Regional One takes smart step

We have used this space many times over the years to promote the idea that local elected leaders govern best when their decisions are made with an eye toward the future.

That type of planning is prevalent in the private and philanthropic sectors. It has to be if those entities are to remain financially viable and relevant.

That fact has not been lost on the leaders of Regional One Health, which includes the Regional Medical Center. Regional One has opened a new campus in southeast Memphis, on Quince near Kirby and Bill Morris Parkway, in an effort to draw more customers who are insured while looking at a new model for delivering health care.

It is a smart move for a medical system that operates top-notch regional trauma, burn and high-risk birth services, but is perceived as the hospital for the area’s poor and uninsured.

With 25 to 30 percent of the patients it treats uninsured, for which Regional One Health receives about $26 million a year from Shelby County government and federal sources, expanding its healthier, paying customer base is a bottom-line need for the health system.

During visits with The Commercial Appeal’s editorial board over the years, Dr. Reginald Coopwood, Regional One’s chief executive officer, has talked about changing the public perception of the hospital to attract more insured and paying patients, especially those who would be taking advantage of the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare.

One of the ideas he floated early was possibly opening a campus in the eastern part of the city. The hospital also has made other moves.

The hospital rebranded last year and a new academic physician group, UT Regional One Physicians, came on line to boost a strategy, said Coopwood, to “create an environment where people (who) have choice will choose Regional One Health as their facility.”

The satellite office is a one-stop provider for a variety of medical services that will make the Quince location convenient for patients.

The community should hope Regional One Health’s effort in southeast Memphis is a success. The hospital is an important player in the growth and vitality of the Memphis Medical Center.

And, in the competition for paying patients, it is a positive sign to see the collaboration between Baptist Memorial Hospital-Memphis and Regional One Health to try to open stand-alone emergency departments on Regional One’s east campus and in Lakeland.