Dear Chamber Supporters:
If you’ve seen me this week looking a little more rushed than normal, that’s because I’m missing my office teammate, Sherri. She and 34 others headed across the Atlantic Ocean to London England on their annual Chamber Trip (check out Sherri and the group here). If you are unaware, this is one of the ways the Chamber is able to make some non-dues revenue, but also expose our community to other cultures each year. A program that Sherri has done so well for so long, I’m so grateful she can travel along to make sure everything goes smoothly (it always does with Sherri at the helm). But in the meantime I’m running solo, if you’re headed to the office you might give me a call or email before, to make sure I’m not in a meeting here or there.
OMSA Spook Parade
This past Saturday the Ottawa Main Street Association held their annual Spook Parade downtown (pictures of some of the fun here). Dozens of businesses were set up to hand out candy to kids in costume. With chilly weather and rain starting towards the tail end of the event, that didn’t stop families from coming out in droves. Over 1,100 people between kids and parents moved through the downtown! That’s a lot of candy… What a fun way to celebrate, thanks to all the businesses who participated. This event is really a labor of love for most who partake, but the hundreds of happy kids hopefully made it all worth it. To finish the event, OMSA held a costume contest in the Legacy Square grassy area. Elementary principles helped with the judging, how fun!
Challenges and Insights in Kansas Healthcare
After a three-year hiatus, the Chamber’s Legislative Action Committee was able to bring back the annual morning event, Eggs and Issues. A space where challenges that we as a community (and as a region) face can be discussed, as well as gather around breakfast! AdventHealth Ottawa helped out with a meeting space and their kitchen staff made a delicious meal for those in attendance. This year’s keynote speaker was Chad Austin, President/CEO of the Kansas Hospital Association (pictures here). I was hopeful Chad would be able to deliver a 40,000-foot view of the challenges in healthcare across the region, and he nailed that to a T. His experience at the state level, working with the 122 hospitals that are a part of the KHA, gave us insight into what trends he’s seeing, why certain issues exist, and what the priorities should be for communities like our own. If you’re interested in his full slides, you can view them here. I will break down some of the takeaways I saw through his presentation.
Some stats that stand out, Kansas hospitals currently have 9,353 licensed beds throughout the state, but only 6,979 of those beds are staffed. Meaning that over 25% of the beds available to hospitals are not being utilized (info here). Another stat, there are over 3,000 vacant high-demand positions in healthcare throughout the state (including roles like LPN, RN, CNA, etc.). This results in all hospitals experiencing nearly 20% of these positions sitting unfilled. This data confirms that workforce issues are amongst one of the biggest challenges facing the healthcare industry (info here). Unfortunately, this issue is set to worsen over the next three years as studies are showing by 2026, the following number of positions will be vacant within the state of Kansas.
- RNs – 8,920
- CNAs – 14,972
- Home Health Aides – 2,949
- Medical Asst. – 2,232
- Pharmacy Techs – 1,415
This massive blip can be rationalized through several different reasons, COVID-19 burnout, baby boomers exiting the workforce, desire for flexible work schedules (remote working), etc. The result of this challenge means hospitals are driven towards utilizing staffing agencies that force hospitals to pay a premium for the same employee if hired in-house.
This leads into the next challenge Chad presented, which is the financial pressures hospitals are facing across the state. This includes the costs that hospitals have to pay for items, which results in expenses across the board rising 35% over the last three years. One alarming stat, because of inflation, 73% of hospitals have negative operating margins going into 2023 (info here). This computes to 55 Kansas hospitals being at risk of closure (out of 600 nationwide). We have already seen eight hospitals close since 2010, Herrington Hospital being the most recent in October of 2023. Though our local hospital is not one of those "at risk", this doesn't mean they aren't feeling the pressure (as I know they are). These rising costs are not dissimilar to what our households and other industries are seeing, everything seems to becoming more expensive. With that being said, one reason why rural hospitals being at risk is so serious is this can affect tens of thousands of individuals who live in the surrounding communities who would have to travel that much farther to find healthcare upon a closure. That entry barrier can be a reason why an individual does not receive the necessary care for themselves or their family member.
This leads us to the final challenge Chad believes Kansans need to pay attention to, and that is care for all citizens, across the board. That unfortunately is not currently the case, as there are over 225,000 adults in Kansas who are uninsured. This is a stat that is not improving quickly either, Kansas is currently fifth to last in the nation at converting uninsured individuals to an insured status. This lack of insurance can be strongly connected to family income. 26.6% of Kansans sit under the federal poverty line, all at a level that would qualify them for Medicaid if expanded. Franklin County currently sits at 11.7% of our population uninsured, which results in over 500 adults who do not currently qualify because of a lack of expansion (info here). These individuals would be able to receive care that would result in dollars being brought into our local economy from a federal level. Chad explained that the topic of Medicaid expansion plays a role in the financial pressures and sustainability for rural hospitals as well. There are trends that can be seen on a heat map, that show states that have not expanded contain the most hospital closures throughout the nation (info here).
All talking points on what our community and state should be thinking about when thinking about the health of our citizens. As G.I. Joe said, "Knowing is half the battle". This data can hopefully allow us to be informed, what we do with that information is now in the hands of our community. I look forward to continuing this conversation as we all move forward together. Thanks again to all of our legislative sponsors and to Chad Austin who shared all these great insights.
