Sutter's plan for new hospital focuses on beds

<p>Concerns about a potential bed shortage, cost of care for patients and location were among the issues raised Thursday by health care officials and citizens who gathered to review Sutter Medical Center's plan for a new hospital north of Santa Rosa. </p><p>The county-hosted meeting, offered in both a morning and afternoon session, was to allow comment only on the medical and access-to-care issues involved in Sutter's latest proposal to build a $284 million, 82-bed facility on Mark West Springs Road near the Wells Fargo Center off of Highway 101.</p><p>Sacramento-based Sutter Health took over the county's Community Hospital in 1996, and has been pushing for more than six years for a new facility to comply with state seismic safety standards.</p><p>Sutter's current proposal would provide “equal or better” access to health services and quality of services compared with the existing hospital on Chanate Road, county staff said in a July 2 draft report.</p><p>Several participants in Thursday's meeting, however, highlighted studies by county consultants suggesting that the new hospital could fall short in meeting projected demand for medical, surgical and intensive care beds before 2021, when Sutter's contract with the county to provide public medical services expires.</p><p>County and Sutter Health officials downplayed those concerns, saying they expected changes from federal health care reform, increased efficiency at the new hospital and the ability to transfer patients to other area hospitals, if necessary, would alleviate any bed shortage. </p><p>“That is not to say that that is a seamless process,” said Mary Maddux-Gonzalez, the county's public health officer, acknowledging the concerns.</p><p>The county had earlier taken issue with Sutter's previous plan for a 70-bed public hospital adjacent to a 28-bed physician-owned hospital, saying the plan provided too few beds for public health services.</p><p>In June, Sutter dropped the physician-owned hospital — a facility now banned under the federal health care overhaul — and boosted the public hospital's capacity.</p><p>The revision doubled the number of medical, surgical, intensive care beds to a total of 50, an increase which county officials and others praised in the discussion about future patient demand.</p><p>Sutter and county officials later explained that the hospital would have the ability to shift any overflow patients to the new hospital's 24 universal care units, meant for stays less than 24 hours, and to expand the facility by 27 beds.</p><p>County officials said they could push for such an expansion if Sutter is seen to be in violation of the county's access agreement. </p><p>Other participants questioned how the new hospital would care for the uninsured and hold down patients' costs.</p><p>Until its agreement with the county expires, Sutter is specifically obligated to provide care to low-income residents on Medi-Cal, Medicare and other government programs. </p><p>Hospital officials noted that their current level of “charity care” for the indigent and uninsured is equal to 7 percent of overall revenue, more than twice the county's standard. If approved, the new hospital could see the same volume of care for the needy, they said.</p><p>Labor savings at the new facility could also cut hospital costs by as much as 15 percent and hold down bills for patients, said Mike Purvis, chief administrative officer of Sutter Medical Center of Santa Rosa. </p><p>The health care professionals, local hospital officials, health clinic representatives and community group leaders on hand Thursday also had split views on the proposed hospital's location.</p><p>Some said it would afford patients easier access to emergency and daily care.</p><p>“It's much easier to get to the new location than to the hospital on Chanate,” said Mary Szecsey, executive director of West County Health Centers.</p><p>Others said the location was ill-conceived because it is not readily served by public transportation.</p><p>Steve Birdlebough, a representative of the Friends of SMART, the proposed North Bay railine, said his group preferred a location next to Coddingtown where it would have tied in to several transit stops, including a planned SMART station.</p><p>At the least, he said, Sutter and the county should evaluate the need for expanded bus service to the proposed site.</p><p>“It's narrowly focused on what happens inside the hospital and not how the location of the hospital effects the health of the community,” Birdlebough said of the county's review of Sutter's plan.</p><p>A hearing before the Board of Supervisors Aug. 3 will focus on environmental, transit and other issues.</p><p>Supervisors could vote on the entire project in a meeting tentatively scheduled for Aug. 17. If given the go-ahead, the company could break ground on the hospital in October and open the facility in 2014.</p>