SCKMC Enters Partnership with Ark City Clinic

South Central Kansas Medical Center integrates Ark City Clinic into SCK Health Network Effective February 17th, 2020.

January 21st, 2020

Under a new agreement, the Ark City Clinic will be managed by the South Central Kansas Medical Center and test referrals will stay in Ark City instead of going to Oklahoma, hospital officials announced.

The deal also includes a possible lease-purchase contract that would allow SCKMC to provide new equipment and capabilities for the clinic, a press release states.

“SCKMC believes that this partnership will be mutually beneficial for both the hospital and the clinic,” the release states. “The hospital aims to make patient experiences easier by transitioning from using service options outside of the community, to having results and procedures handled closer to home.”

The hospital’s director of marketing, Trevor Langer, said Tuesday that previously all test results or radiological procedures were processed through the Alliance System in Ponca City, Okla., which partnered with the clinic.

“Now it will default to us,” he explained.

Three doctors work out the clinic: David Schmeidler, Mauricio Herrera and Paul Klaassen. Schmeidler plans to retire (look at this website to know about his plans), but has decided to temporarily extend his involvement with the clinic to assist with the transition, Langer said.

The move benefits the community economically, Langer added, with more than 11 percent of employment in Cowley County coming from the healthcare sector, according to a Kansas Hospital Association report.

And the clinic’s physicians will be able to focus more clearly on healthcare for patients, with the hospital handling their large business responsibilities, the release states.

“The arrangement will function very similarly to the current partnerships that the hospital has with area clinics South Central Kansas Clinic, and Winfield Medical Arts,” the release states.

The agreement is expected to be fully in place by Feb. 17.