Kansas Senator Rick Kloos in Ottawa
Yesterday afternoon I had the pleasure of meeting with Kansa Senator Rick Kloos. Rick has made a point to come to Ottawa to get a better feel of our community as his district neighbors ours. A very genuine individual who has a significant past of giving, his job outside of the capitol involves running the company, God’s Storehouse. A nonprofit that does roles similar to some of our local agencies like Hope House and Thriftopia all rolled into one. Check out their website here for the work they are doing in Topeka. We were able to meet up with AdventHealth Ottawa administrators at the soon-to-be fully renovated AdventHealth Health Park (pictures here). Taking the opportunity to see what’s been done and what is soon to come (construction should be finished this December). One of the things Dallas mentioned was the addition of behavioral health services coming to the Health Park. When talking about the status of the state of Kansas, we currently sit in the lower half in the field of behavioral health. A need that is so expansive; this will only add to the excellent mental health work being done in our community with organizations like the Elizabeth Layton Center.
Ottawa Kansas Meets OUAZ
Thursday morning Ottawa University invited some community leaders on campus to meet with some representatives from the community of Surprise Arizona. Surprise is home to Ottawa University’s sister campus, OUAZ. As a campus and as a community, they are seeing unprecedented growth as the area they inhabit is largely undeveloped up to this point. This community growth can be seen with dozens of new industries each year making Surprise their home, most recently having BNSF purchase 292 acres of land for the railroad. This quick growth presents its own host of challenges, with leaders looking at community culture and identity needing to be crafted. With all this in mind, the gathering created by the OU admin team had three purposes, to be able to show off the Ottawa Kansas campus, to get an update from Dr. Tsutsui about this year’s class, and to have conversations about how our university works with our community at large in Kansas and Arizona. This included a breakfast and a tour of campus (pictures here). I’m slow to get around it seems, as this was my first chance to step into the Braves Athletic Performance Center (picture here). What a stellar area for student-athletes to be able to train. Genuinely mind-blowing addition from when I was on campus.
A quick update from Dr. Tsutsui about OU... I was mistaken in a past newsletter as I mentioned that our university missed a record enrollment this school year. They did indeed break the record that was held back in the late 60s. We have 1,070 students across all levels of post-secondary education. That includes over 100 grad students and 18 doctoral students. Another great addition that directly correlates with our conversation at Eggs and Issues, the Overland Park campus will be starting a PLN pathway for healthcare this coming January. As well as an expansion of health sciences and a pre-nursing track already being offered at OU. These kinds of additions will no doubt support the workforce issues being seen across the state. This breakfast was also an opportunity to think about how we then keep those individuals here in our community post-graduation. All great conversations, thanks OU for continuing to be tied into the fabric of the Ottawa Community.
Five-Year Transformation at Rock Creek of Ottawa
This morning Chamber members were able to gather at Rock Creek of Ottawa to check out their new renovations. Having just celebrated their 5-year anniversary under the Rock Creek name, we also were able to celebrate their new facelift (pictures here). One of the challenges to this construction project was that operations had to continue while renovations took place. Rock Creek shared that Loyd Builders, the ones doing the construction, continued to be flexible through this process allowing for a seamless transition. And the results look great! This update coincides with the work that the organization has done to update the culture of the facility over the last five years. Several testimonies were given this morning about the change that can be seen, which sounds like leaps and bounds. Stephanie Anderson, Executive Director, mentioned that before Rock Creek the facility was previously Ottawa Retirement Village. Upon changing the brand five years ago, they sat with an industry rating of one star, equivalent to an F in school. Over the last five years, through dozens of different means, Rock Creek currently sits with a four-star rating (with the hope that five stars, the best rating, is soon to come). From the outside, this improvement can be witnessed in the way staff interacts with their clients, and the way the organization partners throughout the whole community. One testimony came from Dotson Bradbury, whose wife stayed at Rock Creek from December to March of this year as she suffered from Parkinson’s Disease. He said that the care that his wife Bonnie received, and the care he received as a spouse, was beyond any of his expectations. He shared that he continues to feel the ongoing love from staff just as he did when his wife was a patient.
If you’re unfamiliar with Rock Creek of Ottawa, they offer a slew of care for our aging community, including independent living, assisted living, memory care, hospice, and continue to grow their outpatient services (I probably missed some, they do so much!). We would have had a Ribbon Cutting for their memory care facility out in Rockwood Acres not too long ago. Courtney Taylor, Community Liaison, mentioned all ten spaces offered at that facility are continually filled offering memory care. For the work that’s being done, and the vision of getting Rock Creek where it is today is incredibly admirable. We should be extremely proud that our community has this offering in town, what a loss it would be to not have Rock Creek of Ottawa. Great things are happening for this organization, and I do not believe they are slowing down. Onward to Stephanie Anderson, Courtney Taylor and all the Rock Creek staff!
It’s supposed to be a beautiful fall weekend, I hope you get to enjoy it to its fullest. If you need an activity to do, check out this fun ride that Ottawa Bike and Trail has put together for Saturday morning. If you were hoping for nightlife, it’s not too late for tickets to the OMA as they host Lonestar Saturday evening. Or maybe just a walk down Main Street to view a shop here or there, isn’t it great to have options?? I hope to see you around, talk to you soon.
Ryland Miller
President/CEO
Ottawa Area Chamber of Commerce
ryland@ottawakansas.org
785-242-1000
