If you’re in the market for an excellent 410 bed hospital, the Chicago suburb of Blue Island has one that it’ll let you have for free, says the Chicago Tribune.
In a stunning development underscoring the plight of non-profit hospitals struggling with the increase in uninsured patients, the Catholic ownership of St. Francis Hospital & Health Center on Wednesday said it will shutter the hospital because nobody would buy it.
The religious order of nuns that oversees St. Louis-based SSM Health Care said it could not even give the hospital away to other health facilities “for free.”
Saddled with tens of millions of dollars in losses from uninsured patients who could not pay their medical bills, St. Francis would be abandoning its core mission of caring “for the people of its communities regardless of their ability to pay.” SSM will seek a closing application with the state, a process that could take several months.
The closing would erase a deeply established health-care facility in a struggling south suburban town, forcing residents to travel further from home and potentially stressing other facilities with an influx of thousands of patients, many with limited means.
“Unfortunately, in spite of St. Francis’ outstanding clinical reputation, reimbursement from commercial insurers could not cover the cost of providing care to the growing number of Medicaid and uninsured patients,” said Sister Mary Jean Ryan, SSM’s chief executive officer.
Established in 1905, the Tribune says that St. Francis was known for its excellent cardiology program housed in a $34 million state-of-the-art addition that was completed in 2003. Any takers?
Maybe a network needs a realistic set for a TV doctor show?
SSM to Close St. Francis Hospital & Health Center (Press Release) [St. Francis]
The hospital they just couldn’t save [Chicago Tribune via WSJ Health Blog]
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It’s a shame that the people who can pay, or who are insured, are going to suffer because some people can’t pay their debts. If the hospital denied coverage to those who can’t pay/aren’t insured, it could continue to operate and serve at least some of the population, instead of closing and serving nobody.
@johnva: Alright fair enough. I feel passionately about this country as well. I’ve trying to be civil as well.
There is no way to say this without sounding like a mindless zealot, but that’s fine if people want to call me that, have you ever listened to Rush Limbaugh or Bill O’Reilly. I always try to push people to listen to them, not so much because I want them to fall in line with those beliefs, but, they are more informed on day-2-day topics then most. They present a different bias of news then the rest of the networks present, and if nothing else, can help you brain storm more about your idealogies.
Through listening to these people, which is about the only conservativism I get daily. Everything I read and watch is on liberal networks (I dont even get the fox news channel), I have determined that Liberals want to change way too much about this about this country. And each success they get, paves the way for more changes. You give them an inch, they take a mile. Today its healthcare, tomorrow we’re japan. Monday we’re china. That may sound extreme to you, but I think it’s because your fairly intelligent, and you sound moderate. But don’t forget the people in power are usually not. Hell, look at this: [en.wikipedia.org]
Yes, we have a senator that is a self-proclaimed socialist. This is not good. We are being stripped of our culture to be ‘fair’ to everyone. Life isn’t fair. This private hospital was closed for being fair. I hope no one dies in an ambulance having to go the extra miles down the road to the next hospital.
unfortunately, there are many issues at play in regards to modern healthcare in the united states. many excellent comments have been made thus far, but i would like to add a few:
1. illinois medicaid (IDPA) is notorious for late/slow payments. it is not unusual for my group to have payments 6 MONTHS in arrears from the state. you can call the state one time to find out when payment is forthcoming. while IDPA does reimburse as well (if not better than some private party payers) for prental care and delivery services, they reimburse horribly for nonpregnancy related office visits and gynecologic surgery.
2. this hospital is located in cook county – which now occupies the number three slot in the ATRA’s list of “judicial hellholes” after southern florida and the rio grande valley. while we can debate whether or not this has any direct bearing on malpractice insurance rates, the companines providing malpractice insurance believe that it does. as a consequence, malpractice rates are quite high in these counties. in the two southern illinois counties (madison and st. claire), premiums for high risk specialties like OB/GYN, orthopedics, general surgery, and neurosurgery can approach $100,000 per year regardless of claims history. if one receives about $2000 for routine prenatal care and delivery (basically nine months of care), you have to deliver 50 babies to pay for malpractice alone.
3. several commenters have suggested turning away or refusing care to patients that cannot pay. this is illegal and violates the federal emergency medical treatment and active labor act (EMTALA).
