AdventHealth CEO visits CenTex Exchange Club
By LYNETTE SOWELL
Cove Leader-Press
Kevin Roberts, CEO of AdventHealth, was the guest speaker last week at the CenTex Exchange Club in Copperas Cove.
Roberts is the CEO of both local AdventHealth facilities, in Killeen and in Lampasas and has worked in healthcare administration for 20 years. Prior to that, he worked as a registered nurse and earned nursing degrees from Pacific Union College in Angwin, California, and California State University of Sacramento, and has a master’s degree in public administration/healthcare services administration from the University of San Francisco.
He talked about the local AdventHealth facilities, and that Rollins Brook Hospital in Lampasas has received an “A” rating as a top rural hospital. He said there are roughly 1,200 rural hospitals nationwide, and Rollins Brook ranked among the 15 which received the Top Rural Hospital award.
“If you live here, you are flanked by two award-winning hospitals, one to the east and one to the west,” Roberts said. “Lampasas is west and Killeen is east, and they’re both owned and operated by the same company.”
He said the AdventHealth system operates 52 hospitals in 11 states.
“Why does that matter in Killeen, Lampasas, and Copperas Cove? Because you really have a very highly mission oriented health system dedicated and delivering all of those systems and envision and process and purpose to these local communities.”
Roberts explained how the hospitals can connect patients to needed services.
“The nice thing about where you’re located here is that to the west you will have Lampasas, which is a nice, amazing, critical access hospital, our first hospital, and we’re actually celebrating their 98th birthday next month…It is kind of what I call a boutique hospital. If you want to get in layman’s terms, why do you say boutique? Well, it’s they have a really great emergency room. There are only five bays. So it’s not like a huge emergency room, but they can figure out if you need something. They can figure out what’s going on. And most of the time, they’ll be able to keep you there you need to go into the hospital. But if they can’t handle what you’ve got, it is a quick trip down the road to AdventHealth Central Texas in Killeen. Or, if your situation is even more complex, another drive to Temple to Baylor Scott & White.”
He said that Baylor Scott & White is in a joint venture with both AdventHealth facilities, and that Baylor Scott & White owns 32 percent of AdventHealth Central Texas and Rollins Brook.
“They bring to us specialist doctors, cardiologists, obstetricians, gynecologists, surgeons, all kinds of things. There is a wonderful cancer center on our campus. So, considering how rural we are, you’ve got really great health care close by, and world class all the way around.”
Roberts emphasized the importance of faith-based, not-for-profit healthcare, noting the system’s commitment to community support and advanced technology investments.
He also mentioned the Priority Health program for faster access to care for patients.
“Has anybody ever had a hard time getting finding your way to bring the labyrinth of health care, scheduling a procedure or getting an MRI or anything like that. Well, Priority Health is an agreement that we have with employers to help their enrolled employees in their health plans, to get faster access and easier access to health care.”
Roberts said they can call a number and get primary care within three days and a specialist within a week.
One of the questions Roberts answered was if AdventHealth offered urgent care services. “You can get walk-in you services right here at the Family Medicine Clinic in Copperas Cove, Lampasas, and in Harker Heights.”
There are physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants who can do basic, general care and diagnosis for urgent care cases, but can manage like chronic medical conditions like diabetes, asthma, and more, while also having access to specialists.
As far as what types of insurance accepted, Roberts said they accept “virtually all” insurance plans.
“That was one of the challenges when I got here. There was about a half a dozen that we weren’t connected with. It took some time, but we got contracted pretty much with everybody.”