Spokane7
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March 31, 2009 in City
Deficits may force Shriners to close facility
The Shriners Hospital for Children in Spokane, which provides pediatric specialty care programs at no cost to families, is on a list for possible closure. The charity’s endowment has lost $3 billion.
(Full-size photo)
Parents, former patients and the medical community reeled from Monday’s news that Shriners International may close its children’s hospital in Spokane.
The hospital is regarded by many as a city jewel – a group of specialists who have healed and helped children for 85 years.
“Closing Shriners would be devastating,” said Atania Gilmore. “As a mom, I just completely trust them to help us make the right decisions for our 9-year-old son.”
Grant Gilmore was born with scoliosis and a sunken chest, a condition called pectus excavatum.
The Shriners staff just fit him with new braces. Eventually he will need surgery.
Atania Gilmore has never received a bill.
“Just incredible,” she said. “The care they have provided for my son is invaluable. They are sensitive to his needs.”
The recession has hit the Shriners Hospitals for Children. The charity’s endowment has lost $3 billion, and its 22 hospitals across the country are losing a combined million dollars a day, said Ralph Semb, chairman of the board.
The Shriners board is trying to recover from losses and worsening budget deficits. One consideration is to close six of its hospitals – Spokane is on that list.
The Shriners organization has already voted against reopening its hospital in Galveston, Texas, which was damaged last year in Hurricane Ike.
Final decisions regarding closures will be made in July.
The Spokane hospital employs 172 people and each year treats about 8,500 children with orthopedic problems.
Peggy Mangiaracina, executive director of Sacred Heart Children’s Hospital, said the announcement was a surprise.
“This is a hospital with great outcomes,” she said of Shriners. “They play a specialized and important role for a huge region, and we hope to continue the close collaboration we have had.”
Telephone messages left at Shriners headquarters in Tampa, Fla., were not returned.
Children up to age 18 with orthopedic conditions, burns, spinal cord injuries, and cleft lips and palates are eligible for care.
There is no charge, regardless of financial need.
Shriners Hospital for Crippled Children opened as a unit at St. Luke’s Hospital on Summit Boulevard on Spokane’s North Side on Nov. 15, 1924.
The Spokane Chronicle story announcing it began: “Twenty happy children – crippled to be sure – but happy, are being cared for today in the Shrine Hospital for crippled children, in a wing at St. Luke’s Hospital. They have comfortable little beds, they are getting the best specialized treatment that money can buy, they are receiving the attention of kindly trained nurses and they are making friends with the Shriners and women of the Shrine auxiliary, who have made all this possible.”
On Nov. 3, 1930, after years of intense fundraising, the Shriners broke ground on a new hospital on the campus of St. Luke’s. It was a big community event. According to the Chronicle, the Shriners’ “imperial potentate” for North America “struck a spade in the ground” where the new “$50,000 Shrine Hospital for crippled children” will rise.
By the 1970s the Spokane hospital was outdated, and patient numbers lagged. So in the spring of 1980, the Shriners board voted to close the facility.
The decision, however, was quickly reversed. The hospital was awarded a reprieve and granted a new mission: research.
During the 1980s, Shriners renewed its commitment to Spokane and by 1988 had designed its new hospital across the street from Deaconess Medical Center, at 911 W. 5th Ave. The $20 million hospital, which opened in 1991, is now a place where physicians perform 650 surgeries each year. Last year, the Shriners dropped “crippled” from the name.
Lisa Samuels has high hopes for her son Matthew, a 12-year-old with Down syndrome who suffered a debilitating injury.
They have an appointment next week, and she hopes the Shriners specialists can help him overcome a painful spinal cord problem.
“He is in so much pain that he just cries all the time. This might be our last chance,” she said. “That’s why places like Shriners are so important.”
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maddog2you on March 31 at 8:06 a.m.
didn’t Obama primise healthcare for all in his campaign promises. Hospitals closing their doors? State slashing health care for the poor? Obama, where are you? Just another one of his lies I suppose?
biker on March 31 at 8:44 a.m.
If this is not more evidence that we need health reform and we need it now. So many people make money in the health care system in so many questionable and redundant ways it makes our government look like a mini-bureaucracy. It is out of control and must be changed. I am tired of the rhetoric downplay of socialized medicine and how it does not work. Who do think proliferates the self-serving propaganda that we the general layman public are force fed on a daily basis? The lobbyist and supporters of the current system that has no regard for the health of the nation and are more concerned with business as usual. The Shriner effort is one cause that truly deserves assistance from our government. Could you imagine the costs involved for the care of these kids without the Shriner support?
judyrolfe on March 31 at 10:02 a.m.
This story literally breaks my heart. Our daughter was compassionately cared for at the Spokane Unit for over 15 years. The folks at the Shrine Hospital literally put her on her feet when she was 3 years old and today she is an educated productive member of society. She would never have accompolished what she has in life without these folks. My heart breaks to think this institution will not be here to help other children in the future. There simply is not a more compassionate, caring, qualified group of medical providers and support staff anywhere in the world like the people at Shriners in Spokane. God Bless you all, as you sort through this devastating news and let’s all pray that God has other plans for this fine institution other than closing it’s doors!
Tom and Judy Rolfe, Helena, Montana