UCH, Tarpon wrestle over lease details

Some differences over charity care, rent and other areas remain, but officials are confident an agreement on Helen Ellis can be worked out.

By KATHERINE GAZELLA

© St. Petersburg Times, published May 5, 2000

TARPON SPRINGS -- University Community Hospital has completed its version of a lease for Helen Ellis Memorial Hospital and it differs from the city's proposed lease in the areas of charity care and annual rent.

The two sides are working on their differences and hope to have a final lease in late May or early June. A July 11 referendum is planned so residents can vote on the new lease for the hospital, which operates in city-owned buildings.

A meeting between hospital and city officials on Wednesday "was very cordial, very productive," City Attorney John Hubbard said. "Nothing definitive was decided."

A lease submitted by UCH and Joseph Kiefer, administrator of the Tarpon Springs Hospital Foundation, says the hospital would continue to provide indigent or charity-care services at the level required under the Florida Health Care Responsibility Act. Helen Ellis now complies with those standards, said Calvin Glidewell, vice president of development for UCH, a Tampa-based hospital group.

That level of charity care is calculated as a percentage of total patient days.

In the city's version, the hospital would be required to offer charity care at current levels. The level ranges from $1.2-million a year to $2-million, Kiefer said.

Glidewell said UCH's approach to charity care is that "when someone comes into our emergency room . . . we'll treat them regardless of their ability to pay."

Hubbard said UCH's language on charity care "is pretty close to where we want to be," but the city would like the agreement to require more charity care than the state-regulated level.

On the issue of rent, the city's version of the 40-year lease would require $250,000 a year, with increases based on changes in the Consumer Price Index. UCH's version says rent will be $250,000 a year, without CPI-related increases.

The two versions differ in some language related to religion, but both versions say the hospital will remain a secular institution.

Both versions of the lease state that the hospital won't adopt any policies "that absolutely preclude the provision of abortion services." Glidewell said UCH's policy on abortions addresses a therapeutic or medical necessity for the procedure. Abortions are rarely performed at UCH's facilities or at Helen Ellis, he said, because many women choose to have the procedure done at clinics and other facilities.

Both versions also state that the hospital won't limit a patient's right to have a "do not resuscitate" order.

UCH has already signed an affiliation agreement with the Tarpon Springs Hospital Foundation, which operates 168-bed Helen Ellis. Under that agreement, UCH would take over Helen Ellis by becoming the sole member of the hospital foundation.

UCH would pay $20-million toward retiring Helen Ellis' bonds. An additional $3.4-million would come from a reserve fund the foundation set aside to make debt payments. The remaining amount, about $4.2-million, would be loaned to Helen Ellis by UCH.

Voters must approve the lease arrangement between the city and UCH. The affiliation agreement does not require voter approval.

UCH plans to submit a revised lease in 10 days or so, Hubbard said. City and hospital officials are scheduled to meet May 18 to negotiate details of the lease, and all parties hope to agree to a final version of the lease by June 1.

If voters approve the referendum, the closing date for the takeover deal will be Sept. 1.

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