Posted on 12/23/2002 1:14:00 PM PST by Mamzelle
'Boutique' hospital a pain to the others New surgical center in Austin may cut profits that fund care for poor. By Mary Ann Roser
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Monday, December 23, 2002
A new surgical hospital in Austin will bring more choice to consumers, new business opportunities to doctors and high blood pressure to administrators of established hospitals.
Although hospital officials in Austin are not thrilled about sharing their patients with the Surgical Hospital of Austin when it opens in Rollingwood in March, their reaction has been restrained -- at least publicly.
Some of their brethren across the country wasted no time greeting the owners of other "boutique" hospitals with a swift kick instead of a warm handshake.
In Columbus, Ohio, officials at OhioHealth threatened to yank doctors' hospital privileges if any of them invested in a competing specialty hospital. In Fremont, Calif., the chief executive of Washington Hospital Healthcare System persuaded the California state Senate to approve a bill banning any hospital from opening in the area without an emergency department -- not a service the newcomer had in mind. The bill didn't pass the House, but a similar measure is expected to be introduced this year.
In Austin six years ago, the Seton HealthCare Network tried to stop the state from leasing land to Heart Hospital, contending that the new hospital was speculative and would damage the city's health-care safety net. Seton lost.
Why no welcome wagon for the new kid on the block?
Community hospitals fear these hospitals, often specializing in more profitable medical procedures, will skim off the cream -- the patients most able to pay -- leaving them with a larger burden of the poor and uninsured. Paying patients help subsidize the care of those who can't pay, hospital officials say. They contend having fewer paying customers costs everyone more, including taxpayers.
Trauma centers, already on financial life support in many communities, say they can't afford to lose paying customers in the main hospital. And emergency departments can't afford to have fewer doctors willing to be on call after hours -- already a problem in Austin. At St. David's Medical Center, neurosurgeons are on the call roster only 12 days a month, a problem officials say will be corrected in January.
Not having a doctor when you need one in an emergency is a problem that affects everyone, regardless of income, race or residence.
(Excerpt) Read more at austin360.com ...
I guess the market has spoken.
Our county hospital actually has an "express clinic" beside the emergency room for patients that need assistance but do not require emergency treatment.
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