Hospital Closings Hit Detroit's Poorest
by Stuart Lewis
Aug. 4 (EIRNS)In a time of epidemics both looming and already herefrom AIDS, to West Nile virus, to SARS, to who knows what elseanother epidemic is hammering the country; that of hospital closings, especially hospitals that serve non-wealthy, inner-city populations without health insurance. Fully 20% of the nation's community hospitals have been shuttered in the past 10 years.
The latest city to be struck with the epidemic is Detroit, and the most recent hospital is Detroit's St. John Northeast Community Hospital.
The hospital serves a patient population of whom half are uninsured or on Medicare, in a city in which an estimated 60% of the residents live in medically underserved areas. They will soon be even more underserved. The hospital's owners will close its inpatient beds and emergency room, and convert it into a primary-care and outpatient facility, with devastating effect for the already-threatened health of the people of the area.
According to a report issued by the Detroit Healthcare Stabilization Group, "Detroit's population has higher rates of illness and chronic disease than other parts of the state and there is a lack of primary care opportunities and health-care professionals in the area." Also, "Detroit has higher rates of uninsured and low-income individuals than the rest of the state.... 22% of residents are uninsured, compared to 11% statewide."
Yet despite all that, the hospital made $900,000 in fiscal year 2003; a group of physicians, the Holy Cross Foundation, has offered to take over the hospital and, according to the Detroit Free Press, they "guarantee them [the current owners] that we can make money and attract more patients." So far, however, Oct. 1 remains the date for closing the hospital.
The hospital's patients are now expected to go to Detroit Riverview, which lost $2.9 million in FY 2003, and is located in what some describe as a bad neighborhood. For many of St. John Northeast's patients, Detroit Riverview is a longer, harder trip.
But the hospital's closure is just one aspect of Detroit's hospital problem. The move to close St. John Northeast is part of a systemwide restructuring to save the Detroit-based health system $65 million in the current fiscal year. And, according to the report issued by the Detroit Healthcare Stabilization Group, bailing out the area's hospitals will be no small matter. The group's report states that "ultimately, stabilizing the health-care system in Detroit and Wayne County may require an infusion of an additional $246 million annually." The report recommends setting up a health authority for the City of Detroit and Wayne County to be funded through a "mix of Federal, state, and philanthropic funding, and patient fees."
Considering the downward economic spiral the nation finds itself in, it seems doubtful the funds will ever be found to implement this plan. And meantime, the people of Detroit pay in shorter lifespans and unhealthier lives.
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