The Harris County Hospital District(HCHD), the charity hospital district for the Houston TX area, has announced plans to buy the Memorial Hermann Southwest hospital. However, some doctors at the hospital are less than thrilled by this.
The majority of the Memorial Hermann Southwest Hospital medical staff is unhappy about the facility's proposed sale to the Harris County Hospital District and will leave if the deal goes through, according to a number of doctors there.
The staff members, whose retention is crucial to the hospital district's hope of consummating the transaction, believe the district's plan to market the facility to private insurance patients and make it financially viable is doomed, they said Friday. They also argued it is not what their patients want.
"Doctors here believe a county facility is not the place to bring private-pay patients," said Dr. Owen Maat, a gastroenterologist with a busy practice at Memorial Hermann Southwest. "They want to go to an attractive hospital where they get a private room and are treated well. That doesn't happen at a county hospital."
Maat said a "letter of opposition and pledged non-support" will be sent to the Harris County Commissioners Court, the Memorial Hermann Healthcare System board, and the hospital district administration and board early next week. It is being written this weekend and could be brought to medical staff members to sign Monday.
The doctor's resistance follows vocal opposition earlier this week by Harris County Commissioner Steve Radack, whose district includes Memorial Hermann Southwest, and some measure of skepticism from County Judge Ed Emmett.
The deal requires the approval of the five-member Commissioners Court.
Reaction at Memorial Hermann Southwest has been strong since officials of both institutions announced last week that they have agreed on key elements of a sale of the medical complex at Beechnut and the Southwest Freeway, which includes a 629-bed hospital; four office buildings; and vascular, cancer, surgery and outpatient imaging centers.
Lopez said the rumored price tag of $165 million to $185 million is "in the neighborhood."
Post-announcement meetings with employees — particularly a Tuesday night forum with 150 physicians — made the recent health care reform town halls with members of Congress "look peaceful," said Memorial Hermann Healthcare System President and CEO Dan Wolterman.
Radack has said he has received numerous calls of concern from doctors since the proposed deal was announced.
Retaining the hospital's physicians and their private-insurance patients is crucial if the hospital district wants to avoid imposing a tax increase, as it has stated. Such patients help defray the cost of care to indigent patients the hospital district serves.
"If the district thinks they can do this without raising taxes, they're insane," said Dr. Michael Kleinman, a Memorial Hermann Southwest surgeon. "It might take a while, but there's going to be an exodus of doctors from here."
Kleinman added that "there's a reason you don't see doctor's office buildings next to Ben Taub and LBJ," which are hospitals currently operated by the district.
I have to admit that, as they say here in Texas, I have a dog in this hunt. Where I work no health care is provided, so I have the HCHD Gold card. I'm naturally in favor of anything that improves the system I use. With the depression/recession, even in Houston people have been laid off & have to use the hospital district. There are three hospitals in the district (Ben Taub, LBJ & Quentin Meese) now, but adding another one is probably a good idea. Not having to build another hospital will save the district money.
Of course, the doctors at Southwest Memorial Herman don't see it that way. They look at their bottom line. The bottom line is that their contracts with the hospital might be void. Plus their current middle class patients with private health insurance might refuse to come to their offices anymore if they have to rub shoulders with those people.
If you want to read what the other citizens of the Houston area think, go back to the article & read the comments. Harris County government has been run by Republicans for awhile, so there are plenty of folks ranting about ObamaCare, Illegal Aliens, and Tax Hikes.
The 'illegal alien' part is true. The hospital district grants care even to non-citizens. Though SW Houston has its' share of residential neighborhoods, there are lots of apartment complexes there also that are swarming with the undocumented. Having a HCHD hospital close to them would mean they wouldn't have to go halfway across town to get to Ben Taub.
An interesting thing about this deal is the Memorial Herman Hospital System was sued by the Texas Attorney General for antitrust violations when it tried to ban its' physicians from also bringing patients to the Houston Town & Country Hospital, a physician-owned facility. Also, Memorial Hermann is a non-profit hospital system, which leads some people to accuse it of abandoning its' mission of charity care & going for more profits.
Will the hospital district get its' third general hospital? This is up to the Commissioners Court of Harris County, which consists now of the Republican County Judge Emmett, plus Republican Radack, Republican Jerry Eversole, Democrat El Franco Lee,& Democrat Sylvia Garcia. Radack seems to be against this, the Judge is less than enthusiastic, but Republican Eversole has not voiced any opinion. Three votes would approve the buyout.