Saint Joseph Mercy Health System to close inpatient unit at Saline location, obstetrics at satellite locations
Saint Joseph Mercy Health System is eliminating its inpatient unit at its Saline location in July, the health system announced Wednesday.
It will also cut close the Family Birth Center at its Livingston County location in Howell in the next several months due to declining patient volumes and reimbursement rates, it announced. Patients will be sent for consolidated services at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Superior Township.
St. Joseph Mercy Hospital Saline
At St. Joseph Mercy Saline, the plan calls for the Acute Care for the Elders inpatient program to transfer to the fourth floor of the newly opened North Tower at the St. Joseph Mercy Ann Arbor location. On Tuesday, nurses and staff were offered transfers to the Ann Arbor location, said Rob Casalou, president and chief executive officer of St. Joseph Mercy Health System’s Ann Arbor, Saline and Howell hospitals..
The location will continue to provide 24-hour emergency care, outpatient surgeries, laboratory services, radiology services and house physician offices, the health system said.
The Saline location has grown into a robust outpatient location with the opening of its Community Health Pavillion late last year, Casalou said.
It began to make less sense as an inpatient department, he said.
"If you look at health care reform, this is where it's pushing us," Casalou said. Referring to increased pay-for-performance models and increase focus on maintenance and prevention included in measures of the reform bill passed earlier this year, he said, "We want to take care of patient in the outpatient setting, in lower costs environment."
It's estimated no more than 50 jobs will be eliminated due to the changes, but Casalou estimates the number of lost jobs will be far lower after transfers are offered.
At St. Joseph Mercy Livingston, the rate of deliveries at the Family Birth Center dropped dramatically in recent years to less than two births a day. There was no evidence to support that rate would turn around in the next couple of years, Casalou said.
The number of births in southeastern Michigan was already declining, likely due in part to declining economic conditions in the state, Casalou said. In addition, newer hospital facilities in southestern Michigan - as well as service at St. Joseph Mercy's Ann Arbor location - have made it difficult for the older facility in Howell to compete, he said.
Prenatal care will still be offered at the Howell hospital.
In a release, Gary Faja, president and CEO of Saint Joseph Mercy Health System, said the system was keeping a commitment to patient care, community benefit and social responsibility.
“Part of that commitment includes repositioning services according to the changing needs of the people we serve to ensure the consistent delivery of high quality, compassionate care,” the statement said.
Tina Reed covers health and the environment for AnnArbor.com. You can reach her at tinareed@annarbor.com, call her at 734-623-2535 or find her on Twitter @TreedinAA.
Comments
BTW
Fri, Jun 4, 2010 : 7:31 a.m.
Saint Joe's is a non-profit organization and gives away millions of dollars in charity care every year. It's called the Community Benefit Ministry and info is on their website.
15crown00
Fri, May 28, 2010 : 4:40 p.m.
a typical tie and shirt move.It's all about cutting expenses.END OF STORY.
BritMom
Thu, May 27, 2010 : 8:20 p.m.
Candy Shell, please tell me where you found this information as to this is due to Obamacare. I'm interested because this is the first I've heard of such. I've read upon whitehouse.gov and nope, didn't find anything remotely close to your theory.
julieswhimsies
Thu, May 27, 2010 : 3:30 p.m.
The St. Joseph Hospital takeover of hospitals in Saline and Chelsea is reprehensible. It is typical corporate-think. The "Obamacare"? remarks on this subject demonstrate a lack of understanding in how the hospital system in this country operates. St. Joseph's Hospital is a private Corporation. It is simply doing what big corporations have always done. It is maximizing profits. The price paid? Fifty lost jobs. Only fifty? Tell that to those fifty families. There is a reason we moved from Chelsea. The loss of these two community hospitals is a loss to all residents in Chelsea and Saline.
Thick Candy Shell
Thu, May 27, 2010 : 2:33 p.m.
@BritMom, exactly the point the reimbursements are going down and will accelerate due to Obamacare! They believe that no Doctor, Nurse, Hospital etc., should ever make a profit. That is why we will say good by to what was the best medical system in the world
David Rhoads
Thu, May 27, 2010 : 2:01 p.m.
I just finished a lengthy conversation with Barb Fielder, the Operations Director, of the Saline Hospital and I now better understand the rational for that decision. It appears very unlikely that there is any chance of reversing the decision, so while I am greatly disappointed, I will move on and promote the remaining services within the community. They are still great and in my opinion, the best for lab or emergency room services. For example, my blood draw for testing this morning took 16 minutes from the time I walked in the front door until I walked back out. I hope the Hospital provides more information to the community at large as soon as possible and if I offended anyone with my previous comment, please accept my apology.
BritMom
Thu, May 27, 2010 : 1:19 p.m.
A lot of comments I've read so far sound like they are coming from people who don't have insurance background. First, I'm going to clerify that this is not Obamacare kicking in. Read the article. Declining reimbursement. That means when the insurance company is billed $100 and they pay $25. Do that 100K over and over. How in the world are you going to pay for a business with only 25% reimbursement? Your not. So, if you are going to shoot off your mouth, do it towards Blue Cross. I'm sure you pay them enough for your coverage. I do. Note, I did not say I support Obamacare and I'm going to also clerify that it's not only Blue Cross that reimburses poorly. It's all the insurance companies.
ffej440
Thu, May 27, 2010 : 10:54 a.m.
