February 11, 2002

Baptist-Catholic union proves
successful on the High Plains
___By Toby Druin
___Editor Emeritus
___AMARILLO--An unlikely marriage between Baptists and Catholics in Amarillo has proved to be successful after six years.
___Leaders of Baptist St. Anthony's Health Care System in Amarillo are pronouncing the 1996 merger of High Plains Baptist Hospital and St. Anthony's Hospital a success.
___"The goals of taking the two organizations and combining them have been accomplished," said John Hicks, president and chief executive officer of the health care system. "Of course, the books on the merger are not closed. What we have done here is similar to merging the University of Texas and Texas A&M University. There is still much to be done."
___But the goals of preserving faith-based health care in Amarillo and creating a health-care system that is stronger financially and in ministry have been accomplished, Hicks said.
___Both he and Art Garner, chairman of the board of trustees of the

JOHN HICKS and Art Garner believe the joint effort of Baptists and Catholics to create Baptist St. Anthony's Health Care System has been highly successful.

health care system, report the sum of the merger is greater than either of the two individual institutions.
___"One plus one has equaled three or four," said Garner, who credits Hicks with much of the success. "He has merged two hospital systems and two different cultures and made it work. Six years into the merger, the system has a positive bottom line in an atmosphere where hospitals all over the country are failing.
___"With Medicare cutting back on payments to hospitals and other payers doing the same, Mr. Hicks has been able to bring in technology to keep the hospital up to date and at the same time raise salaries and improve the facilities."
___Both High Plains Baptist Hospital, established in 1968, and the almost century-old St. Anthony's Hospital faced crises in the mid-1990s. High Plains Baptist Hospital was licensed for 360 beds and was struggling to keep half of them occupied. It was a similar story at 250-bed St. Anthony's. Amarillo had a third hospital, Northwest Texas Hospital, operated by a hospital district, and was rumored to be getting a fourth.
___When the merger was proposed in 1995, T.H. Holloway, then president of High Plains Baptist Hospital, said: "We are not trying to bring together two religions. We are trying to bring together two health-care institutions that want to maintain Christian health care."
___A change in the Baptist hospital charter was approved by Texas Baptists that year, and the merger was completed. Two entities resulted from the change: Baptist St. Anthony's Health Care System and Baptist Community Services. The Baptist General Convention of Texas elects the directors of Baptist Community Services, which operates a variety of ministries and community projects, including the High Plains Christian Ministries Foundation. Baptist Community Services directors select half the board of trustees of Baptist St. Anthony's Health Care System.
___To offset the value of the assets High Plains Baptist Hospital brought to the merger, the Catholics contributed $35 million to the merger, which was used to establish the foundation that benefits Baptist mission causes. More than a dozen Baptist churches have been started with income from the $35 million, said Holloway, who now heads Baptist Community Services and the foundation.
___Aside from the ministry going on at the health-care system, Holloway believes the Baptist witness on the High Plains has been enhanced by the foundation's grants and other ministries.
___But the health-care system "in every way has surpassed the results the merger hoped to achieve," said Hicks, a Baptist who came to the system from Columbia Medical Center in Phoenix in 1996. "We are now financially stronger and have expanded our ministerial care."
___"One of our goals was to have everyone associated with the system to perceive it as a Christian ministry," he added. "We have accomplished that, and we work at it every day."
___What formerly was High Plains Baptist Hospital is operated as the acute care facility of the system, and the St. Anthony's Hospital location is used for restorative and extended care.
___Visible in many locations at both sites is the system's mission statement: "Baptist St. Anthony's Health System is committed to providing quality healthcare in Christian love, service and dignity."
___"I can't think of any way our Baptist identity has been sacrificed in the merger," Hicks said, "and I am sure the Catholics would say they are just as true to their Catholic heritage as before. And both of us would say we are more Christian than either expected because we are free to be with other Christians regardless of their denominational banner.
___"What the merger has done has brought two groups together who express their faith differently but who have many common values. The result is we are not less Baptist or Catholic, but more Christian. Ministers from other denominations say they feel more included than when it was a Baptist or Catholic institution."
___Larry Payne, former longtime pastor at Coulter Road Baptist Church in Amarillo and a member of both the health-care system and Baptist Community Services boards of directors, joined the health care system staff in January as director of the spiritual care department.
___"It is clearly changed from simply a Baptist witness to an ecumenical witness," Payne said. "But I felt Christian witness is very strong and has a clear identity here, and that is what attracted me to the position. I didn't come because I felt it needed to be changed; it was already a strong program on which I could build."
___The health-care system has seven full-time certified chaplains, Payne explained. They provide a full range of spiritual care to patients, employees and their families.
___"We are an ecumenical group of both Baptists and Catholics who major on crisis moments of death and critical illness," he said. "But we also have attentive ears to respond to any other situations. I especially hope we can build a stronger relationship among all the churches and the communities in the area as they identify with what we are doing here."
___Roy Kornegay, director of missions for Amarillo Baptist Association, said the merger had some rough spots in its early stages, "but both the Baptists and Catholics have worked hard to make it work." He lauded the hiring of Payne, who, he said, will add to an already strong Baptist presence and will approach pastoral care at the hospital from a pastor's point of view.
___Although no Baptist General Convention of Texas funds go to the health care system, the convention maintains an interest through Baptist Community Services. Keith Bruce, director of the BGCT's institutional ministries section, said he senses the health care system is doing well.
___"They have worked through the early rough spots," he noted, "and with a committed Baptist in President John Hicks exerting strong leadership, the quality of care is improving. I am impressed with his sense of vision. All I hear is very positive."
___Not only has the health-care system's Christian witness been enhanced, Hicks noted, the system also has gained market share in the area--up to 63.7 percent in 2001 from 59 percent in 1998. With half the patients coming from outside the immediate Amarillo area, the hospital is cementing its role as a regional medical center. All the 450 beds in the system are full, Hicks said.
___The growth has been achieved by giving outstanding patient care, Hicks said.
___To make sure the hospital delivers what it promises, patients and their families are asked to fill out survey forms about every aspect of their stay. Employees also are polled every 14 to 18 months.
___"We want to know how they feel about the system and their role in it," he said. "If you are going to minister, you can't be sour. If people agree with this ministry and want to support it, they can actualize their beliefs as they go about their work."
___The nurse-to-patient ratio has been cut to 1:5, and job satisfaction has risen from 73 percent in 1998 to 79 percent in 2001. The industry norm is 67 percent.
___Patient and employee satisfaction add up to a system where people want to come for care, Hicks noted. "If you have better service, the news spreads like wildfire."
___

Send this story to a friend

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.

---

Contents/ Masthead / Why We're Here / Links / Archive / E-mail us/ SUBSCRIBE!/ Signup for FirstLook