Clayton County voters could decide May 20 whether they want to help their financially-ailing hospital by approving a Special Local Option Sales Tax.
The 42-year-old Southern Regional Medical Center recently asked the county for $12 million annually to offset the escalating cost of free care the hospital has dispensed in recent years.
In addition to Clayton residents, the hospital is seeing more people who are unable to pay coming in from neighboring Fulton, Fayette and DeKalb counties.
Clayton Commission Chairman Jeff Turner told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Monday the hospital’s request will be part of a package of 2015 SPLOST projects voters will decide on in May if the commission approves the final SPLOST list Tuesday night.
The bulk of the proceeds from the SPLOST — a continuation of a 1 percent levy that’s already in place — would be used to pay off the hospital’s bonds. Specifics of the revenue split are still unclear, but Turner said a $34 million multi-purpose arena, which drew some criticism, will not be on the 2015 SPLOST list.
One hospital industry expert praised the county’s move.
“It’s certainly a positive,” said Kevin Bloye, spokesman for the Georgia Hospital Association in Marietta. “… if the community can stand up and support its hospital and make a statement saying ‘we’re not going to let our hospital close’, that’s going to help Southern Regional long-term to continue to meet the health care needs of its citizens.”
Uncompensated care is a problem for hospitals across the state, Bloye said, because the recent recession put a lot of people on the unemployment rolls without health insurance. In the last year alone, Bloye said, four rural hospitals in Georgia have closed.
Bloye said the 331-bed, not-for-profit Southern Regional “has a disproportionate share of uninsured and Medicaid patients which are either no pay or low pay.”
Efforts to reach Southern Regional Chief Executive Officer and President James Crissey on Monday were unsuccessful.
Turner met last week with about a half-dozen doctors at Southern Regional, which has lost money for at least seven years, including a $20.6 million deficit for 2013, according to hospital officials. They promise cost cuts of the same amount as the SPLOST allocation.
“They wanted to share with me their concerns about losing the hospital if the county doesn’t provide some help,” Turner said. “Everybody’s in support of the hospital… .They have to find a way to save money. It’s not my intention to go down this road year after year.”
The hospital, which merged its programs with Emory Healthcare in October 2012, recently cut 61 positions and laid off 43 people.
Several physicians told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution they’re worried about deep cuts. Among other concerns, they say there are already not enough people to set up operating rooms and clean up between surgeries, and that the hospital has run out of certain supplies due to unpaid bills.
“You don’t have enough fingers to plug the holes,” said Dr. Edwin Davis, an ear-nose-throat physician who has been at Southern Regional for 40 years and is one of the doctors who spoke to Turner. “You can’t cut $12 million and not affect patient care.”
In a followup email after the meeting, Davis urged Turner “to perform a thorough financial audit and review of SRMC’s financial decision-making practices before committing county residents to a potential tax increase.”
Davis also noted in the email that “it is incomprehensible to me that local governments throughout Georgia aren’t petitioning our governor to obtain available federal funds for Medicaid that would mitigate costs for uninsured residents. This solution is beneficial for individuals as well as hospitals, a true ‘win-win’. “
Dr. Barry Zisholtz, a urologist who has been at the hospital at least two decades noted: “We give good care here. We’re just interested in taking care of our patients in a safe environment.”
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