| Topic: |
Politics > Politics-USA |
| User: |
"George Washington Admirer" |
| Date: |
29 Aug 2006 01:20:32 AM |
| Object: |
Non-paying illegal aliens on verge of closing yet ANOTHER U.S. hospital |
"Memorial [Hospital] ... has a long track
record of financial losses ... Emergency
rooms can be a financial drain on hospitals
because, by law, they are required to screen
and stabilize any patient who comes to them,
regardless of insurance status."
... AND ANYONE WITH A BARE MINIMUM OF ABILITY TO READ BETWEEN THE
PRO-ILLEGAL-ALIEN L.A. TIMES' POLITICALLY CORRECT LINES KNOWS WHAT
*THAT* MEANS ...
________________________________________________________________
Los Angeles County May Lose Another ER
Memorial Hospital in Inglewood is looking into shifting patients to its
sister Centinela campus and other sites in a bid to save money.
By Charles Ornstein
Times Staff Writer
August 28, 2006
Centinela Freeman HealthSystem is considering closing the emergency
room at its Memorial campus in Inglewood, a step health experts and
patient advocates say could further destabilize Los Angeles County's
fragile emergency care network.
The health system said it is reviewing a plan that would shift the
patients treated in Memorial's emergency room to its Centinela campus,
also in Inglewood, about 1 1/2 miles away. A decision is expected
within 30 days.
Memorial, formerly known as Daniel Freeman Memorial Hospital, treated
about 38,000 patients in its emergency room last year. Centinela
treated about the same number, but it has room to handle more,
officials say.
If the Memorial emergency room is closed, it would mark a major turning
point for the 358-bed hospital, which has had three owners in the last
five years. Earlier this year, the health system moved obstetric
services from Memorial to 370-bed Centinela.
"These are tough decisions," health system President and Chief
Executive Michael A. Rembis said in an interview. "We are losing a lot
of sleep over this. We're going to do what we believe is best for the
community."
But Carol Meyer, director of Los Angeles County's emergency medical
services agency, called the prospect "devastating." She noted that nine
emergency rooms had shut their doors in the county in recent years, but
said: "This is going to be the biggest one yet."
"I want the public to know that their healthcare system is in
jeopardy," she said.
If the plan goes forward, the hospital system said it would add two new
urgent-care centers — at Memorial and Centinela — with extended hours
to increase access to urgent and primary-care services.
"I don't think parents are well served waiting six or eight hours for
antibiotics for their child" in the emergency room, Rembis said. "You
can get access to care quicker, faster and far less expensive going to
an urgent-care center."
But community leaders say they feel betrayed by the news.
"It's a good business model but it's very bad for healthcare," said
Lark Galloway-Gilliam, executive director of Community Health Councils
Inc., a consumer advocacy group. "I am so angry. The sad thing is we
don't have any control over this situation."
Galloway-Gilliam said she is particularly upset because community
leaders took the health system's side earlier this year in a contract
dispute with Blue Cross of California. If negotiations had fallen
through, Memorial could have been forced to close, hospital officials
say.
The emergency room at Memorial must remain open at least until
mid-December because of an agreement between the state attorney general
and Tenet Healthcare Corp., the hospital's former owner.
When Tenet purchased Daniel Freeman Memorial from a nonprofit chain in
2001, it agreed not to close the emergency room for at least five years.
That deal remains in effect even though Tenet sold Memorial, Centinela
and a third, 166-bed hospital in Marina del Rey to a private investment
group led by the facilities' managers in 2004.
At the time of the most recent sale, the new owners said they would
keep all three emergency rooms open.
Last month, Centinela Freeman borrowed $65 million by mortgaging the
Centinela and Marina hospitals. Some of that money was used to pay off
a higher-interest loan to investors, Rembis said, though he would not
provide specifics.
Memorial was not included in the mortgage transaction, leading
community leaders, including Galloway-Gilliam, to question whether the
hospital would be put up for sale.
Rembis said Memorial was left out because it has a long track record of
financial losses. In order to make the hospital viable, it will have to
"look very different in the future," he added.
