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In a year when it seems just about everyone is calling for change, some major changes are in store at Broadlawns Medical Center.

Within the next several weeks, said Chief Executive Jody Jenner, Broadlawns will launch a major capital campaign designed to finance a portion of a $44 million renovation plan it announced last month. The acute-care county hospital hopes to begin construction as early as this fall on the first elements of the three-phase plan to expand and modernize its physical plant.

“The plan we came up with is something that we think is comprehensive and practical,” Jenner said. “It very much supports our overall vision of becoming more of a community hospital that cares for everyone, both those with the least and those with the most in society.”

Jenner said once a financing package is assembled, it will be brought to Broadlawns’ seven-member board of trustees for approval, probably by sometime in early spring.

Hospital officials have pledged that Broadlawns, which receives about $45 million in property tax revenues from Polk County taxpayers, won’t seek additional taxes for the project. At the current levy, just under $300 of the tax on a $200,000 home in Polk County goes to fund Broadlawns.

The plan also calls for renovating some clinical areas of Broadlawns to further strengthen some niche services, such as podiatry and family medicine, to enable it to expand the number of insured patients it handles and thereby boost its overall financial viability, Jenner said.

Overall, the number of insured patients the hospital serves is about half the national average for public hospitals. Broadlawns’ goal is to increase the share of total revenue from insured patients, now at about 10 percent of revenue, by about 1 percentage point per year.

We certainly feel we can raise some substantial funds. But as you look at our plan, it’s scalable with phases one, two and three, and we’ll build based on the amount of available funds.

– Jody Jenner CEO, Broadlawns Medical Center

“We’re starting to see some progress on that,” Jenner said. “It’s a very competitive health-care market, but particularly with the focus we’re putting on raising the profile of Broadlawns Medical Center and talking about how good the quality of care here is and service excellence internally, we’re starting to see some results.”

A 2001 study by RDG Planning & Design had estimated it would require $85 million to renovate the hospital, which would be about $130 million in today’s dollars. That plan had focused on a “best-case scenario,” Jenner said.

“So as we put the (new) plan together, we focused on things that from a clinical perspective were truly outdated, and also on areas where we think we have some opportunities from a revenue growth perspective that support a thrive, not just survive, mindset.”

Also in 2001, the Legislature approved a $3 million annual funding increase to Broadlawns for renovation, but the hospital’s board of trustees determined the money was needed to augment the hospital’s operating budget during an economic downturn. Jenner said the revamped Medicare payments system through the Iowa Cares program will enable the hospital to better weather an economic downturn.

“Our mindset is that we have to be accountable to the taxpayers, to the stakeholders, the owners of Broadlawns,” he said. “That’s why we’ve come out with things like the Vital Signs, our public report card to the community, which provides our quality-of-care goals, service-excellence goals and financial goals.”

Officials haven’t set a specific fund-raising goal yet.

“We certainly feel we can raise some substantial funds,” Jenner said. “But as you look at our plan, it’s scalable with phases one, two and three, and we’ll build based on the amount of available funds.”

Hospital officials are also negotiating with several financial institutions to borrow the remainder of the funds by issuing revenue bonds. Additionally, the hospital is seeking funding from Iowa Health – Des Moines, which in 2005 entered into a 20-year affiliation agreement with Broadlawns.

“We hope that our role is significant,” said Sid Ramsey, vice president of strategic business development and marketing for Iowa Health.

“To the degree we can also provide assistance in encouraging others in the community to also support Broadlawns, that’s an important role as well,” Ramsey said. “Everyone in this community should feel they have a stake in the success of Broadlawns.”