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By Betty Lin-Fisher
Beacon Journal business writer
POSTED: 12:06 p.m. EDT, Oct 21, 2008
About 130 people attended a breakfast forum this morning hosted by Akron General Health System in its increasingly heated battle against a 100-bed hospital that rival Summa Health System wants to build along with doctors in northern Summit County.
Akron General had invited about 2,000 community and business leaders to the forum entitled, Should Doctors Own Hospitals? And Why Should You Care? A close look at risks and reality.
Plans for the new hospital off state Route 8 near Seasons Road are being spearheaded by a group of doctors called Western Reserve Hospital Partners in partnership with nonprofit Summa. Akron General has a new outpatient facility that includes a 24-hour emergency department nearby off Steels Corners Road in Stow.
Three out-of-town speakers discussed what they called dangers and what happened in other states after physician-owned hospitals were built.
Cindy Morrison, executive director of the Coalition of Full Service Community Hospitals, said business leaders and community members should be concerned about the proposed new hospital because it affects the community.
Physicians are the only ones who can admit patients to a hospital and physicians who own a hospital will steer the patients to their own hospital, she said.
Morrison said the consequences of physician-owned hospitals in other states have included huge drops in volumes and revenue for community hospitals, lowered bond ratings and staff layoffs and reductions.
''There's an inherent conflict of interest. It has a negative impact on patients and destabilizes the community hospitals,'' said Morrison.
In Rapid City, S.D., in a four-year period, a specialty physician-owned hospital's income grew by $16 million while the community hospital's income fell by $17 million, she said.
''They're just shifting the revenue,'' she added.
Morrison said people in a community often will separate themselves from an issue, saying it's not their problem.
''It's a community's problem. It is not just an Akron General problem,'' she said.
Forum attendees were asked to sign a card that featured a stop sign and said, ''I am a taxpayer and I oppose the new physician-owned, for-profit hospital to be built in northern Summit County.''
Akron General officials said they would use the cards to share with local politicians.
Forty-three people, or about a third of the attendees, turned in cards, said spokesman Jim Armstrong.
Summa officials were not available for immediate comment, but have said much of the criticism against doctor-owned hospitals is based on other facilities that limit their services to one lucrative area — such as heart or orthopedics — and don't partner with a nonprofit.
Supporters of the proposed new hospital have said their doctors will not steer patients based on their ownership stake and that the facility will have the same charity-care policies as Summa's other hospitals.
Betty Lin-Fisher can be reached at
330-996-3724 or blinfisher@
thebeaconjournal.com.
About 130 people attended a breakfast forum this morning hosted by Akron General Health System in its increasingly heated battle against a 100-bed hospital that rival Summa Health System wants to build along with doctors in northern Summit County.
Akron General had invited about 2,000 community and business leaders to the forum entitled, Should Doctors Own Hospitals? And Why Should You Care? A close look at risks and reality.
Plans for the new hospital off state Route 8 near Seasons Road are being spearheaded by a group of doctors called Western Reserve Hospital Partners in partnership with nonprofit Summa. Akron General has a new outpatient facility that includes a 24-hour emergency department nearby off Steels Corners Road in Stow.
Three out-of-town speakers discussed what they called dangers and what happened in other states after physician-owned hospitals were built.
Cindy Morrison, executive director of the Coalition of Full Service Community Hospitals, said business leaders and community members should be concerned about the proposed new hospital because it affects the community.
Physicians are the only ones who can admit patients to a hospital and physicians who own a hospital will steer the patients to their own hospital, she said.
Morrison said the consequences of physician-owned hospitals in other states have included huge drops in volumes and revenue for community hospitals, lowered bond ratings and staff layoffs and reductions.
''There's an inherent conflict of interest. It has a negative impact on patients and destabilizes the community hospitals,'' said Morrison.
In Rapid City, S.D., in a four-year period, a specialty physician-owned hospital's income grew by $16 million while the community hospital's income fell by $17 million, she said.
''They're just shifting the revenue,'' she added.
Morrison said people in a community often will separate themselves from an issue, saying it's not their problem.
''It's a community's problem. It is not just an Akron General problem,'' she said.
Forum attendees were asked to sign a card that featured a stop sign and said, ''I am a taxpayer and I oppose the new physician-owned, for-profit hospital to be built in northern Summit County.''
Akron General officials said they would use the cards to share with local politicians.
Forty-three people, or about a third of the attendees, turned in cards, said spokesman Jim Armstrong.
Summa officials were not available for immediate comment, but have said much of the criticism against doctor-owned hospitals is based on other facilities that limit their services to one lucrative area — such as heart or orthopedics — and don't partner with a nonprofit.
Supporters of the proposed new hospital have said their doctors will not steer patients based on their ownership stake and that the facility will have the same charity-care policies as Summa's other hospitals.
