Spokane7
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June 20, 2009 in City
Sacred Heart growth rejected
State says Spokane has enough beds
State officials have rejected Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center’s plans to add 152 patient beds.
The decision by the Washington state Department of Health puts an end to a $175 million construction project that was expected to span several years and employ as many as 700 people.
“We’re surprised, disappointed and, quite frankly, saddened at this decision,” said Dr. Andrew Agwunobi, chief executive of Providence Health Care, “because we know the Department of Health is very objective. We also know, of course, that we need the beds.”
Executives at Deaconess Medical Center were reserved in praising the state’s decision after accusing Sacred Heart of embarking on an expansion plan that would sabotage Deaconess’ efforts to rebuild.
Sacred Heart treated a record number of patients last year. The hospital’s long-range planning team anticipates the trend will intensify in coming years as the region’s population grows and ages.
The hospital wanted to phase in the new beds, making it the largest hospital in Washington within five years. The project would have reshaped Sacred Heart’s campus by adding four floors to the west wing and expanding its emergency room and then topping it with two more floors.
State regulators determined that, when combined, Spokane’s four major hospitals have enough beds to handle the expected rise in patient numbers.
Hospitals must gain state approval before adding patient beds. Regulators review a community’s health care system as a whole and weigh the wishes of one hospital against criteria designed to ensure patient safety, access to care and cost containment, said Karen Jensen, the Health Department’s assistant secretary for health Systems Quality Assurance. “These are tough decisions for us,” she said.
The report outlined a patient-bed surplus in Spokane, counter to Sacred Heart’s contentions that more beds were needed.
As recently as 2007, the report said, as many as 308 patient beds were available per day between Sacred Heart and Deaconess Medical Center.
“We respect the thorough review conducted by the Department of Health and their emphasis placed on ensuring the appropriate number of beds for our community,” Deaconess said in a statement read by spokeswoman Christine Varela.
Some of Sacred Heart’s growing patient numbers have come at the expense of in-town rival Deaconess, whose struggle over much of a decade culminated in its sale last fall to for-profit Community Health Systems Inc.
“We must conclude that this (Sacred Heart) project is, at its core, an attempt to thwart efforts to rebuild and stabilize Deaconess and Valley Hospitals,” wrote Tim Hingtgen and Dennis Barts, the new chief executives of Deaconess and sister facility Valley Hospital and Medical Center. “Allowing an unnecessary and unneeded expansion of a provider that already has a near 50 percent market share at a time when two other hospitals are preparing to launch initiatives, programs, and services that will provide them stability is inconsistent” with state rules.
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mebythesea on June 20 at 7:43 a.m.
It really saddens me to see this. Sacred Heart should be allowed to do anything they want to do! This hospital is the pride of Eastern Washington and I have to think that Deaconess has something to do with this decision. Hopefully the state will reconsider….We need Sacred Heart to be everything it needs to be for the people of the Inland Northwest. You would think the State of Washington, if this decision is above board, would do anything to help them get this expansion going! Stinks of socialized medicine…and you DON’T want to go there!
liarsinnews on June 20 at 8:47 a.m.
Seems to me, Scared Heart spends a lot of money advertising on TV in a effort to win over patience’s from other local hospitals. Even the newly added childrens section, contributed to the demise of the Shriners Hospital. Don`t you have wonder why Scared Heart spends so much money on advertising?
Riteaidbob on June 20 at 6:18 p.m.
Hey “Dick”…You have NO clue as to what goes on in the medical community so please don’t post worthless comments about SHMC putting Shriners out of business. Your an ignorant fool.
As for the main story it is obvious the FOOLS in our states capital have NO CLUE what the “IMPORTANT” bed situation is in this city. There are plenty of beds for granny to get her bunion removed…let granny have a BIG heart attack or major trauma and you can kiss your options goodbye.
SHMC wants to expand ICU capabilty not general handnail bed care capabilty.
Deaconess MC is getting out of the Trauma business in a couple months and SHMC will be HARD PRESSED to provide beds for all the patients in need of ICU beds.
Hey “Dick”…Shriners can’t afford to provide care for FREE because of a bad economy and the losses they have occured in their holdings…you can thank Obama in a few more months when Shriners collapses completely from him turning our money into toilet paper via his rediculas deficit spending.
liarsinnews on June 21 at 2:24 p.m.
Mr. Rite aid Bob:
I guess maybe because of Scared Heart`s building on an addition without a permit a few years ago, blocking the view which citizens enjoyed, showing utter disregard for building codes in Spokane, makes me a person who might not always trust the SH administration that runs the hospital. I`ll check out how much money SH spends on TV adds and write a letter to the editor re my medical insurance costs and why I pay so much. BTW, you are entitled to your opinion and I thought in our great country everyone is without a cheap shot re name calling.