One scenario being discussed calls for cutting the number of inpatient
beds and replacing them with some combination of rehabilitation
services, a skilled nursing unit, long-term acute-care beds and a
hospice.
The health system said it had hired the Camden Group, a consulting
firm, to analyze its options and the potential effect of closing the
Memorial emergency room. The study found that nearly two-thirds of the
emergency room patients at Memorial and Centinela were treated for
non-emergency and non-life-threatening conditions, the system said.
Data submitted by Memorial to the Office of Statewide Health Planning
and Development showed that Memorial treated 16,000 patients last year
that it characterized as "severe," representing about 42% of all
emergency room patients.
Details on emergency room visits last year at Centinela are not yet
available on the agency's website.
Jim Lott, executive vice president of the Hospital Assn. of Southern
California, said the emergency room at Centinela can absorb some of the
patient load currently seen by Memorial, but he is concerned about
whether other area hospitals can too.
"It's not like you can just pack up all the patients and move them to
Centinela," Lott said. "You just can't control EMS traffic."
Emergency rooms can be a financial drain on hospitals because, by law,
they are required to screen and stabilize any patient who comes to
them, regardless of insurance status.
By comparison, hospitals without emergency rooms can offer only those
services with acceptable profit margins and screen which patients they
admit.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-er28aug28,1,5581970.story
--
EMAIL THESE LINKS TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW:
http://www.predatoryaliens.com
http://www.immigrationshumancost.org
http://www.daylaborers.org
http://www.newnation.com/index2.html
"The Illegal-Alien Crime Wave" by Heather Mac Donald
http://www.city-journal.org/html/14_1_the_illegal_alien.html
http://idexer.com
www.AmericanPatrol.com
www.SaveOurState.org
www.escapingjustice.com
http://reportillegals.com/
www.deputydavidmarch.com
www.kriseggle.org
.
|
|
| User: "c-bee1" |
|
| Title: Re: Non-paying illegal aliens on verge of closing yet ANOTHER U.S. hospital |
29 Aug 2006 08:37:12 AM |
|
|
"George Washington Admirer" <GeorgeWashingtonAdmirer@adelphia.net> wrote in
message news:FNadncUln84tQW7ZnZ2dnUVZ_t6dnZ2d@adelphia.com...
"Memorial [Hospital] ... has a long track
record of financial losses ... Emergency
rooms can be a financial drain on hospitals
because, by law, they are required to screen
and stabilize any patient who comes to them,
regardless of insurance status."
... AND ANYONE WITH A BARE MINIMUM OF ABILITY TO READ BETWEEN THE
PRO-ILLEGAL-ALIEN L.A. TIMES' POLITICALLY CORRECT LINES
k00k-a-d00dle-d00!!
KNOWS WHAT
*THAT* MEANS ...
________________________________________________________________
Los Angeles County May Lose Another ER
Memorial Hospital in Inglewood is looking into shifting patients to its
sister Centinela campus and other sites in a bid to save money.
By Charles Ornstein
Times Staff Writer
August 28, 2006
Centinela Freeman HealthSystem is considering closing the emergency
room at its Memorial campus in Inglewood, a step health experts and
patient advocates say could further destabilize Los Angeles County's
fragile emergency care network.
The health system said it is reviewing a plan that would shift the
patients treated in Memorial's emergency room to its Centinela campus,
also in Inglewood, about 1 1/2 miles away. A decision is expected
within 30 days.
Memorial, formerly known as Daniel Freeman Memorial Hospital, treated
about 38,000 patients in its emergency room last year. Centinela
treated about the same number, but it has room to handle more,
officials say.
If the Memorial emergency room is closed, it would mark a major turning
point for the 358-bed hospital, which has had three owners in the last
five years. Earlier this year, the health system moved obstetric
services from Memorial to 370-bed Centinela.
"These are tough decisions," health system President and Chief
Executive Michael A. Rembis said in an interview. "We are losing a lot
of sleep over this. We're going to do what we believe is best for the
community."
