A few articles out of the New Braunfels newspaper that you might find interesting about the sale of McKenna Memorial Hospital....many of the same issues and debates, so it will be interesting to read how this plays out...
"McKenna Sells to Christus"
http://herald-zeitung.com/story.lasso?ewcd=c7ae9e3c5dfc593c
"McKenna Won't Subsidize Hospitals"
http://herald-zeitung.com/story.lasso?ewcd=a5d99630550f5937
"Hospital CEO Says Board 'Not Deceitful'"
http://herald-zeitung.com/story.lasso?ewcd=04262a05039d628e
"McKenna sale is good for community" (opinion)
http://herald-zeitung.com/story.lasso?ewcd=5b727921e0e709c7
One quote that stood out..."the group’s questions for McKenna’s leadership seek “transparency in an organization that was developed with public dollars.”"
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Lifepoint is posting some pretty ugly numbers for their second quarter of 2007. We all know what that means.
From TheStreet.com:
"'LifePoint Misses the Mark'
7/23/2007 11:38 AM EDT
LifePoint Hospitals (LPNT) lost ground Monday after reporting a drop in quarterly net income and tempering its guidance.
The company reported revenue from continuing operations of $654.3 million, compared with $560.2 million in the 2006 quarter. But earnings fell to $13.4 million, or 23 cents a share, compared with $34.8 million, or 62 cents a share, in the year-ago quarter. The Thomson Financial consensus target was 61 cents a share.
LifePoint recognized impairment charges of $24.9 million, or 44 cents a share, related to disposal plans for Coastal Carolina Medical Center and Colorado River Medical Center. The former was sold on July 1 and reflected as discontinued operations, and the latter was identified as discontinued operations during the first quarter.
"While we are not satisfied with our second-quarter performance, a significant portion of our results are primarily driven by three areas -- bad debt; contract labor costs and professional fees; and medical malpractice insurance expense -- and we are taking appropriate actions to address these issues," said CEO William Carpenter said.
Looking ahead, the company adjusted guidance, and now expects to earn 50 to 55 cents a share in the third quarter and 55 to 60 cents a share in the fourth quarter. For the year, it anticipates $2.15 to $2.25 a share on revenue of $2.63 billion to $2.65 billion. It previously forecast $2.42 to $2.53 a share on revenue of $2.68 billion to $2.69 billion.
LifePoint shares gave up $5.06, or 13%, to $34.04 in recent trading Monday morning."
http://www.thestreet.com/newsanalysis/healthcare/10369480.html
From marketwatch.com:
"Deutsche Bank analyst Darren Lehrich questioned if LifePoint's results are indicative of something above and beyond an industry issue.
"While we were expecting sequentially higher bad-debt expense for the group based on mix data from our volume surveys, we are surprised by the deterioration in bad debt and wonder if there is something market-specific to LifePoint that caused part of the jump," Lehrich said in a research note."
Higher bad-debt expenses based on mix data? I don't have an MHA...somebody tell me if that is related to payor mix.
Should be payor mix or base of different hospital service provisions.Quite possibly the addition of a large Medicaid Medicare population facility, anyone know a hospital like that?Hmmmm
Hey folks, this is the only way we can get these leeches out of our town. They do not care about quality patient care. Hit them in their wallet and they will get scared and maybe something will be done. I, too, do not have a MHA or MBA, but, it does not take a rocket scientist to figure out that DRMC is what is pulling down the profits. Go to Lifepoint's corporate website and read the transcripts of all the conference calls with various brokarage firms and portifolio managers, their number one concern is the troubles with DRMC and how that has affected their profit margin. I don't think they expected that little old Danville would put up such a fight and be such a thorn in their side. What say you?
Stock down 17% today. It means investors are catching on to what a bunch of fakers are running LifePoint. This is a very good sign.
On McKenna, I think everyone who sent information to the doctors, etc., at McKenna, warning them about LifePoint, should take a bow. There's no way this did not play a role.
The immediate posting above ony serves to validate what others have observed before...you know not about which you speak. Just a bunch of small town, small minded saps. This is a real "be careful what you ask for" moment.