4. several commenters have mentioned the national healthcare plans of western europe or canada. while it is true you will be eligible for care, you may wait a long time to receive it.
5. many people do not understand the billing process involved in medicine. i can say a charge a gazillion dollars for a procedure, but reimbursement is set by a rate contracted by the payor. this rate is rarely significantly different from provider to provider. if you are paying in cash, then you can often negotiate your rates. if you have insurance, you really do not have all that much wiggle room.
6. most medicaid programs do offer generous benefits for contraception (birth control pills, injectables like DepoProvera, and even permanent sterilization). i can understand why people would like to be able to limit reproduction in persons that require state assistance. this, however, is viewed ethically in a poor light. whether the indigent patient understands this, or not, is immaterial. reproduction is viewed as an inherent human right. legislating or mandating reproductive behavior is no different than mandating government control over other personal behaviors. the federal government takes the sterilization of medicaid patients very seriously. permanent sterilization procedures in medicaid patients require a MANDATORY documented 30 day waiting period (with some reasonable, but rare exceptions) prior to performance of the procedure. lack of compliance means lack of all reimbursement to both the provider and the hospital.
anyway, these are some other points to ponder.
@LintySoul: If you complain that your neighbor is not paying taxes, thus making yours go up, then perhaps you should consider these the flaws of the tax system and not those of your neighbors.
Not sure if this was directed at me, but: If the neighbors are illegal immigrants working under the table, that’s not a flaw of the tax system, that’s entirely on the shoulders of the neighbors who are breaking the law to be here and not paying their way while using our social services extensively and, in many cases, bankrupting them.
@Skankingmike: My point, is that I’m an American. Bad or worse that’s what I am. I’m not a European.
This is funny, on the front page of the Wall Street Journal today is a totally contradictary report: “Nonprofit Hospitals, One For the Poor, Strike it Rich” and goes on to describe how many non-profits are earning $250 million a year now and do better and for-profit ones.
@aldo37: It doesn’t seem to me that that article contradicts this. It says that the 50 largest non-profit hospitals are pulling in great income, mainly by cutting out charity care (in other words, caring for the uninsured) and catering to wealthier people by building fancy facilities and such. Actually, that supports what I’ve been saying. They are increasing the cost of care through these building binges, high executive salaries, etc and they’re doing it at the expense of the uninsured getting care. There are plenty of other non-profit and for-profit hospitals going bankrupt, often because they actually care about providing services to people that can’t afford it.
@Bladefist-미êµì‚¬ëžŒ:
The biggest problem I have with your philosophy is that you seem to suggest that maintaining the status quo is possible. It isn’t.
You claim that liberals “want to change too much about this country” and that you “give them an inch, and they take a mile.” But liberals are not the cause of change — change is the cause of change. The fact is, as time progresses, social, economic, and geopolitical circumstances shift dramatically. True, the country’s *policies* may remain fixed, but the practical result of those policies cannot.
As an example, imagine if you owned a family restaurant. Imagine that, after many years, the restaurant has perfected its menu — filled with rich and indulgent dishes. Now imagine that consumers begin to gravitate to healthier lifestyles. What will happen? Well, you can do nothing, reasoning “my restaurant is perfect, and by God, I’m not going to change it because of those health Nazis.” But if consumers’ priorities have shifted, you will be driven out of business if you don’t adapt.
It’s exactly the same with countries. In the 1950s, for example, society was simpler. Back then, for example, it was possible for a (white) family to lead a comfortable middle-class existence, with the father putting in 40 hours a week at the steel plant and the mother caring for the children and the home. Such families found it practical to own one car, to own their home, and to visit the family doctor (or get a house call!) when one of the kids was sick.
After five decades of economic development, the picture is radically different. Prices for many necessities — housing, food, transportation, and especially medical care — far exceed those of the ’50s (even adjusted for inflation), even as wages for most people haven’t risen enough to compensate. A typical “middle class” family now has both parents working, often 50-60 hours a week, struggling to pay bills, and unable to afford a home. Dad’s job at the plant is no longer secure; the plant has been bought by a behemoth corporation that will lay off 15,000 loyal workers without batting an eye.
Meanwhile, the nation has become far richer — only thing is, all the gains went to people who were already rich to begin with. So, most of the population isn’t feeling any richer, although a highly visible superclass jets about with its $200,000 cars and $17 million homes. (This result is an inevitable consequence of unchecked capitalism, by the way.)
