Community project funding/congressionally directed spending - construction - parkview medical center (PMC) is a 501 (C) (3) non-profit community hospital that serves uninsured, underinsured, and…

Community project funding/congressionally directed spending - construction - parkview medical center (PMC) is a 501 (C) (3) non-profit community hospital that serves uninsured, underinsured, and insured residents. Pueblo county is one of the larger counties geographically in colorado with a total land area of 45.1 square miles and a total population of 168,424 residents. Of the total population of pueblo county, 10.5 percent live below poverty level, compared to 9.3 percent for colorado. PMC is considered a safety net hospital serving patients in all southern colorado. PMC has a predominant payer mix of government-funded insurance, 54% medicare and 27% medicaid. PMC sees on average 1,400 inpatients each month, with approximately 80 percent being pueblo county residents and the remaining 20 percent of patients are from outlying southern colorado counties and beyond. PMC is establishing a new cancer center on its campus, that will provide a comprehensive array of cancer services for patients in one location. Chemotherapy infusions, radiation therapy, and physician consultations will be offered at this new location. This endeavor has been strategically considered by the hospital board, leadership, and with community stakeholders and partners, as a community imperative to increase access and improve outcomes for a region currently served only by disparate providers in multiple locations. Service market analysis indicates that up to one-third of patients in our community seek cancer care in another geography for surgery (18%), radiation (20%), or chemotherapy (30%). For example, today in pueblo, a patient has a screening mammogram for breast cancer in one facility, sees a surgeon in another facility, then an oncologist in another facility followed by surgery and/or chemotherapy in yet another facility. Cancer is a difficult disease to begin with, without having no navigate multiple locations to seek advice or treatment. Our hope is to create a one-stop-shop around cancer care, and to streamline the delivery of cancer care for the pueblo community. We anticipate evaluation and treatment for multiple different cancer types in this facility, while continuing to eliminate health disparities, achieve health equity for our vulnerable blue-collar population.' data and national best practices indicate that the provision of cancer care services in a single location contributes to improved patient satisfaction, better treatment, and provision of care.