Bad debt can be attributed to not only payor mix, but volume mix and usage habits in a community. More and more folks tend to use the ED like a primary care source without any intent to pay...knowing that the hopsital will see them. Imagine if every physicians' office in town let patients come and go without the intent to pay. For that matter, try walking out of Wal-Mart without paying or just promising to pay and see how you're treated. Haven't seen any posts here berating those money grubbing hounds from Wal-mart or the local grocer for asking customers to pay. Seems like the electric company kinda likes their money too..or before too long, poof...it gets dark. Bad debt isn't limited to a LifePoint problem...try googling CHS, HMA, Triad, CHI, CHW, CHP...the list of healthcare organizations that struggle with this issue gets longer each year. And yet their doors are open to all the poor of the community. And all you can do is say "this is a very good sign"?
To the poster above,
We do understand how payor mix affects the business of running a hospital, whether it be for- or not-for-profit. The "good sign" that was referred to above is that shareholder and investor reactions to LPNT may be a reflection that they do not have faith in LPNT's business practices, much like those of us who work for the company here in town.
We get it...payor mix was a delicate balancing act when we were not-for-profit and wrote off so much charity care and reduced fee care. Then, as now, the percentage of commercially insured patients is critical to survival (possibly more so now that we are a for-profit company that lives and dies by the balance sheet).
Also, I think you will see reference to lots of assorted "money-grubbing hounds" and their impact on communities, both large and small.
But back to LPNT, just like Mr. Lehrich from Deutsche Bank, we "wonder if there is something market-specific to LifePoint" that is causing their financial and management issues.
Haven't seen too many references...just a pile-on of LPNT. Market-specific? Could be. But most LifePoint communities aren't well-heeled. They just don't have the victim mentality like we do in poor little Danville.
With reference to payor mix, I went back and did a little digging in old annual reports (there haven't been too many in recent years). Here are some numbers from 1999, 2000, and 2001:
1999 - 38% Commercial, BCBS, and HMO/PPO/Self (10%, 11% and 17% respectively)
2000 - 30% Commercial, BCBS, HMO/PPO/Self (9%, 13%, 18%)
2001 - 30% Commercial, BCBS, HMO/PPO/Self (9%, 14%, 17%)
So, yes, payor mix has always been an uphill battle. Back then, however, our biggest "enemy" was that people would drive down 86 to go to Duke. Now the biggest enemy is a public perception that the hospital cannot do the job adequately and safely. How hard is it to turn that ship around?
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?d=t&s=LPNT
http://moneycentral.msn.com/detail/stock_quote?Symbol=LPNT
http://www.marketwatch.com/quotes/lpnt
"LifePoint on Life Support"
thestreet.com
Updated from 10:45 a.m.
LifePoint (LPNT) has taken a definite turn for the worse.
Shares dropped 15% after the rural hospital operator said profits plunged in the second quarter. Weak admissions and rising expenses, including a spike in bad debts from the uninsured, have been hammering the company's operations. LifePoint also trimmed full-year guidance.
Second-quarter income fell some 61% to $13.4 million, as escalating costs in three different areas -- bad debts, labor costs and malpractice insurance -- took a heavy toll on the bottom line. Earnings per share from continuing operations came in at 43 cents, well short of the 61-cent consensus estimate. Revenue, while up 17% to $654 million, fell shy of Wall Street targets as well.
LifePoint's skyrocketing bad-debt expense seemed to worry analysts most. At 12.4% of revenue in the latest quarter -- up from 10.2% a year ago -- it sent the company's profit margins to their lowest level in recent memory.
Moreover, LifePoint foresees ongoing challenges ahead. The company now expects to generate profits of just $2.15 to $2.25 a share for the full year. On average, analysts have been forecasting 2007 profits of $2.60 a share instead.
"While we are not satisfied with our second-quarter performance ... we are taking appropriate actions to address these issues," LifePoint CEO William Carpenter stated on Monday. "We are confident that, by investing in and working closely with the communities in which we operate, we will be able to provide the highest quality care for our patients and at the same time drive enhanced value for our shareholders."