Betty Lin-Fisher can be reached at
330-996-3724 or blinfisher@
thebeaconjournal.com.
Comments
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Posted 12:28 PM, 10/21/2008
Things change, populations shift, and sometimes when you don't keep up you get left behind. That is Akron General's problem. It's been poorly run for some time and it's finally caught up with them. They could have built a facility in the northern part of
Summit County, but they didn't. Someone else is. As long as patients are well-served, so be it. The fear-mongering is really an underhanded tactic. And 130 of the 2000 people invited were in attendance? They hardly whipped the community into a frenzy, did they?
Wadsworth, OH
Posted 01:02 PM, 10/21/2008
Akron General has built in Stow and in Montrose. They are now adding an ER onto the Health & Wellness Center in Montrose. What's the big difference? I'll bet they are all "for profit" or they wouldn't be building them. Too bad, Summa thought of the new hospital before you did and now we get sour grapes. I don't think those 43 cards handed in has scared the Summa physicians too much.
Posted 01:08 PM, 10/21/2008
This new FOR-PROFIT, Physician-owned hospital is not needed. There are already too many empty beds that we are all paying for in this market through our insurance costs. This is a serious issue for our community.
Posted 01:21 PM, 10/21/2008
When you really stop and think about it, and look into the experiences of other communities that have gone through this, it looks like the community hospitals DO suffer from these for-profit organizations being built. Why would a Summa doctor who owns a portion of a hospital refer his or her patients to Akron General? Think about it. They wouldn't! And it's not really going to help the community in the long run because while it might create jobs in Hudson at the new facility, think of all the lost jobs at Akron General if their volumes go way down.
akron, oh
Posted 01:40 PM, 10/21/2008
My guess is Lisa could not provide an ounce of data to support the claims she made above. Just what 'experiences of other communities" is she talking about?
AKRON, OH
Posted 01:50 PM, 10/21/2008
PROVIDE A BETTER SERVICE OR TREATMENT AND GET THE BUSINESS - WHAT'S THE PROBLEM ?
Posted 02:05 PM, 10/21/2008
To Tim: From the text of the news article above:
Morrison said the consequences of physician-owned hospitals in other states have included huge drops in volumes and revenue for community hospitals, lowered bond ratings and staff layoffs and reductions.
In Rapid City, S.D., in a four-year period, a specialty physician-owned hospital's income grew by $16 million while the community hospital's income fell by $17 million.
These are the experiences of other communities I was referring to.
Akron, , OH
Posted 02:14 PM, 10/21/2008
General does not want the competition,a monopoly is monopoly.
They certainly know everything---don't they???
Posted 02:26 PM, 10/21/2008
All of this isn't going to matter in a few more months. Health Insurance (at the least, most likely all of the Medical Industry) will be partially or fully nationalized, not unlike the banks now, or other similar industries.
Let them build their hospital, and find out they (the Feds.) won't let them open their doors.....what a waste of money and time. They should have done this years ago....just my views...
Akron, OH
Posted 02:32 PM, 10/21/2008
This is all being viewed from the wrong standpoint. Contrary to what is said in the article, it is NOT the physicians who determine which hospital the patient goes to. It is their INSURANCE that determines where they can and can't go.
Many of the "non-profit" hospitals have their own insurance companies such as SummaCare and Aultcare, and "profits" are controlled by paying claims to their own hospital. . . AKA "foundation".
If this new physician-owned hospital accepts SummaCare, and people go there because that's their insurance, so be it.
The real problem that needs to be dealt with is all the non-paying patients who are treated at most hospitals--they are NOT turned away from the ER's. These patients should be allowed to buy into the Medicaid/Medicare system thru their employers, maybe with subsidy from government and the insurers.
Posted 02:42 PM, 10/21/2008
It doesn't matter if they build it or not - hospitals are PROFIT making - they've never been NON Profit if they were they never could build like they do and pay the enormous salaries to pay.
Posted 02:45 PM, 10/21/2008
It is important for the community to know that only physicians can admit people into the hospital - not the insurance company. And, if a physician has a financial interest in the hospital to which they refer - that is a coflict of interest. It's simple. There would be a financial incentive to put a patient in a hospital in which the physician owns a piece of the action.
Is that good for the patient? Is that good medicine?
Posted 02:48 PM, 10/21/2008
Not for profit hospitals put their left over money after paying bills BACK into the institution in the form of new equipment and technology. FOR PROFIT hospitals put their left over money in the pockets of their shareholders.
That's a big difference.
Posted 02:54 PM, 10/21/2008
ONLY a physician can admit a patient to the hospital, not the insurance company. If a physician has a financial stake in the hospital to which they refer, that creates a conflict of interest. Numerous studies have shown that with physician owned hospitals utlization of services goes up and costs go up. All of us with insurance will pay for that whether you use this new hospital or not.
