ROBERT PIERCE
• Leader & Times
Officials with Southwest Medical Center are looking for help from the community in improving the hospital’s services.
SWMC Chief Operating Officer Mark Cowan and CEO Amber Williams came to Monday’s Seward County Commission meeting to discuss this year’s Community Health Needs Assessment, which the hospital is required to do every three years.
“We’ve partnered with the Carnahan Group out of Florida,” Cowan said. “They have started as of Jan. 16 sending out surveys to the community. We have those posted on our Web site, all of our social media, and we’ve got flyers out all over town.”
Cowan said hospital leaders are looking for both a good turnout and the community’s opinions as a whole.
“We need their input to move foraward,” he said. “There’s 16 or 17 questions that include, ‘What have you experienced with health care in the community? Do you have problems getting in to see your physicians? Do you have problems getting in to get appointments at the hospital? Anything like insurance issues, accessibility, financial problems, any ideas that could help contribute to move forward?”
Cowan said the 2019 and 2022 CNHA surveys are on the SWMC Web site at www.swmedcenter.com for those who would like to see the results and what was identified in those surveys.
“We are asking the community for any input they can give us for this year so we can do this and move forward and help the community grow with health care,” he said.
Williams said surveys are available in both English and Spanish, and she said hospital leaders want everyone to fill out the survey and let them know about issues such as trouble accessing local doctors.
“What do you feel as a member of the community our dire health situations are – diabetes, behavioral health, depression?” she said. “It’s going to ask a question about what do you feel are some of the determinants in the community as far as places to live, access to certain things. It’s a nice big picture of what causes people not to go to the doctor and also what people feel we need to add.”
Other issues addressed in the CNHA survey is the potential need for more primary care and pediatricians.
“It’s going to address all of that,” Williams said.
Williams also said the hospital has worked closely with Seward County Health Department Administrator Brie Greeson on the assessment, who will be one of the one-on-one interviews, as will be Liberal City Manager Scarlett Diseker.
“We’ve got some teachers from the college, the school, and some school counselors,” Williams said.
With the 2022 CNHA taking in about 500 completed surveys, Williams said SWMC officials hopes to exceed that number this year.
Williams also thanked Seward County Administrator April Warden for her help distributing the survey.
“She brought some survey papers over here and has them downstairs because you guys have a lot of traffic down there, as well as the city took them to put them in their building,” Williams said.
After discussing the assessment, Williams brought commissioners up to date with some other projects at SWMC, including some new providers.
“Dr. Tanya Pittman, she is from here,” she said. “She’s a Seward County gal. She was an ER physician for us for quite some time. She is ready to settle down, not do the hustle and bustle of ER, but want to see patients in a clinic. She signed her contract. The board has approved it. We’re hoping late February, she should be starting to see patients. She’ll be doing family medicine and some internal med.”
Two local longtime nurses at the hospital recently became nurse practitioners, the first being Mary Cruz Haynes, originally from Guymon, Okla., and she will be working at SWMC’s McMurray Clinic in that community.
The second nurse practitioner is Benjamin Munoz, whose wife is also a nurse. Williams said Munoz will take his practitioner’s test Feb. 18.
“He will be going in with Luis Camacho, who is also a nurse practitioner, and they’ll be supporting Dr. (Firas) Kawtharani while we’re looking for a second orthopedic surgeon,” Williams said.
SWMC will likewise be opening a clinic in Beaver, Okla., soon, and longtime nurse practitioner Camber Cline will be the provider in that clincis.
Williams said a former Liberal pediatrician could be coming back to Southwest Kansas soon.
“He’s double board certified in internal medicine and pediatrics, which is very rare and unique,” she said. “He did some locums for us here. He came and did some temporary work. He’s actually reached out, and he thinks he wants to move here and go into practice. If we could get him here, that would be great. He could take on the burden of pediatrics. We need a third pediatrician in town for sure.”
To fill out the survey, go to https://www.swmedcenter.com/news/releases/swmc-launches-2025-community-health-needs-assessment/.