But Carol Meyer, director of Los Angeles County's emergency medical
services agency, called the prospect "devastating." She noted that nine
emergency rooms had shut their doors in the county in recent years, but
said: "This is going to be the biggest one yet."
"I want the public to know that their healthcare system is in
jeopardy," she said.
If the plan goes forward, the hospital system said it would add two new
urgent-care centers - at Memorial and Centinela - with extended hours
to increase access to urgent and primary-care services.
"I don't think parents are well served waiting six or eight hours for
antibiotics for their child" in the emergency room, Rembis said. "You
can get access to care quicker, faster and far less expensive going to
an urgent-care center."
But community leaders say they feel betrayed by the news.
"It's a good business model but it's very bad for healthcare," said
Lark Galloway-Gilliam, executive director of Community Health Councils
Inc., a consumer advocacy group. "I am so angry. The sad thing is we
don't have any control over this situation."
Galloway-Gilliam said she is particularly upset because community
leaders took the health system's side earlier this year in a contract
dispute with Blue Cross of California. If negotiations had fallen
through, Memorial could have been forced to close, hospital officials
say.
The emergency room at Memorial must remain open at least until
mid-December because of an agreement between the state attorney general
and Tenet Healthcare Corp., the hospital's former owner.
When Tenet purchased Daniel Freeman Memorial from a nonprofit chain in
2001, it agreed not to close the emergency room for at least five years.
That deal remains in effect even though Tenet sold Memorial, Centinela
and a third, 166-bed hospital in Marina del Rey to a private investment
group led by the facilities' managers in 2004.
At the time of the most recent sale, the new owners said they would
keep all three emergency rooms open.
Last month, Centinela Freeman borrowed $65 million by mortgaging the
Centinela and Marina hospitals. Some of that money was used to pay off
a higher-interest loan to investors, Rembis said, though he would not
provide specifics.
Memorial was not included in the mortgage transaction, leading
community leaders, including Galloway-Gilliam, to question whether the
hospital would be put up for sale.
Rembis said Memorial was left out because it has a long track record of
financial losses. In order to make the hospital viable, it will have to
"look very different in the future," he added.
One scenario being discussed calls for cutting the number of inpatient
beds and replacing them with some combination of rehabilitation
services, a skilled nursing unit, long-term acute-care beds and a
hospice.
The health system said it had hired the Camden Group, a consulting
firm, to analyze its options and the potential effect of closing the
Memorial emergency room. The study found that nearly two-thirds of the
emergency room patients at Memorial and Centinela were treated for
non-emergency and non-life-threatening conditions, the system said.
Data submitted by Memorial to the Office of Statewide Health Planning
and Development showed that Memorial treated 16,000 patients last year
that it characterized as "severe," representing about 42% of all
emergency room patients.
Details on emergency room visits last year at Centinela are not yet
available on the agency's website.
Jim Lott, executive vice president of the Hospital Assn. of Southern
California, said the emergency room at Centinela can absorb some of the
patient load currently seen by Memorial, but he is concerned about
whether other area hospitals can too.
"It's not like you can just pack up all the patients and move them to
Centinela," Lott said. "You just can't control EMS traffic."
Emergency rooms can be a financial drain on hospitals because, by law,
they are required to screen and stabilize any patient who comes to
them, regardless of insurance status.
By comparison, hospitals without emergency rooms can offer only those
services with acceptable profit margins and screen which patients they
admit.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-er28aug28,1,5581970.story
--
EMAIL THESE LINKS TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW:
http://www.predatoryaliens.com
http://www.immigrationshumancost.org
http://www.daylaborers.org
http://www.newnation.com/index2.html
"The Illegal-Alien Crime Wave" by Heather Mac Donald
http://www.city-journal.org/html/14_1_the_illegal_alien.html
http://idexer.com
www.AmericanPatrol.com
www.SaveOurState.org
www.escapingjustice.com
http://reportillegals.com/
www.deputydavidmarch.com
www.kriseggle.org
.
|
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