Developers of a new hospital near K-96 and Ridge Road seek almost $9 million in IRBs

UPDATED — There’s a new hospital coming to Wichita that is born out of what its chairman calls need but also out of his desire to make a difference in the lives of seniors.

“That’s really the history of our country,” Corterra Healthcare Ventures chairman Erik Hatten said of the older population. “They built our country.”

There aren’t enough places to help seniors through mental health issues, Hatten said, particularly freestanding hospitals like the one Corterra wants to build.

On Tuesday, the Wichita City Council unanimously approved $8.85 million in industrial revenue bonds to pay for the building and equipment at the $10 million, 24-bed geriatric psychiatric hospital along with up to 10 years of sales and property tax abatement. The taxes won’t have to be paid back as long as Corterra meets certain criteria.

The company hopes to break ground this spring in the 7500 block of West Village Circle, which is near K-96 and Ridge Road.

Hatten said this will be the flagship hospital of what will become a chain of them around Kansas and the heartland.

The private rooms at Corterra will serve patients with short-term and long-term issues, and there will be outpatient services as well.

Hatten at one time was CEO for Via Christi Villages, and said he’s seen all aspects of care for seniors.

He said his own providers faced issues when mental health situations arose, and he’s seen that at other senior care facilities as well.

Also, Hatten wants Corterra to be a resource for places such as nursing homes and assisted living facilities in the area to alleviate some of the pressures they face when caring for seniors.

“We’ll be a resource.”

Hatten said he began thinking of the idea after running a Tennessee company that had a division that included a senior psychiatric hospital similar to what Corterra will be.

“I knew that the need was there,” he said. “I spent a substantial amount of time learning about it.”

Hatten said he thought this is exactly what the country’s heartland needs, particularly Wichita.

For all people, the need for mental health services is great, Hatten said.

“Mental health has had a substantial stigma for a long time,” he said. “It was often something kept quiet.”

It’s especially hard on seniors who find themselves in facilities where they don’t necessarily want to be, Hatten said.

“That’s really hard to handle that your choices are being limited.”

Once staffing is at full capacity, there will be about 40 highly skilled workers, he said.

Even though there will be only 24 beds, Hatten said, “We’re going to be touching 400 to 500 lives a year.”

He said that’s because his staff will build plans with other providers to help seniors get back to their previous living standards, and he said he’ll be helping other providers learn about the disease process as well.

Hatten grew up in the Wichita area, and he said, “It was always my dream to make an impact in the community.”

He said he believes Corterra can make a lasting impact for seniors here and, eventually, elsewhere.

Corterra will grow “as it makes sense,” he said.

Partners include Corterra Healthcare Partners, a consultant to providers and payors of senior healthcare here and in other states, and Scenic Development, which has 11 senior care housing communities in Kansas, Iowa and Missouri.

The first Corterra hospital should be ready by spring 2023.

Hatten said he then wants to find other markets where the need is high.

While mental health care for seniors is “really coming to the forefront,” Hatten — like others — said it takes a special kind of person to care for the elderly.

Through caring for patients in the past, he said he’s met former senators, an engineer on the first space shuttle and other seniors whose work helped transform the nation.

“Everybody has a story,” he said. “It really adds a whole new level to the work you’re doing.”

This story was originally published April 4, 2022 at 4:47 AM.