The not-for-profit Sisters of Mercy Health System proposed either a management services agreement or an operating lease to Muskogee Regional Medical Center officials Thursday night.

The proposals generated a lot of interest from hospital and city leaders and others attending the meeting.

MRMC officials have listened to proposals from various organizations in an effort to remain viable in coming years.

MRMC will announce their plans for the future before the end of the year.

Sisters of Mercy President and CEO Ronald Ashworth said MRMC is a solid hospital, well-situated in the area where the Sisters of Mercy do business. They have 18 acute-care hospitals in Arkansas, Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma.

“A management services proposal would be more simple,” he said. “We would assume oversight for management; our role would be advisory in nature.”

An operating lease is closer to ownership, Ashworth said, and the Sisters of Mercy would pay a fee. The lease model would probably last five years, while management services could be for any length of time.

The Sisters of Mercy has $3.8 billion in assets. Their workforce consists of 26,000 “co-workers” and 3,100 medical staff members. Of the medical staff, 815 are employees. Hospital sizes vary widely, from 16 beds to 1,000.

Asked about any possible reduction in workforce, Ashworth said his company would prefer to retain the staff, in part because of community relations.

In response to questions from the MRMC board of trustees, Ashworth said the Sisters of Mercy have never had to terminate an operating lease, and that a management services agreement would serve as a “look see” for both MRMC and his company.

In 2005, their hospital in Oklahoma City (Mercy Health Center) was the first in Oklahoma awarded Magnet status by the American Nurses Credentialing Center. The designation was continued in 2006.

“We have a very low turnover with our nurses,” Ashworth said.

Ashworth said the company has taken control of its supply chain with a central distribution point in Springfield, Mo. As a result, hospitals don’t have to deal directly with vendors.

He also described common standards used by the Sisters of Mercy to purchase capital improvements through “bundled acquisition.”

As a faith-based organization, the Sisters of Mercy has a strong charity policy, Ashworth said.

“Everyone gets seen,” he said. “We have a charity clinic in the north part of Fort Smith which is mostly Hispanic. There are two midwives, and we have agreements with obstetricians in the area.”

Sisters of Mercy would offer in-house physician recruitment. They also regularly use physician satisfaction surveys to make sure their physicians are satisfied with their work and the professional environment.

The also offer centralized and regionalized revenue management service, and centralized “back office” and non-clinical services designed to reduce costs.

Sisters of Mercy’s charity care, Medicaid allowances and community benefits for the year ending in June 2006 totaled more than $133 million.

The company operates in communities similar to Muskogee, including Ardmore; Rogers, Ark.; and Hot Springs, Ark.

Reach Keith Purtell at 684-2925 or kpurtell@muskogeephoenix.com.