A step in the right direction. Florida Hospital shows how to achieve ambulatory care success

In the early 1980s St. Vincent's Medical Center, Jacksonville, FL, needed a way to correct its shrinking patient census. Its solution: Set up a network of community ambulatory care centers. The centers would give St. Vincent's, an established and well-respected institution, a presence in neighborhoods that did not normally identify with the medical center. In fall 1982 St. Vincent's opened its first Family Medical Care Center in Ponte Vedra Beach. Today, St. Vincent's manages a network of 15 ambulatory care centers located in every quadrant of the city and covering an area of more than 2,000 square miles. Four of the centers have become financially self-sufficient, three are well on their way to self-sufficiency, and all justify their cost through their referrals to the medical center. Ambulatory care centers can become the cornerstone for any hospital's growth plan. First, the environment is ripe for their development; second, they can function as a feeder mechanism for the hospital to ensure future inpatients; third, they provide diversification of risk; and fourth, they increase a hospital's purchasing power through economies of scale. Any hospital interested in ambulatory care must consider several factors: the right model, the advantages, the potential pitfalls, developmental and capital costs, and the development of a solid marketing strategy.