Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies
The agreement calls for Tampa General Hospital to give the public financial reports four times a year.
By DAVID KARP
© St. Petersburg Times, published August 17, 2000
The four-page agreement commits Tampa General, a private non-profit hospital on Davis Islands, to giving the public financial reports four times a year and a business plan annually. The agreement also pledges in broad terms more cooperation between the hospital and county government.
In return, the hospital could get up to $5-million in tax support from the commission next year to pay for treating poor patients through its busy emergency room.
"This heals the community," Commissioner Jim Norman said.
But even as commissioners praised the agreement, Commissioner Pat Frank pointed out that the dealcontains lots of holes. It does not say what information must be included in the financial reports. And the agreement, which is just a four-page memorandum of understanding, isn't enforceable in a court of law.
"It's a facade," said Frank, who voted against the agreement along with Commissioner Ronda Storms.
County Administrator Dan Kleman, who negotiated the deal with Tampa General's chief executive officer, acknowledged that it had shortcomings.
But it was the best he could get.
The commission lost most of its authority over Tampa General in 1997 when it did nothing to stop the 877-bed hospital from going private. The county hospital authority turned over TGH, which had been the city's public hospital for more than 70 years, to a private company and gave the public little oversight over its management.
Since then, the private non-profit has lost about $30-million. This spring, to stop its mounting losses, it lobbied the Legislature to get a tax package worth about $20-million. The Legislature also forced the commission to give TGH $3.5-million with no strings attached.
Wednesday's agreement could increase the commission's tax commitment to $5-million, but would give the commission limited power to make sure the money pays for treating poor patients in TGH's emergency room. "I just think this is a major step forward," Commissioner Jan Platt said. "They did not have to do any of this."
But as Frank said, the hospital did not agree to do much. TGH's board still has not signed off on changes to its lease that would make it harder for the company to sell TGH to another hospital corporation. Hospital lawyer Jim Kennedy agreed months ago to the change, but he approved any legally-binding agreement. The hospital promised Wednesday to continue negotiating the issue "in good faith."
"I don't have the same degree of comfort," Storms told her colleagues before the vote. "I don't know why I'm not in the nest. I'm out here in the cold. I would like to get in the warm, fuzzy state you are in."
- Times Staff Writer David Karp can be reached at (813) 226-3376.