Ultimately, Carpenter added, "we are confident in the future success of our business."
But investors clearly have their doubts. They fled the stock, sending the shares down 13% to $33.92 -- a price unseen since early this year -- in heavy trading on Monday.
Jefferies analyst Frank Morgan warned of serious pain for the hospital group as a whole.
"We expect a very negative reaction on LifePoint's reported results," Morgan wrote early Monday morning. "We are particularly concerned about the spike in bad debt. ... While this sudden increase in bad debts may still be specific to LifePoint, we expect that the entire sector will trade down based on this news."
Indeed, shares of three major hospital chains -- Community Health (CYH - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr - Rating), Tenet (THC - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr - Rating) and Universal Health (UHS - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr - Rating) -- all fell by more than 3% following LifePoint's warning.
To the comment that bloggers here do not pile on Walmart, or other such companies, for wanting to be paid:
You seem to overlook the obvious: The folks who created LifePoint out of the trash heap of scandal understood exactly what they were getting into. They bought Danville Regional knowing the numbers on indigents, but they saw enough low-hanging fruit to feed their greed.
So wake up, we're not foolish.
Try a mirror.
Sorry...you missed the point completely.
Much has been written here and across the country about the sickening sleaze factor inherent at LifePoint.
We have seen it in all kinds of ways in the spin and lies LifePoint has promulgated upon our community. We know without question that this is the corporate culture at LifePoint.
The point here is that precisely the same manner of corporate lies and spin has gone into what LifePoint shoves down the throats of the financial analysts whose assessment drive the price of the company's stock. Surely LifePoint Spinmasters have tried to dupe them in various ways that would be all too familiar to local victims of the LifePoint culture. In doing so, they have managed to squeeze the stock upward.
It is only when the audited bottom-line figures come in each quarter that the rubber meets the road. LifePoint this time is left standing naked in the marketplace, and in this case, investors realized the truth and hammered down the stock price by over 15% in one day.
What does this mean to those of us unfortunate enough to live and work with Danville Regional? It means that if you think things have been bad, they suddenly got a lot worse.
Bloggers here are to be commended for alerting the potential victims at McKenna, and my own view is that this blog has had its place in alerting the investment community to the culture of sleaze that guides LifePoint in everything it does.
Missed the point? I thought he got it just right. Do tell!
Stock analysts are professionals who quite frankly couldn't care less about (or in fact, even know about)this pitiful little blog. Hate to pop your bubble, but teh McKenna deal was just one of several working at any given time. Ask the folks in Ennis how bad LifePoint is...you might get a differing set of views. But of course, you's find an excuse to poor mouth their success too, I'd expect.
Another point missed: This blog is driving paying customers away from LifePoint, which is a laudable achievment. That helps in driving down the numbers and that's what the writer meant.
Every little bit helps, unless you are one of the Bank Boys who want to have it all.
What has the new guy here at DRMC said about sanitary conditions? Is he going to let them keep messing up the housekeeping staff, or is he going to try to let us get back to what used to be so proud of? Any answers?
I think things have gotten better. In the ER, with fewer people coming through, things are cleaner than in months.
What new guy? The CFO? Think he has housekeeping at the top of his priority list? What's up with the new CEO?
"Ask the folks in Ennis how bad LifePoint is...you might get a differing set of views. But of course, you's find an excuse to poor mouth their success too, I'd expect. "
You bring up an interesting topic with Ennis...found the editorial below on the Ennis Daily News site (from back in January)...sounds very familiar...
"Hospital turns over a new leaf
Ennis Daily News 01-15-2007
Ennis Regional Medical Center took a big step forward last week when Daniel McLean was named as the hospital’s new CEO.
The hospital had been operating under the capable guidance of Ruth McDanial who served as interim CEO following the resignation of Berney Sweet in October of last year.
It’s a very positive step for the hospital to have a permanent new CEO at the helm and it’s even better that such a qualified individual was chosen for the post.
We met with McLean last week and were impressed with his openness, positive attitude and his obvious enthusiasm for making our local hospital the very best it can be.
