St. John makes offer to take over OSUMC

[TheArtist]

Sorry couldnt resist lightening it a bit. lol

[Jonette]

News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK -- There is word of a deal involving the OSU Medical Center in Tulsa.  Governor Henry and legislative leaders announced within the last hour that they have reached a tentative agreement with Tulsa stakeholders on a plan that would preserve the Oklahoma State University medical program and save the OSU Medical Center.        

The governor, House Speaker Chris Benge, Senate President Pro Tempore Glenn Coffee, and Treasurer Scott Meacham met with various stakeholders at the Oklahoma Capitol on Tuesday afternoon to hammer out an agreement.  

Details of the plan are not yet being made public.

======================================

I know you all have not heard from me for awhile, but it has been stressfull at OSUMC.

This latest news is good though.

[brunoflipper]

i'm glad this will be put to rest...

it was down to the wire, ardent was going to pull out completely by dec. 31 if they did not have a solution before dec. 1... they'd talked about telling the employees after the 25th, merry christmas...

[Jonette]

It may not be put to rest completely yet don't have the details as yet.

There was rumor that Ardent had other plans for the facility. What were those plans?


I wonder.

Mental health care. Long term acute care? Sell it off?


I have noticed throughout this whole thing, that there were still improvements being made to the building. Most noticeable was the carpeting of the airwalk between the parking garage and the buildings second floor. I wondered at that time if that was done for presentation to potential purchasers?


Also, half of the 6th floor was remodeled but never opened. So it is brand new.


Oh well, we're safe for now. I had already shut Christmas down at my house. Maybe now we can relax, but it still feels kinda shaky.

[Jonette]

Plan would save hospital

RESCUE PLAN


Gov. Brad Henry: He said his meeting with key players Tuesday resulted in the proposal "to keep the doors of the OSU Medical Center open."

 


By TOM LINDLEY AND KIM ARCHER World Staff Writers
11/26/2008
Last Modified: 11/26/2008  3:14 AM



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Officials tentatively agree on a proposal to rescue OSU Medical Center, but few details are discussed.


OKLAHOMA CITY — State, OSU and Tulsa officials tentatively agreed on a rescue plan Tuesday that will keep the OSU Medical Center open and OSU's medical residency program in place.

A statement from Gov. Brad Henry at the end of the day was positive in tone but short on specifics.

"Essentially, this proposal will save the OSU medical program, keep the doors of the OSU Medical Center open and address both the short- and long-term health care challenges in the Tulsa area," he said.

Henry said those involved in the negotiations had agreed not to discuss the plan's details until final approval had been obtained from the governing boards they represent.

Facing a Dec. 6 deadline to work out an agreement, the negotiations picked up steam last week when St. John Medical Center presented a plan to operate the OSU hospital and its residency program.

Tuesday's meeting was attended by Henry, House Speaker Chris Benge, Senate President Pro Tem Glenn Coffee, State Treasurer Scott Meacham and representatives from St. John and Ardent Health Services, which owns OSU Medical Center and Hillcrest Hospital.

Sen. Brian Crain, R-Tulsa, said he understood "that St. John will be serving as the operator of the OSU Medical Center."

Another important hurdle was cleared when Tulsa Mayor Kathy Taylor said she told state leaders that the city of Tulsa would be willing to take title to the hospital and fund it through a public trust.

State officials have balked at taking ownership of the financially struggling hospital.

"We know it's vital to the actual health and economic viability of the city," Taylor said.

She said the city is prepared to work with state and county leaders to transfer ownership to a public trust, possibly a dormant trust created in 2003 called the Tulsa County Community Hospital Authority.

That trust could be amended to include the city and county, she said.

Under such an arrangement, the hospital would be exempt from sales taxes, and the city would contribute an estimated $3 million to $5 million annually.

Taylor said the city would not be harmed financially by the deal.

"The cost of the facility shutting down would have been much greater," she said, noting the additional burden on other Tulsa hospitals and the reduced access to care for all area residents.

In return, the state is expected to offer an annual operating subsidy that declines over time and will honor a previous pledge to make $30 million to $50 million in capital improvements at the hospital.

Regarding the need for possible legislative action, Benge said: "We can't fund any dollars if we are not in session. But once we get in session, we'll move as quickly as possible."

He said Tuesday's agreement would provide the stability that OSU needs and avoid the scenario of displaced patients flooding other Tulsa hospitals' emergency rooms.

