Mercy Hospital Fort Smith (Ark.) is reviving its neurosurgery program by hiring two neurosurgeons and remodeling space for its neuroscience center, according to Arkansas Business.
Things to know:
1. The hospital hired husband-and-wife team Ken Foxx, MD, and Kate Foxx, MD, who will join Mercy Fort Smith in August.
2. The hospital committed $10 million to equipment and remodeling efforts for its 16,000-square-foot Neuroscience Center. The Mercy Health Foundation Fort Smith is helping to raise money for the hospital campus renovations and equipment costs.
3. Mercy will also modify space at Mercy Orthopedic Hospital Fort Smith for elective spine surgeries.
4. Currently, only one neurosurgeon covers Mercy's Fort Smith hospital and has privileges at Baptist Health-Fort Smith. Another neurosurgeon practices exclusively at Baptist, which said one of its priorities was to recruit more neurosurgeons to the area.
5. For the past two years, more than 700 neurotrauma patients and 1,500 spine patients left the Fort Smith area due to a lack of neurosurgical treatment options.
6. Mercy used consulting firm Health Care Futures of Chicago's service to recruit Drs. Foxx and Foxx. The hospital also partnered with the Mercy Clinic Neurosurgery group in Springfield, Mo.
7. Drs. Foxx and Foxx will be a part of the Springfield group, but will work exclusively in Fort Smith.