Plans are now crystallizing for the community to honor the significance of Cora Miller Hall with the building now in the early demolition stages.
Newman Regional Health has announced a Legacy Reflection and Memory Collection event at the hospital September 18. Chief Executive Officer Cathy Pimple says this will let people reflect on the history and impact of the building, share personal stories, view photos and other artifacts and bring their own historical information for upcoming preservation work. Pimple would like to see a big turnout.
For Pimple, a nursing student and a nurse at the start of her career, and for others, the name Cora Miller Hall evokes a lot of memories.
Erected in the early 1970s, the building is getting demolished after serving the hospital and area residents as Emporia State University’s nursing training facility, Maintenance and upkeep concerns, along with the construction of ESU’s Nursing + Student Wellness center on campus, led the hospital’s Board of Trustees to decide to demolish the structure. Window removal and asbestos abatement work are both either done or nearly so, meaning demolition may take place before the end of the year.
Meanwhile, Newman Regional Health continues work to connect patients to its new online billing platform coming online soon. Pimple says there are “challenges with the cost of care,” so the new online portal will make life more convenient for patients through better access to statements, ability to set up payments, payment plans and bill notices and information about financial assistance options.
The work on billing connects to a new thought process when it comes to care in general. Pimple says Newman Regional Health has been working to keep a high level of quality with its services rendered, but it is now considering a move away from the longstanding fee-for-service model into what Pimple calls a “population health model.”
Insurance pressures are still pointing upward for patients, and they aren’t any easier to navigate for hospitals, either.
Residents with questions about their statements, financial assistance programs or payment options can call Newman Regional Health Patient Accounts at 620-343-6800 ext 21153.
