Hospitals' move won't be without suffering

Agnes Otterstedt called last week, royally ticked off to hear that both Community and North Bay hospitals want to leave her city.

"I don't understand some of these things, but I know it's a bad move," said the 86-year-old New Port Richey resident. "A lot of old people live here. Those hospitals were built in this area because there were a lot of old people.

"By the time (a move would be) done, I won't be here. But the younger people need to be concerned."

Otterstedt isn't the only one who is upset. And she's not the only one with questions since the hospitals announced two weeks ago that they would ask the state for permission to move out.

Will all the doctors who have built their practices around those hospitals pack up and follow them to their new locations? Will both hospitals be allowed to move? Will the new locations be as accessible for the elderly and poor who live near the current locations and are accustomed to using them?

Many of these questions won't be answered until the Agency for Health Care Administration renders a decision in June.

Both hospitals must prove to the AHCA that there's a need for their services farther south in west Pasco. North Bay has said that it wants to go to Trinity; Community hasn't yet named a site.

Proving that area needs at least one hospital probably won't be much of a challenge since about 5,400 people live in Trinity now and 10,000 more are expected to move in by 2009.

But AHCA must decide: Does southwest Pasco need Community's 414 beds, or North Bay's 122? And what would the impact be on the area they leave?

Both hospitals say they plan to offer the same services, just in new state-of-the-art facilities. Officials from both hospitals pooh-poohed the idea that current patients wouldn't be able to access them in Trinity. They point out that they already serve patients from Trinity at their New Port Richey locations. North Bay's current location is just 8 miles from the land in Trinity where it wants to move.

But tell that to Otterstedt. For her, Trinity might as well be Timbuktu.

"We (the senior citizens) don't want to have to go all the way to Trinity to go to the hospital," she said. "It's too far."

Some bad medicine will be dispensed regardless of which hospital is allowed to move.

Helen Ellis Memorial Hospital in Tarpon Springs is bound to feel the impact when at least one state-of-the-art facility opens nearby. One-third of Helen Ellis' admissions currently come from Pasco County.

The city of New Port Richey stands to lose one of its biggest employers. Community Hospital employs about 1,000 people and North Bay has a staff of 500. If either leaves, the local businesses that serve all those workers certainly would feel a hit.

If Community Hospital leaves, the city would lose its biggest taxpayer. Community, which now pays the city $245,000 in property taxes, plans to raze the building if it leaves. Then, the city would only get about $9,000 in taxes from the property. And the city could potentially lose many other smaller taxpayers if the doctors with offices nearby follow the hospital out of the city.

Those are hard decisions doctors already are talking about.

"Physicians that are there for so many years and have invested in offices are going to have to make a hard decision about opening another office," said Dr. Jorge Ayub, who has offices near Community.

If the referring physicians go, there could be other ramifications for business such as Radiology Associates, which has an office next to Community Hospital. Though moving the office and all of the X-ray equipment would be an expensive proposition, it could be a necessity.

"It really depends on whether the additional competition opened up around the hospital and referring physicians wish to refer radiology services there," said Pat Epting, executive director of the group.

The hospitals would like everyone to start looking on the bright side: In the end, the public will get new, modern medical facilities.

But both hospitals either recently finished or are still doing multimillion-dollar expansion projects at their current sites.

Why bother if you want to move out? Officials say it's to provide the public with updated services in modern structures until the hospitals move. That might not happen until 2006.

Or it might not happen at all.

What if it doesn't?

Well, the public still gets updated services in modern facilities.

Thanks to the expansion projects in New Port Richey.

-- If you have an opinion on the proposed relocation of the hospitals, contact the Agency for Health Care Administration between March 13 and April 17. Write bureau chief Jeffrey N. Gregg at GreggJ@fdhc.state.fl.us or 2727 Mahan Drive, Mail Stop 28, Tallahassee, FL 32308.

-- Jennifer Goldblatt covers business in Pasco County. She can be reached in west Pasco at 869-6229, or toll-free at 1-800-333-7505, ext. 6229. Her e-mail address is goldblatt@sptimes.com.

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