McLean certainly understands the challenges ahead and his resume would indicate that he is uniquely qualified to handle them. He has overseen some extremely large hospital operations in the past and expressed a true love for the hands-on work of hospital administration, especially one such as ours where there is so much opportunity for growth. The move into a new state-of-the-art facility is a huge challenge in itself and McLean has specific experience with overseeing such a move.
But beyond that, he indicated an understanding of the importance and value of earning the community’s trust. Ennis Regional Medical Center administration has endured some rough waters and harsh criticism in recent months. We have expressed before that it’s our hope the hospital and community can move forward and put that behind us. But we wanted that done with an acknowledgement by hospital management of the problems and a positive, honest approach toward fixing what needs to be fixed – not just a whitewash of some serious issues that needed to be addressed. With McLean now in place, we have discovered that process is well underway.
Ennis Regional Medical Center is a private business, but “our” hospital plays an important role in local economic development and the quality of life in this community. It’s in everyone’s best interest to see ERMC growing, thriving and caring for the people of our area.
McLean strikes us as a man who is earnest and open. In our opinion, that’s exactly what our hospital and this community need at this time. The hard-working and talented staff members at ERMC deserve a leader who is willing to listen and move the hospital forward in a positive way. The entire community deserves it and we should all welcome McLean to the post.
Much brighter days are ahead."
ERMC was bought by Lifepoint from Province in 2004 (deal final in 2005). So, what brought on the change of events that resulted in the construction of a new hospital facility?
From the Ennis paper again:
"ERMC: The tide is turning"
03-28-2007
There was a time, not so very long ago, when we were very concerned about the reputation – and future - of our hospital.
Hardly a day went by that we didn’t hear from someone – either in the community or an employee or doctor at the hospital - who voiced displeasure or disappointment in how one thing or another was being handled at our city’s medical facility.
After one criminal, who also happened to be a doctor, chose to use our hospital as one of the staging grounds for his perversions, things went from bad to worse spiraling into a black, ugly vortex out of which our hospital seemed unable to climb.
The unrest wasn’t relegated only to some of those who sought medical treatment at ERMC, but extended – quite publically at times – to some of the staff as well.
It was no secret our hospital was in trouble and it was evident action needed to be taken - and taken quickly - if the hospital was going to have a chance to recover.
One of the worst parts of this ordeal was knowing that the actions of so very, very few individuals had managed to - by association - damage the reputation of so many hard-working, extremely competent medical professionals who had endeavored their entire career to provide the finest quality healthcare possible for those in their community.
Just when we were about to give in to our anger and frustration over the turn of events, in rode ERMC’s new owners, LifePoint Hospitals Inc., on what may very well turn out to be a big white horse.
With quick and deliberate, painstaking action, changes were made from the top down as LifePoint began dealing with the problems head-on. They brought in a new seasoned CEO – Dan McLean - whose no-nonsense, get-to-the-bottom-of-the-problem agenda is already making a visible difference at ERMC. He is, as the old-timers say, “taking care of business.”
Earlier this month, ERMC was named one of the “Top 100 Hospitals” in the nation by Solucient, one of the most respected hospital evaluators in the country. While the criteria for selection was narrow, no other hospital in the Dallas/Ft. Worth Metroplex was chosen for this honor – ours was the only one.
For the second time this month, Ennis Regional Medical Center has been notified that the hard work the doctors, nursing staff, and support personnel have been doing to try to provide top-notch healthcare for Ellis County residents has not gone unnoticed.
Ennis Regional Medical Center has also been named in the Top 100 “Community Value Hospitals” in the U.S. by Cleverly and Associates, a leading healthcare financial consulting firm specializing in operational benchmarking and performance enhancement strategies. The announcement of ERMC’s standing was released as part of Cleverly and Associates’ new publication: State of the Hospital Industry — 2007 Edition.
We are very happy to see the tide has turned for our hospital and are confident additional oversight and continued work toward addressing the challenges our facility faces will reap great rewards for our community.