So, what’s the country to do? We could do nothing, maintain the status quo, and preserve its conservative principles. But if social inequality continues to grow at this rate, a total breakdown of the social order could occur.
Some of us think that’s a bad idea. So, we’re proposing to fix the system — to create safety nets and regulations to alleviate these unsustainable patterns. Apart from criticizing us as “liberals,” do you have a better suggestion?
Those cheap christians, providing free healthcare and then when they can’t afford it anymore bailing out! I’m surprised liberals aren’t blasting christians b/c of this. Bladefist, love the Korean comments and commments in general. Government run healthcare is NEVER the solution. Think about that girl who was denied treatment and died on the day the treatment was approved. The people can protest against a company, how are you going to protest against a nameless, faceless bureaucrat? The real issue is liability insurance. When presidential candidates can become uber rich from phony science and sue the crap out of companies then the system has no nope. Pointless lawsuit after lawsuit can pile up and just drown the system. Reform is more than just lowering costs but finding out the reasons why costs are out of control.
The argument that I keep hearing from Bladefist and the rest of his trust fund baby bretheren is that socialized health insurance would make the waiting room at the ER longer than it is. I don’t blame them, its just the way they were raised and the fact that they listen to assholes like Rush Limbaugh and Bill O’RLY as though they spoke the gospel truth.
The thing that makes ER waiting lines so damn long in the first place though is that Any hospital that has emergency facilities is REQUIRED TO TREAT REGARDLESS OF ABILITY TO PAY. That’s according to the law. Ear nose and throat doctors offices don’t have such a requirement nor do any other outpatient offices. So the poor people that can’t afford a primary care doctor go to the ER because the ER has to treat them. If these frequent ER visitors had health insurance, they would probably instead find an outpatient doctor to go to and go to him regularly and follow the physicians’ directives when tests are ordered. They get BETTER healthcare than they would at the ER and also ease the burden on ER staff so they have more time to take care of actual emergencies.
Also, I don’t know about the rest of you folks, but when you’re ill and don’t feel good at all, you aren’t very productive. If you stay home from work you’re not of much use doing houshold chores and if you don’t have sickpay you’re not of much use in your normal working duties either. Yeah, alot of the times you just “get over it” as our learned colleague Bladefist suggested those of us without daddy’s trust fund do. However, it takes a LOT longer to just “get over it” than it does to go to your doctor and get medications to help you fight off whatever it is you have. With government health insurance everyone can get the meds and get back on their feet and back to work faster making everybody more productive.
I also love how Bladefist hates paying for others. He seems to have no problem though buying equipment for the Department of Defense that it doesn’t really need. He also doesn’t seem to mind paying the USAF’s fuel bill doing approach/landing exercises that NASA has been doing in simulators for YEARS. But he’ll be goddamned if he has to pay for Little Timmy’s broken leg, or Susies Leukemia treatment.
I guess that’s where we differ. I got no problem paying for Little Timmy’s third broken bone from a stupid skateboard stunt OR Susies Leukemia treatment now PROVIDED that Timmy and Susie’s parents (or themselves when they grow up) pay for my replacement knee later. Of course I’m paying for someone else’s stupidity/misfortune now, but they may be paying for mine later on.
Oh, and for those saying that corporations will do the right thing in the end forget that to corporations “doing the right thing” is doing whatever it takes to make their stock close higher at the end of trading. You can thank the Michigan Supreme Court and Dodge v Ford Motor Company for that.
“The Court held that a business corporation is organized primarily for the profit of the stockholders, as opposed to the community or its employees.”
Henry Ford wanted to “Do the right thing” for his employees and the communities where his employees lived. However the Dodge brothers wanted none of that despite the fact that at the time FoMoCo had a $60 million capital surplus (in 1916).
Unless you’re a stock holder a business corporation has absolutely NO obligation to you, other than to steal the pennies off your eyes at your funeral (if they could get away with it) since stealing the pennies would amount to positive cash flow on the books.
Govt run Universal health care cannot be any worse then the system we have now. What we have now has failed to satisfy anyone and costs a fortune.
The current system is immoral and discourages people from getting the treatment they need.
Meanwhile we as taxpayers socialize the costs of airlines, manufacturing, farming, oil and other industries instead of spending money to keep our citizens in good health (unless you can get Medicare.)