Akron, Oh
Posted 04:36 PM, 10/21/2008
While a physician is required in order to admit a patient to a hospital, it doesn't follow that the physician gets to decide which hospital. I will go to the hospital I chose and within the limits of my insurance provider. My doctor does not dictate which hospital. This is the inherent flaw in Akron General's disingenuous argument.
Also, Summa is not for profit. It is a foundation and puts their funds back into the institution and the community as a whole. This is why we have many positive things going on in Akron such as the marathon, Christmas celebrations for the homeless and people with HIV who are low income, and soon-to-be Summa Field on The University of Akron campus. Summa is required by the ground rules of its foundation to give back to the community.
Posted 05:16 PM, 10/21/2008
Can anyone advise why Summa would build a 100 bed if they cant fill the ones they have? And Summa says they are building in an untapped market. Akron General already built one in Stow over a year ago and now Summa wants to build just down the road from them? We all know why.
Posted 06:22 PM, 10/21/2008
d
Posted 06:32 PM, 10/21/2008
I think there are alot of misconceptions out there. First of all the doctors are partnering with a non-profit entity. The hospital has been stated that it will be a full-service, take-all-comers facility with the same charity care policy as Summa. It is not a specialty hospital. Secondly there is constantly a bed crunch at Akron City Hospital. There are no open beds there. There are tons at AGMC. There are open beds at Cuyahoga Falls and St. Thomas. Both of those facilities will probably close, so again there wil be a bed crunch at Summa. Doesn't anyone realize that the empty beds at AGMC etc is for a reason. Alot of patients do not trust their care there.
This mis-conception of non-profit and "reinvesting" profits into the facilities is BS. Any profit (of which AGMC has little if any) is used to pad the pocckets of overpaid executives and Chairs of Departments. You can just consider those people "investors".
Also i think the community needs to look into the situation in Massillon. Affinity Medical Center is a FOR PROFIT! And guess who has a 40% stake in that facility!!! AGMC!!!! How is that any different from the new Northern Summit Facility.
Competition is good for everyone, except those that are not prepared for competition and may suffer from it. Please, i beg everyone to look at all entities of this discussion for who they truly are.
akron, oh
Posted 08:08 PM, 10/21/2008
Lisa - your argument is suspect at best seeing at you get your information from AGMC. I just read their newsletter and you took the info in your first post directly from them.
And Lucky - get your facts straight, General opened an emergency room and lab in Stow, NOT a full service hospital.
Posted 08:22 PM, 10/21/2008
It always amazes me when common sense is ignored. Two points: First, it's not broken so don't fix it. Non-Profit Hospitals have worked in The Akron Area for ever. Why change now, when things are finally looking up. Second: "Money rules." If I'm a doctor and the choice is my hospital or yours, it's mine. If that happens, jobs will be lost in Akron. Why do these doctors need to get any richer anyway. Akron needs to stand up for Non-Profit Medicine and for the jobs it stands to loose. Think about it, it's common sense!
Posted 08:28 PM, 10/21/2008
Lets start asking why the investors want to get Cuyahoga Falls bought so they can get the hospital license. The goverment is going to make these doctor owned hospitals illegal so they want to get in under the wire before the law is passed. So in other words they want to get this done before it becomes illegal. Sound kosher?
If this were really for the people as the doctor investors say, why not make it non-profit. Take the money out of this for the docs, then I'll believe the hype. This is all about the money and nothing else. Its bad for the community.
Last questions is how can cuyhaga falls general be bought by doctors when it is a non-profit. Dr. Kent already basically runs the place from what I hear so isn't that a conflict of interest. Is that legal? Whole thing does not seem right to me.
All the docs on this blog who are mad at Akron General must be just afraid of losing their money and thats sad.
Posted 09:00 PM, 10/21/2008
Akronman or should I say Sanj.. Protecting community money for ones self interest is a sad day.... Fighting the status quo is a hard argument. If competition is what you want to limit then maybe we should all become socialist... whats the differece if they pay you a 250,000 to back their argument or push for quality on you own physician standard. Physicians should stand up for whats right in healthcare, not administators looking out for their million dollar salaries.. this is a free country and is patient driven not goverment or AGMC.
Posted 08:46 AM, 10/22/2008
Because AG is making this a big deal ove this issue, perhaps AG should think twice before they built in someone's area. HMMMMM
Posted 08:50 AM, 10/22/2008
Guess again je e. Docs should stand up for whats right and good for patients and the community. Lets be serious, this is all about the money. Sounds like you are a wanna be administrator.
Posted 10:49 AM, 10/22/2008
Gee, I feel much better now that I know that supporters of the proposed new hospital have said their doctors will not steer patients based on their ownership stake.
Akron, Oh
Posted 11:35 AM, 10/22/2008
It's not that doctors won't steer patients to their hospital. The issue is they can't. The insurane company makes that decision and is in the driver's seat with steering wheel in hand not the doctors.