As we approach the opening in just a few months of our new state-of-the-art hospital facility, we are excited – and relieved - about what the future holds, in terms of high-quality, local healthcare for our citizens.
"in rode ERMC’s new owners, LifePoint Hospitals Inc., on what may very well turn out to be a big white horse."
Obviously the rough times mentioned in the article above were the creation of Province and Lifepoint....what changed?
(Ennis report sounds like the prefab spin, not to mention nebulous)
Transparancy and its accuracy plays a big role in the LPNT plunge. Hospital chains like this have had "dirty little secrets" for several years. The ownership of stocks has see-sawed back and forth depending on climate in each.
However, in the past, the reports and investigations were well hidden admidst a coalition of key people in key places both on national and local levels-which were hazardous to the communities they served(rural mostly). The consumers were kept uneducated/ and uninformed even when the behaviors of some of the institutes were grossly abusive.
During this time, the hospital chains were boasting huge "sales" and "glorious" profits and growth, which was fullfilling enough to investors-even if the corporations had been started with borrowed money. Consumers thought also that they must have been doing a fine job because it "looked" that way from the outside. After all, they controlled much of the media also.
However, when quality reports started surfacing, and the new age of internet began(thank you Al), along with transparancy laws starting to be implemented, information of the "happenings", began to educate all consumers. (Remember the Tenet Healthcare unnecesary cardiac proceedures and the office of inspector general investigations, as well as the HCA investigations by FBI-and many more-many before this year)
Additionally, medicare/medicaid got involved, and decided that perhaps they should see where their money was actually going, and started visiting the hospitals rather than allowing them to voluntarily send in their own reports-which had been done by hospital personnel (trained to keep smiling).
When the nation voted more democrats into office (in November), some of the issues began to surface and more voices heard. Pieces of larger puzzles began to be put together.
(Hind site is 20/20) They are still putting peices of the puzzle together.
They've begun limiting foreign doctors from jumping into American Healthcare with only minimal(and questionable)medical education and practically running some of America's hospitals-forcing American physicians to step aside and even question their own abilities-though that battle is still waging. Pharmecutical companies are being called into the court room,(And of course, media reporting the physicians connected with the bombing in UK brought more alerts)
And yes, this sight has had a well deserved contribution to the awareness of how this type of hospital chain is and has been operating for some time. Perhaps some investors wanted out to avoid "guilt by association". Perhaps some saw regulations as an impending threat, or fewer foreign doctors to staff rural American hospitals.
Something else to think about, before the war on terror, the topic of America's Healthcare was a large concern for all Americans. It was at the top of lists for politicians to address. Socialized medicine was frequently being mentioned. The Kaiser report recently, listed Healthcare as second among today's presidential candidates. Since, 9-11 these hospital chains have increased in size and assets with leaps and bounds. If there was a movement-say in the next 3 years to socialize medicine like Canada, how could this conversion be done? I hazard to think of the abuse and the lives that have been lost in some of these American hospitals since 9-11-01 due to greed and corruption, particularly if 9-11 was magnified to give a few time to prepare a larger ladle for dipping into one of America's perceived pots of gold. The abuse and deaths have touched and wounded thousands and thousands of hearts closely.
Now, a thought provoking story: Several years ago, a very intelligent man (self made millionare from basic means-yet with a lot of common sense) was diagnosed with terminal cancer(one to two years at best). After researching the institution and deciding where he wanted to access his medical care, he went out of his state and acquired it. He did so with the understanding that every year he came back for his check-ups he would donate a large sum of money to the institution. After around four years, they are still receiving his annual donation. Key thought: He paid them to help him stay healthy .....to live a normal life. He says a large part of it is diet, exercise, and educating himself on all aspects of his healthcare and weighing his decisions.
It was projected several years ago that the more education Americans received, with developing technology, quicker diagnosis, and accuracy of data, there would become a lesser demand for lengthy hospital stays. Now, if you were a hospital or hospital chain, in a an economy of supply and demand, how could you try to safeguard your future income? Would it be by quickly curing everyone? Are there ways that demand could be increased? Are there ways that the supply of caregivers could be controlled?
