A Major Victory But Not an End to the Sutter Conflict
The Past:
On December 5, 2013, the Sutter Coast Hospital Board voted, over my
objection, to downsize Sutter Coast to a Critical Access facility.
The Present:
This week, hospital CEO Mitch Hanna confirmed he had sent a request to
the State of California, asking to withdraw Sutter Coast's Critical
Access application. Mr. Hanna also confirmed Sutter Coast registered
multimillion dollar profits again in 2015, after Sutter's "independent
study" and former CEO Linda Horn had foretold of heavy losses through
2018. As so many in our community have
told me, Sutter can cook its books any way they wish, because hospital
Board meetings and financial records are kept secret. At the same time, Sutter Coast is granted a "hardship" tax exemption, claiming they are a charity.
Thanks
to your efforts, Sutter's decisions to move hospital ownership out of
Del Norte County and to downsize to Critical Access, have been stopped
for now. Sutter told us we could not stop them, that we had no voice, that our community just didn't understand. You proved Sutter wrong.
The immediate threat of Critical Access designation has passed. However,
Mr. Hanna made no promises that he would not implement Critical Access
in the future. Here is why I opposed Critical Access:
--huge increases in out of pocket costs to local Medicare patients
--closure of 50% of the acute care hospital beds
--restriction on how long patients may stay in the hospital
--mandatory patient transfers to outside hospitals
--nationwide,
Critical Access hospitals have been shown to have higher death rates
for patients with pneumonia, heart failure, heart attack, and following
elective surgery.
The future:
My next focus will be on Sutter's high charges for care, which result
from their statewide monopoly and high income needs of their
multimillion dollar executives and attorneys.
Sutter's high
charges drive up your insurance premiums and harm our public employees,
teachers, individuals, and small and large businesses. Statewide,
Sutter's charges have been found to be up to 60% over market averages,
while its executive pay has skyrocketed. This injustice must end.
Please send me your thoughts to drgjduncan1200@gmail.com, and tune in to a recent radio interview on KCIW, available by podcast, tablet, or smartphone at: http://kciw.org/sutter-
Sincerely, Gregory J. Duncan, M.D.
Diplomate, American Board of Orthopedic Surgery
|
Friday, February 26, 2016
Sutter Coast 's Critical Access Application Withdrawn!
Sunday, February 21, 2016
How Your Healthcare Dollars Are Paying Sutter's Executive Salaries
Introduction by Greg Duncan, M.D.
Most of all, thank you for your support, ideas, and prayers.
Greg Duncan, M.D.
Diplomate, American Board of Orthopedic Surgery
1200 Marshall St., Crescent City, CA 95531
Myth Busting Sutter Health:
Community Benefit or Executive Greed?
by Bill K. Gray, Esq.
(originally published in the Anderson Valley Advertiser: http://theava.com/
Sutter
Health is a tax exempt public charity. The tax code requires Sutter to
operate solely for community benefit. Indeed, for decades Sutter Health
served to manage community owned hospitals which were governed by
community Boards of Directors. In 2010, Sutter Health's role changed
when it implemented a statewide merger effort to transfer ownership of
the community hospitals into large multi-hospital corporations. Now,
Sutter Health controls two massive "Divisions" containing nearly 40
hospitals and surgery centers. The result? Sutter Health's monopoly
allows it to charge up to 60% more than market rates for healthcare.
Sutter executive salaries more than doubled during its merger.
Who
pays Sutter's executives? You do. Whether in the form of higher
health insurance premiums, lower wages (as more employer dollars are
used for employee health insurance), or direct payment of Sutter's
inflated charges for care, everyone in California is impacted by Sutter
Health's monopoly.
Today,
only one Sutter hospital in California remains locally owned--Sutter
Coast Hospital ("SCH") in Crescent City. This article tells the story
of how our town fought off Sutter's attempts to transfer hospital
ownership outside of our community. We debunked Sutter's false claims,
one by one, until Sutter agreed to leave us out of its two "Divisions."
We know Sutter Health will be back, but for now, SCH is locally owned
and governed.
Sutter employed four tactics in its takeover attempt:
(1) Threats to close the hospital if the local hospital Board did not comply with Sutter's corporate plans.
For years, Sutter executives claimed SCH needed to transfer ownership
to Sutter's regional corporation, and to downsize to a Critical Access
facility (which would allow SCH to triple its charges to Medicare), in
order to survive. Sutter's threat to close the region's only hospital
nearly worked. In 2011, the Sutter Coast Hospital Board (which contains
three highly compensated Sutter employees) voted to transfer hospital
ownership to Sutter's multi-hospital corporation. But protests from
every elected body and thousands of residents, and talk of eminent
domain against Sutter by the Del Norte Healthcare District, forced
Sutter to put the merger on hold.
(2) False claims of financial losses.
Former Sutter Coast CEO Linda Horn stated 2008 was the last year Sutter
Coast was profitable. Sutter's paid consultants (the Camden Group)
predicted heavy losses from 2014 to 2018 unless the hospital converted
to Critical Access. Now we know the truth: Sutter's claims were all
myths.
IRS
filings confirm Sutter Coast made over $7 million in profits combined
in years 2009 and 2010. That's on top of many millions in profits from
1985 through 2008. Sutter's predictions of losses from 2014 to 2018 are
also proving false. According to current hospital CEO Mitch Hanna,
Sutter Coast generated a "healthy profit" in 2014. How healthy? $10.8
million in 2014, with similar profits predicted for 2015, when Mr.
Hanna's annual salary was $840,000. So, without downsizing to Critical
Access, Sutter Coast's profits and Mr. Hanna's salary both appear quite
"healthy."
But
what of the health of our community? In 2014, Sutter Coast transferred
872 patients out of our county for medical care. Sutter Coast
outsourced local hospital jobs to Sutter's regional service center, cut
hospital staff, and has become a revolving door for physicians leaving
the county.
(3) Secret meetings.
Sutter claim: "We act openly and truthfully in everything we do."
Here are some facts: Sutter only released "select information" from its
self-funded "independent" hospital study. Sutter muted the telephone
lines during its internet-only public presentation of the study, so
audience members could not hear questions from other participants.
Sutter holds closed Board rooms, dismissed a dissenting Director from
the Board room, and censured our local hospital Chief of Staff for
allegedly releasing Board meeting minutes, while providing no evidence
to support the allegation.
(4) Broken promises.
Sutter, a public benefit company, has hosted no public meetings during
their four your conflict with the community. During a Town Hall meeting
on February 17, 2015, Sutter Coast CEO Mitch Hanna, unable to answer
many questions from the audience, stated he would return within 30 days to discuss hospital finances. One year later,
Mr. Hanna has failed to appear. Sutter Health executives also ignored
official record requests from our city and county leaders.
Sutter's
tax exemption means our county, state and federal governments cannot
collect hundreds of millions in yearly tax revenues which "for profit"
companies must pay. Does Sutter deserves its tax exempt privilege and
above market charges for health care? You be the judge . . . . .
Sutter's
violations of California law are too numerous to detail here. If you
would like to help address Sutter's misconduct and its impact on
California healthcare costs, please join Dr. Duncan's team of volunteers by writing him at gregoryduncan1200@gmail.com,
and join our city and county leaders, who have already asked Attorney
General Kamala Harris to investigate Sutter Health, by writing to:
The Honorable Kamala Harris
Attorney General of California
1300 "I" St.
Sacramento, CA 95814-2919
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)