"The OSU Medical Center will stay open and provide indigent care for the poor and house the residency program," Benge said.

Lex Anderson, St. John's chief financial officer, said last week that his group stepped up with a proposal to operate the hospital because of concerns that there would be a crisis of access if the hospital closed.

Henry praised OSU President Burns Hargis and Ken Levit of the Kaiser Family Foundation for their commitment to the agreement. The foundation has agreed to invest up to $20 million over five years on a solution that addresses indigent health-care needs in Tulsa.

Coffee called the agreement a positive step for Tulsa that also would benefit rural and central Oklahoma.

Final approval of the agreement should come before the Dec. 6 deadline, Meacham said.

The national accreditation body for osteopathic schools has given the state until then to make a proposal that ensures the stability of the residency program.

Facing an uncertain future, OSU could still shift its residency program to St. Francis Medical Center after June 30.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


World Capitol Bureau reporter Mick Hinton contributed to this story.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Tom Lindley (405) 528-2465, Kim Archer 581-8315
tom.lindley@tulsaworld.com, kim.archer@tulsaworld.com
By TOM LINDLEY AND KIM ARCHER World Staff Writers





Reader Comments
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
     

1 readers have commented on this story so far.



  Comment


jonette, TULSA (11/26/2008 3:34:59 AM)
We LOVE IT!!!


More progress than ever before. I also like that capital improvements are included. All the other hospitals in Tulsa get improvements all the time.

I know OSU MC has been operating negatively for a long time. But is anyone aware that TRMC made money for years and all of it was diverted to Hillcrest for capital improvements. A lot of the construction done at Hillcrest was paid for with money profited at TRMC. When Hillcrest took ownership of TRMC all the money it was making got diverted and all improvements at TRMC ceased. The services that TRMC was actually making money on got shut down and all moved to Hilcrest. Then there was no money making activities on the premises.

Hopefully we can get back to making improvements and moving forward.

[swake]

So for the Tulsa area to have a public hospital and to save OSU's medical school the city of Tulsa has to own and partially fund the hospital.

That certainly doesn't sound like the arrangement in Oklahoma City, now does it?

I'm glad the facility looks to be saved, but the government of the state of Oklahoma sucks. $60 million for an NBA team in Oklahoma City but if Tulsa needs a public health care facility the city has to take on that burden.

What exactly are the citizens of this part of the state getting in return for taxes paid? Certainly not health care, or roads.

[cannon_fodder]

I do not believe OKC got $60mil in state funds for the NBA team, but they did receive some money for "job creation."  Perhaps we could play the same card on the hospital?  Sad as it may be to have to do that or even compare the two.

And yes, OKC gets multiple public hospitals funded by the state.  Tulsa gets funding for a lesser (no offense OSU-MC, but OU Hospital gets all the best equipment etc.) facility and we must partially fund it.

Sounds about right.

[swake]

$60 million is actually very conservative.

The state changed the quality jobs act to include the NBA team. The law was originally intended to help manufacturing and other industries that bring money into the state to create jobs. The NBA being a service/entertainment category was not eligible since the money spent on the NBA was already in the economy being spent on something else. So the law had to be changed.

The law stated that 5% of the taxable income of jobs created by the business will be rebated back to the business for ten years. Since the current highest tax rate in the state is 5.65% that means the state is receiving almost no income tax on the team.

Currently the NBA salary cap is $58.68 million and the teams annual total salary cost is $74 million. The cap is almost double where it was 10 years ago. The decade before that the cap almost quadrupled. If the cap only doubles the average cap for the next decade would be about $117 million. With no inflation in the salaries of the execs and the coaches and the people selling T-Shirts the taxable income of the team will likely average something more than $134 million a year over the next decade. 5% of that is $66,340,000 rebated back to the team. Now if the cap triples, the rebate would be in the range of $95 million or a cool $125,000,000 back if the cap quadruples like it did in the 80s and 90s. And even more if anyone else gets a raise.

But, as an added bonus, the state ADDED five years to the rebate. So increase the rebate if the cap only doubles over a decade to $81 million and if the cap quadruples the rebate for 15 years would be almost $170,000,000.

We got raped on this one.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NBA_Salary_Cap

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4182/is_/ai_n27515777

[TheArtist]

This sounds like a crappy deal. Once the 30-50 mill is paid out to fix up the hospital and the "operating subsidy declines over time". We will be right back where we are now financing wise.