Only in a trusted environement, and incidents like DMRC make lasting impressions. Not only for this corporation and its sister corporations, but the whole image could reflect on all American medicine. Again, guilt by association. The personality related to one could be inadvertantly blanketed to all (like calling all tissues a Kleenex). American healthcare has already gone below many others on an international scale. How in the world could there be almost 100,000 accidental deaths in hospitals per year if those running and regulating them were the genius caliber that they claim?
To sum up, I would say that Intelligent Rural America got tired of being sacrificial lambs, for false prophets. We were all created equal in the eyes of God, and each and every one in His image. This can never be stolen from us.
"If you have done it to the least of these, you have done it to me."
Wow...that was one long post. Couldn't you have shortened it by saying there was another guy on the grassy knoll that ascended into a UFO after the shot?
Come on, the writer is thoughtful and serious.
Could SE sum up the ERMC material? Was Lifepoint a white horse?????
From the limited reading I've done on Ennis, LifePoint bought Ennis from Province in 2004 (deal was final in 2005, just like DRMC).
One of the editorials from 2007 references all of the bad times they've had and they portrayed LifePoint as the "white horse". What I can't figure out is if there were troubles between 2005 adn 2007 then wouldn't those have been caused by LifePoint?
Hmmm...maybe we could e-mail the editor of the Ennis newspaper to clarify the timeline.
Another thought provoking story:
Suppose a hospital chain had initiated and continued their operations on a large amount of indebtedness. Instead of paying off that debt, as they operated they continued paying huge salaries within the management.
Then, all of a sudden, the debt became due. How would they pay it back? How would the funds be acquired?
They could look to liquidate some assets(although this is sometimes very painful).
They could also look to the indebtedness of customers. They would analyze their "bad debt". They would make strong efforts to collect those debts. Now lets say that some of the indebtedness has been made by those who's health insurance only paid part. The consumer has to pay the rest.(And sometimes that's like squeezing blood out of a turnip-particualarly if they have no savings.) So, how else could the money be acquired by the consumer to pay the corporation?
They are retired or unemployed,and any fixed income only supports immediate needs, pharmecy exp., food, gas, credit card interest, etc. They spin their wheels just to get through month by month. Where could any other money come from to pay this indebtedness to pay the indebtedness? Hmmmmmmm............Well if they die, there might be a life insurance policy assigned to the estate..................................but is that data available demographically?
Could there really be much blood in turnips? If so, which kind?
This is a prime example of why healthcare is going down the tubes. When the company is only interested in making profit for its investors the patients are the ones that suffer needlessly. As a non profit hospital we didn't need investors. Lifepoint has trashed our hospital.
But take heart that Danville, unlike other communities, is resisting Lifepoint by using other non-profits close by. The service is better, and the quality is for, far better. And it helps send the message that while they may see us as "lowhanging fruit," they made a big mistake this time. I am very proud of our community.
I moved out of Danville about the time the crooks sold the hospital, but I have followed the events since then. Have Danville people ever before stepped up and fought back before? It's thrilling to see this spirit.
If only some leadership will emerge from this. It is appalling to consider the fundamental sorriness of our leadership in this town. But maybe there's hope.
So...BINGO...LifePoint ain't all that bad for Ennis Texas and no one here wants to admit it...worse yet, wants to llok for every opportunity to "say it ain't so."
A better definition of the point:
"When you make a deal with the devil, you had better know what you are doing. Lifepoint didn't. It's management didn't."
The bank boys did the same thing.
This is called "Stupid egos can destroy many." (Simple enough for you?)
If any of the above leadership were half the individuals they thought they were, they would have had enough character to stand up and say, "I apoligize for your grief and the danger it poses to the community. Please forgive me for my part of the responsibility in it. Although you may not trust me, please understand that I'm not perfect, and I plan to join the team now and make things better. How can I help?"
Then step by step you could make yourself credible again. But if you don't have that much character, then you are not a member of any team, nor leader. Your childlike behavior (irresponsible) needs to go back to square one on the grow-up grid. This time it's people's lives we are discussing, not a game of rummy!
