The new management of Southern Plains Medical Center of Garvin County hosted an informal open house for Pauls Valley community leaders at the hospital Tuesday afternoon. The gathering was an opportunity for hospital administration to introduce its new leadership and answer lingering questions and uncertainty generated after the hospital changed hands again in April.
Pauls Valley’s hospital facility has been a source of controversy for the last several years. The hospital, operating as Pauls Valley Regional Medical Center, closed its doors due to financial instability in 2018. In 2019 Southern Plains Medical Center of Garvin County, a company led by Mike Schuster, purchased the hospital from the City of Pauls Valley and began the process of renovating the facility and regaining the hospital license, which had lapsed. The hospital reopened last year as Southern Plains Medical Center of Garvin County.
Previous owner Mike Schuster, new owner Madhukar Sharma and hospital CEO Kimberly Tucker were all present for Tuesday’s meet-and-greet, along with other hospital staff.
“I personally want to thank you for the support you’ve shown to this hospital from day one. I look around this room and I can tell you it was not a oneman deal; it was a community effort,” Schuster told community leaders, adding that the community effort was necessary not only to get the hospital open but also to see it through its first year of operation, a milestone the facility celebrated earlier this month.
Schuster said in his mind that particular milestone was a major one.
“The first day I walked in this hospital, honestly, I had very little hope that we would ever get it resurrected, cleaned up, back in shape to be able to pass a state inspection, Medicare inspection, get a license back, get Medicare participation and be able to get back into business,” Schuster said, adding the project took a lot of work, a lot of money, and a lot of support from the community.
“The purpose of today really is to introduce you to the next transition to the future of this hospital. I set up a company, back a few years ago, to finance the purchase of the hospital from the city and to fund the clean-up and the startup of the hospital. That company was Southern Plains Medical Center of Garvin County. There’s some number of folks in the audience today, as well as around the community, who are also investors in that company, not just of their time but also their money and to help making all that happen,” Schuster said. “As of today, all of us have sold the interest of that company to a gentleman by the name of Madhukar Sharma. of that company, and thus the hospital. He’s brought on a staff here at the hospital who has already begun to make some really significant changes, and they have other really important plans in the future for the hospital all aimed, not at getting a hospital opened, but making it sustainable for the future of this community.”
Sharma spoke briefly, introducing himself and thanking the community for its support and Schuster for laying the groundwork of getting the hospital up and running again. Sharma said his team, including CEO Kimberly Tucker and the medical staff, will be handling day-to-day operations, though he does plan to be onsite a couple of days a week.
Tucker also addressed the group, introducing herself and key staff members and outlining plans for the facility.
“I just want to start by thanking you for welcoming me into your community. I’m very honored to be here and to work with you all,” Tucker said.
Tucker said she’s worked in healthcare for the last 15 years, with much of that time spent establishing and building health care practices and organizations and strategically implementing services that enhance patient care and provide communities with needed support and resources.
She said the Pauls Valley facility has been hand selecting physicians and will have M.D.’s and D.O.’s servicing and treating patients in the emergency room and on the medical-surgical floor.
One of those will be Dr. Clay Taylor, who Tucker said has over 12 years of experience working in rural communities as an ER and Med-Surg physician.
“He is a blessing to have in our facility. He goes above and beyond for his patients,” Tucker said. “And his bedside manner is absolutely phenomenal.”
Tucker also introduced the facility’s chief nursing officer, Niki King, who Tucker said has been working hard to create a topnotch nursing staff at the hospital.
“She is absolutely amazing. She is the lifeline of this facility, and I don’t know where we would be without her,” Tucker said.
Later in the presentation, Schuster chimed in on the staffing situation at the hospital.
“We have a lot of rural hospitals in Oklahoma that don’t have physicians on staff 24-7. They use nurse practitioners and physician’s assistants and get by with a consult from a local physician. To have a group like this, of fulltime physicians, here all the time, that is a cut above, that’s a way big cut above,” Schuster said. “So, I can assure you the quality of care in that emergency room is head and shoulders above probably 80 percent of the rural hospitals across Oklahoma.”
Tucker said Southern Plains has already launched a new wound care program and has plans to expand that program into surrounding communities. The facility also plans to bring in additional specialists to serve the community, including specializations in pain management, sleep study, orthopedic, cardiovascular, general surgery, ophthalmology and podiatry.
The hospital also has a fully functioning radiology department and a state-of-the-art laboratory.
“Our 43-bed facility is ready to serve this community and surrounding communities,” Tucker said.
Hospital administrators are exploring brand updates for the facility, including possibly a new name, according to Tucker, who told those gathered to watch for updates as they explore those opportunities.
“The best way you can help us right now is to spread the word in the community that we are fully open and ready to provide our patients with extensive specialized care right here in their backyard,” Tucker said.
For Schuster, the decision to sell the hospital was based in part on personal health issues related to his battle with cancer.
“I know that there’s many people down here, many of you in the room today, who have had me on your prayer list, for gosh, more than two years. In the beginning, it was like, ‘We sure hope Mike figures out how to get the hospital open.’ Then it was, ‘We sure hope Mike lives long enough to get the job done,’” Schuster said, as chuckles could be heard around the room. “I appreciate all those prayers. I would ask that you keep me on that prayer list. I’m counting on the fact that I’m going to be around for a while, and all indications are right now that I’m going to be. So, I thank you. I thank the Lord. I know he’s had his eyes on this. I would not trade this experience for anything in the world.”