Esentially, The people in and aound OKC pay state taxes every year to support the teaching hospital and indigent care facility for their area.... The people in and around Tulsa pay state taxes every year to support the teaching hospital and indigent care facility for our, I mean OKCs, teaching hospital and indigent care facility. So once this "deal" is done and the money paid out from the state, we will be right back to the same formula of US subsidizing the stuff in OKC AND paying additional amounts for the stuff here in Tulsa.

How is this fair?
How is this helping us out?
Why will we be paying state taxes for stuff in OKC, them not paying for that here, AND then if we want something in Tulsa, we have to pay again for it ourselves?
Where is the balance and equity?

[sgrizzle]

I can only assume those numbers are on top of a change in disbursement of indigent care funds which is needed with or without OSUMC being saved.

[Ibanez]

quote:Originally posted by TheArtist

This sounds like a crappy deal. Once the 30-50 mill is paid out to fix up the hospital and the "operating subsidy declines over time". We will be right back where we are now financing wise.

Esentially, The people in and aound OKC pay state taxes every year to support the teaching hospital and indigent care facility for their area.... The people in and around Tulsa pay state taxes every year to support the teaching hospital and indigent care facility for our, I mean OKCs, teaching hospital and indigent care facility. So once this "deal" is done and the money paid out from the state, we will be right back to the same formula of US subsidizing the stuff in OKC AND paying additional amounts for the stuff here in Tulsa.

How is this fair?
How is this helping us out?
Why will we be paying state taxes for stuff in OKC, them not paying for that here, AND then if we want something in Tulsa, we have to pay again for it ourselves?
Where is the balance and equity?

Short answer: We are represented by weenies.

Long answer: The entire Northeastern portion of the state is being bent over Ned Beatty style and made to squeal while the real pigs in OKC reap the benefits of our tax dollars because our state representatives are weenies.

[jne]

quote:Originally posted by wavoka

quote:Originally posted by TheArtist

This sounds like a crappy deal. Once the 30-50 mill is paid out to fix up the hospital and the "operating subsidy declines over time". We will be right back where we are now financing wise.

Esentially, The people in and aound OKC pay state taxes every year to support the teaching hospital and indigent care facility for their area.... The people in and around Tulsa pay state taxes every year to support the teaching hospital and indigent care facility for our, I mean OKCs, teaching hospital and indigent care facility. So once this "deal" is done and the money paid out from the state, we will be right back to the same formula of US subsidizing the stuff in OKC AND paying additional amounts for the stuff here in Tulsa.

How is this fair?
How is this helping us out?
Why will we be paying state taxes for stuff in OKC, them not paying for that here, AND then if we want something in Tulsa, we have to pay again for it ourselves?
Where is the balance and equity?

Short answer: We are represented by weenies.

Long answer: The entire Northeastern portion of the state is being bent over Ned Beatty style and made to squeal while the real pigs in OKC reap the benefits of our tax dollars because our state representatives are weenies.

word.

[shadows]

The city of faith hospital contained all the faculties that we are crying about.   It provided full training and care for all citizens.  The good old boys for Tulsa's future declared we did not need any more rooms or teaching faculties so by maneuvering they were able to get it closed.   Afterwards additional rooms began to  be added to the existing hospitals.  It  is  the same tune but the words are being changed as the Mayor has found a old abounded trust in the supposed dusty storage shelves which will enable the use of 5 million dollars of taxpayers money to keep OSUMC hospital in operation in Tulsa.

Seems some of the law students would explain how a dormant trust can be awaken and be used for another purpose other than the one it was formed for.

Another waterbill fee?

 

[TURobY]

quote:Originally posted by shadows

The city of faith hospital contained all the faculties that we are crying about.   It provided full training and care for all citizens.  The good old boys for Tulsa's future declared we did not need any more rooms or teaching faculties so by maneuvering they were able to get it closed.

Oh, please! Are you trying to convince me that politics are the reason that CityPlex Towers are no longer a hospital? Because I'm pretty sure that a $25 million debt and the closing of the hospital by Robert's himself.

That's the stupidest thing that I've heard come from your posts...

Here is some reading for you:
How City of Faith led to Fall - The Oklahoman

[Noodlez]

quote:Originally posted by wavoka
Long answer: The entire Northeastern portion of the state is being bent over Ned Beatty style and made to squeal while the real pigs in OKC reap the benefits of our tax dollars because our state representatives are weenies.

And in my perfect world Green Country would be it's own state to avoid this. One can dream