Impasse might end Bayfront's alliance

The hospital plans to take a proposal directly to the St. Petersburg City Council in an effort to resolve their dispute.

By WES ALLISON

© St. Petersburg Times, published September 15, 2000

TAMPA -- Attorneys for Bayfront Medical Center told a federal judge Thursday that negotiations with the city of St. Petersburg over Catholic influence on the hospital are at an impasse, but that the hospital will bring the City Council a proposal for settling the dispute by early next week.

And if the council rejects the offer, the attorneys said, then Bayfront will quit the BayCare hospital alliance and again become independent, a move that could have far-reaching financial repercussions.

"We want to get our proposal to the decisionmakers, who as (elected) members . . . have not been party to the mediation," Bayfront attorney Michael Keane told U.S. District Judge James D. Whittemore.

"We frankly don't know what they know. We're going to send them a proposal in the open, and see if they accept it," he said.

Paul A. Lipton, the city's attorney, said the City Council has been kept abreast of the negotiations, but attempts to find a solution have been stymied by the hospital's repeated refusal to provide internal documents supporting Bayfront's claims that it is not beholden to Catholic doctrine.

Without such proof, council members are not likely to accept anything, he said.

"The problem is that Bayfront and BayCare have a pattern of not producing any records . . . (so) City Council can intelligently review any proposal that is made," Lipton complained to the judge. "This case started because of a pattern of secrecy."

Keane said any proposal will include supporting documents.

The council's next meeting is scheduled for Thursday. If Bayfront offers a proposal by Tuesday, it could get on the meeting's agenda.

At issue is whether Bayfront, which sits on city-owned land, follows the directives of the Catholic Church.

Bayfront and five other hospitals formed BayCare Health System in 1997 to consolidate services and save money. Because of its Catholic members, St. Joseph's Hospital in Tampa and St. Anthony's in St. Petersburg, BayCare requires all members to follow certain aspects of the church's ethical and religious directives, and Bayfront has stopped providing a handful of elective abortions.

Bayfront is privately managed but leases much of its campus from the city. The City Council contends that makes Bayfront ultimately public, and it shouldn't cater to any religion.

The city sued Bayfront in April, but all legal action was suspended while the parties were negotiating. Attorneys for the city and the hospital were in court Thursday to tell the judge their summerlong attempt at negotiation had failed.

The city's attorneys asked Whittemore to allow the case to move forward in court immediately. But Keane asked for a 60-day delay, on grounds the suit may soon be moot.

The judge agreed to delay any action for another 30 days, so both sides can consider their positions. Later, Bayfront-St. Anthony's president and CEO Sue Brody said the hospital still hopes to allay the city's concerns.

"We need to have a proposal be heard, and considered, and decided upon one way or another," she said. "And if the city, by rejecting that proposal and continuing on with their lawsuit, forces us to that conclusion of withdrawing from BayCare, we have to really begin to think about what that means.

"And the city has to understand what that means, what they would be asking for."

The BayCare alliance is expected to save Bayfront about $10-million a year, and hospital officials say leaving the group would hurt.

Brody noted that Bayfront has made $1.6-million so far this year, compared with losing $6-million during the same period last year.

Untangling Bayfront from BayCare would not be easy. Bayfront and its cross-town neighbor, St. Anthony's, have consolidated many services and administrative positions.

"The dislocation would be so significant as to make it highly unlikely that any financial benefit that had been realized over the past months would continue," said Peter Young, a health care consultant in Fort Myers who has followed the case.

But Young, of HealthCare Strategic Issues, said Bayfront likely could find ways to keep working with BayCare, even if it wasn't a full partner.

Brody said she's been thinking about that.

"We don't have any kind of official position or decisions on that, but obviously some degree of contingency has needed to be done, and . . . needs to be done," she said.

Keane's statements got a mixed reaction at City Hall on Thursday. Council member Bill Foster said it appears the hospital believes it has a better chance of trying its case in public than in court. "They're banking on putting their eggs in the basket of public sentiment," he said.

- Times staff writer Bryan Gilmer contributed to this report.

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