthcare announced plans for Mercy in Hot Springs (formerly St. Joseph’s Mercy Health System) and National Park Medical Center to work together to find the best solution for our community that advances health care, builds upon a century of service and preserves our long-standing mission of providing high-quality, cost-effective care to the Hot Springs community.

“The Supreme Court decision to uphold the entire Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act validates what Mercy has been doing all along,” said Tim Johnsen, Mercy Hot Springs president.  “We’ve been preparing for and pursuing necessary reforms for many years. And we look forward to working with Capella, as well as state and federal government leaders, to continue building and implementing a new system of care in Hot Springs that preserves health care for the most vulnerable members of our society.”

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is ultimately an attempt to solve a health care problem that all providers face – the challenges of curbing health care costs and improving the quality of care provided.

“The Supreme Court’s decision helps us move forward to continue our mission to address these twin challenges and only reinforces the need for closer collaboration among health care providers, like National Park Medical Center and St. Joseph’s Mercy, to improve quality and cost-efficiency in this community,” said Jerry Mabry, Capella Healthcare’s Arkansas Region president. “We are making great progress in our work to bring these two organizations together into a more united health care system and defining a new, stronger future for health care in our region.”

Many initiatives already in place in Hot Springs are core parts of the Affordable Care Act. These include:

·        Streamlining the care process with the help of electronic medical records

·        Improving access to specialists through telemedicine

·        Structuring new organizations through integration with physicians

·        Focusing on the patient in coordinating care across the spectrum of health providers and settings

·        Improving efficiency through supply chain management

It will take time to fully assess all of the implications of this important decision; however, Mercy and Capella have been preparing for and working toward health care reform for a long time and will continue to do so.