Our History
Copper Queen Hospital - 1884
Historically, Copper Queen Community Hospital can trace its roots to beginnings in various locations and buildings dating back over 120 years ago.
The present hospital was constructed in 1961 and was operated by the Phelps Dodge Corporation to service the medical needs of the booming local copper industry. Hospital ownership passed on to the Cochise County Hospital Association, then to a local non-profit community group in 1977. That group, the Bisbee Hospital Association (BHA) continues to own and operate the hospital as the center of local health care resources through its volunteer Board of Directors elected from the BHA membership.
In recent years, CQCH has expanded its services to include diagnostic services in outlying areas, both in physician offices and in sliding-fee-scale clinics. In late 2003, the hospital completed a $4.6 million renovation project, including infrastructure improvements to the heating, ventilating, and electrical systems and interior. The Imaging Services/Radiology Department was totally refurbished with new fluoroscopy, flat plate x-ray, CT scanner, and bone density scanner. Other areas of the hospital that received major improvements were the medical/surgical unit, food services, and cardio-pulmonary department. In 2004, the hospital absorbed the former Copper Cities Physicians Practice and established Rural Health Clinics in Bisbee and Douglas. In 2007, CQCH opened a new clinic in the Palominas/Hereford area of Cochise County. The 2,900-square-foot Palominas/Hereford Rural Health Clinic has six exam rooms and is staffed by two physicians, a physician assistant, and a pediatric nurse practitioner. Services include office visits, immunizations, and laboratory services. Also in 2007, CQCH installed Trauma Telemedicine technology, which gives emergency room doctors at the hospital a real-time video and audio connection with trauma doctors at University Medical Center in Tucson, who are then able to guide emergency room staff to facilitate patient stabilization prior to transfer.
In 2008, CQCH instituted teledermatology services and Coumadin clinics in the Rural Health Centers. Also in 2008, the hospital signed on with the Mayo Clinic in Phoenix to provide Stroke Telemedicine for Rural Residents (STARR). The STARR system provides physicians at the hospital with two-way, audiovisual communication with top neurologists throughout the state to treat acute stroke victims. The systems allows for patients to be examined and stabilized prior to transport, if necessary; or to be treated locally without transport. CQCH has also implemented Electronic Medical Records, and uses telemonitors in patients’ homes as part of their Copper Valley Home Health program. In October, CQCH received a grant to purchase and install digitized x-ray systems in the hospital and its clinics, which will give them the capability of sending images that may be read instantly in physician’s homes or offices so that diagnoses may be made rapidly.
In recent years, CQCH has incurred significant costs treating illegal immigrants. Moreover, many Mexican nationals cross the border legally through what is termed “compassionate entry,” whereby ambulances transport uninsured Mexican nationals to the U.S. border where they are met by ambulances in the United States and transported to area hospitals, including CQCH. These uncompensated services have put a financial strain on the hospital and its staff. In late 2004, changes to Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services regulations resulted in increased federal aid to Arizona hospitals to help offset uncompensated costs resulting from illegal immigration; however, as of late 2008 the federal reimbursement payments were in danger of not being renewed for the 2009 federal budget.
CQCH is licensed by the Arizona Department of Health Services and is certified as a service provider by Medicare. CQCH is one of only four hospitals in Arizona to be recognized as one of the 100 Top Regional Hospitals.™ This award recognizes hospitals for clinical excellence and efficient delivery of care. In 2008, the Rural Health Association presented the Inspiring Rural Health Program Award to the CQCH teledermatology program, which the hospital provides in collaboration with the Carondelet Healthcare Network.