U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran on Tuesday helped celebrate the opening of a new patient tower and emergency department at Overland Park Regional Medical Center.
The Kansas Republican, from Manhattan, Kan., praised local leaders for coming together to complete the project. He then took a jab at Congress' inability to do the same.
"What I would say is that we need to make certain that Medicare sufficiently covers the cost of providing services," Moran said. "That the regulatory environment that these folks work in every day is not so burdensome that it takes the joy of being a nurse away from them."
Moran, a critic of the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, says he's heard healthcare providers across the state of Kansas complain about increasing regulation.
Not all physicians feel the same way, however.
"I was very impressed with the Affordable Care Act giving me the opportunity to take care of people who otherwise felt as though they couldn't seek health care," Dr. John Romito, chief medical officer at Overland Park Regional, said before the event.
Romito said he tries to focus as a doctor on patient care, not policy. He thinks the hospital expansion will allow it to better serve patients.
"We're going to have all private rooms, which our literature shows that people heal better and heal faster and much more comfortable in a private room setting than they are in a multi-bedroom center," he said.
Overland Park Regional, part of HCA Health Midwest, has 343 beds. The $110 million expansion also includes an expanded trauma center, a new parking garage and a trail connecting Quivira Road to the Indian Creek Trail.