So take your Bingo somewhere else and play scrabble with it. Let me help you-because you lack in interpretation skills..........you can make "Big no" for starters.
If you wanted a feather in your hat, we don't pass those out to just anyone anymore.
"So...BINGO...LifePoint ain't all that bad for Ennis Texas and no one here wants to admit it..."
Who says "It aint all that bad"? Did you read the article? If everything was so wonderful why would they say...
"he indicated an understanding of the importance and value of earning the community’s trust. Ennis Regional Medical Center administration has endured some rough waters and harsh criticism in recent months. We have expressed before that it’s our hope the hospital and community can move forward and put that behind us."?
Sound vaguely familiar? Why do they need to rebuild community trust? What are the "rough waters"? What do they want to "put behind us"?
Or how about "we wanted that done with an acknowledgement by hospital management of the problems and a positive, honest approach toward fixing what needs to be fixed – not just a whitewash of some serious issues that needed to be addressed "
Serious issues that have been whitewashed by current administration (ie Ruth)?
I'm not so sure I would consider those quotes to mean "LifePoint ain't all that bad for Ennis Texas"
In fact seems like same song that's being sung here, just a different verse. Even the same "group" singing.
And could it be the Ennis newspaper is trying to regain advertising dollars from ERMC?
It's all means of manipulation to collect money, power, wealth, control, and then recycle again, again, again, growing into a compounding effect of wealth on one side, and poverty on the other.
Wealth then attempts to controls all by using "Financial Strength over Financial Weakness" and their punches are obscure.
Until communities begin recognizing that "Ego" is not always "Intelligence", the blind can continue leading the blind.
Until the "Ego" realizes that it can only lead by Example(which could mean letting go of greed), it will try to continue operating the same schemes.
Until the weak become strong, this will not change.
Real education (not false education) is the true power here.
One can learn so much more by really doing rather than "saying" he did.
If only our nation, states, communities could learn to be more "pro-active" rather than "re-active"........the future of this nation would be so much brighter.
Greed has such a crippling effect on progress.
Wow... so true!
Surgery center could mean ‘war’ for hospital
Ennis Daily News
07-25-2007
Hot on the heels of the success story that is the new Ennis hospital, seeds of irritation are growing.
Some of those who attended the packed-house Planning and Zoning Commission meeting last night said they see Sam Ventura’s selling of 3.697 acres on the east side of the 800 block of U.S. Hwy. 287 Bypass for a 30,000-square-foot medical facility – including a surgery center – as direct competition to the $35 million bond-approved, citizen-owned facility. It was called an act of “war.”
“If we have a surgery center that skims off the patients who pay then we are going to have war,” Dr. William Kinzie said at Monday’s meeting. His words reflected the problems he and others see in a surgery center that would treat only patients who can pay their bill, leaving those who can’t afford to pay for medical care to use Ennis Regional Medical Center.
Ventura told the commission and the more than 30 citizens, architects and medical personnel in attendance that he was “just selling the land” and he was not in charge of what went on the land.
“This is not a surprise,” said Ventura of the surgery center. “LifePoint (the company that partnered with the City of Ennis to construct and operate the new hospital) had a chance to own 50 percent of this but they wanted to own 100 percent. This facility was known about before any plan for the hospital was drawn up.”
Ventura said he knew the surgery center would be in direct competition with the new hospital and the hospital was going to have to be competitive and live up to its competition.
“Any time you build something that great, it is going to attract other business,” Ventura said in regards to the new ERMC facility.
“Surgery centers don’t pop up in communities like this because physicians want them. They pop up because citizens want them,” said Greg Francis, representative of The Cirrus Group who will be leasing the proposed property to physicians.
“(The hospital is) going to be a success not because of you, but in spite of you,” Kinzie said to Ventura.
“I’m just selling the land,” Ventura repeatedly stated.
“I have no doubt this facility will injure our hospital,” City Manager Steve Howerton said.
ERMC CEO Dan McLean asked the City to consider making medical care in Ennis a level playing field for all involved by forcing the surgery center to take all patients requesting their service.
After several minutes of discussion among the audience, Commission members explained they were only there to supervise building plans and city zoning, and would disregard their personal beliefs as to whether or not the facility would compete with another business in town. The Commission ended the debate concerning health care competition by approving the Planned Development Site Plan for the tract of land.
This sounds very much like the proposed urgent care, ambulatory surgery, and dianostic imaging center Centra Health is proposing to build within the Blairs community (around where the new Wal-Mart is going up).This is what prompted the stern e-mail many of the doctors received from Jess Judy. It appears that many small communities are fighting back to save their local hospitals and to take health care into their own hands. Congratulations to Ennis Texas for putting up a good fight.
“LifePoint (the company that partnered with the City of Ennis to construct and operate the new hospital) had a chance to own 50 percent of this but they wanted to own 100 percent."
“Surgery centers don’t pop up in communities like this because physicians want them. They pop up because citizens want them.”
Interesting points....
The way I see it.
The town government is at worst corrupt, at best inept. Lifepoint Hospitals, a big for- proffit corporation,took over and made some big mistakes causing a complete failure to intergrate DRMC. They pretty much turned the hospital inside out and pissed off the whole town. Here we are- Where do we go now?
Is running Lifepoint out of town really what you want? Would you have them close the doors and walk away,sell to the highest bidder? Do you think anyone decent who read all this would want to buy our hospital? I will repeat what I have read here before. Be careful what you wish for.
Let me tell you why surgery centers "pop up." medicare continues to cut physician reimbursement, so physicians musy look for additional revenue streams...and that's perfectly okay in a free market economy. However the truth of the matter is that just last year there were more than 25 of these kinds of centers across the country that closed , were sold or just otherwise ceased to exist because doctors are not good businessmen or women. They typically get sold a bill of goods by companies that will build these centers and then a year later, they realize its a business and that they're not prepared for the financial risk. They usually come running back to the hospital from which they've been skimming cases away and ask for them to buy it...or worse yet, demand that the hospital either buy it or they'll go to a competing organization to sell it. Interstingly, the same kinds of supplies and equipment they demand the hospital buy for the OR, you'll seldom find in these privately owned surgery centers. Why? Docs don't want to spend their own financial resources. Again, that's ok, but they should expect the hospital to buy them either...for the very same reason.
Hallelujah to the immediate two previus posts. Reason is starting to gain traction!
With the proposed surgical center that might be built in Blairs, the doctors are not going to own this facility. It will be owned by an orginization with an outstanding history of patient care and safety..Centra health. So the argument that doctors will eventually lose money because they do not know how to run a business just doesn't wash. This will not be a free standing surgical center like Surg-Con or Healthsouth, but a facility that is owned and ran by a facility is just 50 miles up the road.
"Do you think anyone decent who read all this would want to buy our hospital?"
As a matter of fact I do. Anyone decent in the industry would be well aware of what Lifepoint has done here and other places, and similarly aware that a good facility and good staff could once again provide good service. With the right leadership and owners.
Anyone decent in the industry knows that integrating a non- proffit hospital into a for- proffit organization is an extremely difficult task. It is a long hard road in the best of circumstances. Due dilligence would reveal the history of public outrage with the community leaders over the sale and the inability of many to move forward with Lifepoint under any circumstances.
Lifepoint is not the root of all evil. They are simply people who made some errors and are doing the best they can to make things right. They are obviously being undermined in their efforts.
In all my many years in healthcare I have never heard of anyone even considering publishing survey findings. I haven't seen one kudos to them for doing so. Folks, this just simply isn't done. It shows me they are going way above and beyond the norm.
Please, must be a manager within Ruth's circle. Every hospital in America that passes the inspection will gladly show you how well they are doing. It is only when they fail miserabely that they try to hide the facts from the workers and citizens of a community.
Absolutely
Look at any Sunday paper employment section. Magnet status' and Gold Seal's everywhere......
nothing to hide and all non-profit.
Where in the hell did this woman Ruth McDaniel come from?
People should read this.
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