Wow-I have lived in Saline my whole life and reading these comments I feel like you people live on another planet! I don't know what kind of health care you folks have, last surgery for me involved finding a surgeon that took my Ins;then a hospital that took it(Chelsea) and after all that I got a bill from the anesthesiologist that didn't take it.(I should ask before they put me under?) I can't remember Saline doing much inpatient care ever. Even bad ER injuries are sent to AA. What are we missing? Not Much, Saline doesn't even have a gift shop anymore.
yaah
Thu, May 27, 2010 : 10:30 a.m.
Some of the comments on this article are a little over the top. The saline hospital has a small inpatient unit and is likely losing money. It is highly dubious to equate this development with "Obamacare." Changes in health care like this have been going on for decades now. This is not 1950 - not all small communities can support a full-service hospital. It just isn't reality. If people want to continue to pay less for healthcare, and not have their taxes raised to pay for it, then they can't go out and complain when complex medical treatment areas become consolidated in larger institutions. Hospital economics have changed greatly. Reimbursement has been falling steadily for years - Obamacare is not even remotely the start of that. How exactly would the Saline community reclaim ownership? St Joe's has put a ton of money into it. Are you going to raise your taxes just so you can have 10 inpatient beds that may or may not be filled at any one time? The best part about saline hospital is the outpatient facilities and things that are offered - this is FAR more beneficial to the community because it allows people to not have to travel extra distances for common things. Inpatient admits are not common things. And to the point, "Does every aspect of the hospital have to raise revenue?" In a sense, yes. There are always parts of hospitals that will lose money. But some of those have their costs outweighed by the benefits gained in other areas. The small number of inpatient beds at Saline hospital is not one of these circumstances. The job losses are unfortunate but it also looks like most will be offered other positions, or am I reading it wrong?
Barb
Thu, May 27, 2010 : 9:44 a.m.
When people leave Michigan, the hospitals suffer. There are fewer patients everywhere in the state. Consolidating services is often the only reasonable thing to do.
tracyann
Thu, May 27, 2010 : 8:56 a.m.
This is sad news indeed. Especially for those 50 who will be losing their jobs. However, I agree with goodthoughts. Saline has a wonderful ER which we've had to utilize a few times, but whenever it was something to be admitted for they sent us to the main hospital. It's sad it's come to this but I'm glad that some services will still be offered instead of shutting it down altogether.
jmac
Thu, May 27, 2010 : 7:36 a.m.
This is a trend that started long before "Obama care" due to declining reimbursement rates from all major health insurance carriers - blue cross/blue shield, medicare, etc. Major health systems have had to come up with reasonable ways to stay solvent, and closing underutilized facilities or re-working them for other purposes is one way to accomplish that.
dextermom
Thu, May 27, 2010 : 7:04 a.m.
I agree with LG. Chelsea used to pride itself on it's independence and interdependence with both hospital systems, serving all folks "no matter whether a St. Joe's or a U patient". How long will it be before they deny even the Family Practice Clinic any access to the facility? And, how long before they close the Chelsea inpatient units? Do you not see this as their plan? They have made Saline and Livingston County unviable. Did you not see this as their plan? As a longtime nurse at Chelsea, I am not alone in this view.
Patriot
Thu, May 27, 2010 : 6:42 a.m.
So Obama care is now starting to finally kick in and start working - dropping reimbursement rates to the hospitals and making medical care harder to access by the surrounding community. More layoffs and reduced medical care! I fail to see how the community benefits from these action. Thanks Obama!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
stunhsif
Wed, May 26, 2010 : 10:24 p.m.
Fifteen of the largest automotive suppliers ( including the biggest GM and Chrysler) in this state go belly up over the past 5 years and cut their healthcare benefits and this is the result. As many of us have been saying, the tsunami of bad news in Michigan is just getting started. We cannot fault Gary Faja and Saint Joe's, this is not their fault. Companies have to make money or they do not continue to exist. Their customer base is no longer buying their services as they used to.
LGChelsea
Wed, May 26, 2010 : 9:02 p.m.
In Chelsea, my family felt the same sting when Chelsea Hospital lost its U-M Hospital services. We've always had U-M doctors, so we now go to Ann Arbor, instead of going to St. Joe's in Chelsea. Sad...
Diagenes
Wed, May 26, 2010 : 8:43 p.m.
This trend will continue as Obamacare gets ramped up. Its the opening salvo on the consolidation of health care providers. Blame John Dingell. St. Joe's is responding to the evironment created by the feds. Cut cost now, restructure your business model and prepared for 2014 when it will gets really bad.
goodthoughts
Wed, May 26, 2010 : 6:37 p.m.
For those of you who do not live here, and have not been treated in Saline Hospital, let me just say that many people did not move here fore the hospital, my family included. It was a perk but not a selling point. The main hospital is a short drive and is more than equipped to handle the overhead that comes with inpatient care. In addition, the Saline hospital has NOT done a great deal of inpatient care for ten years. Some yes. But the majority of it gets shifted to the main hospital. Saline Hospital works very well as an out patient, testing, and ER procedure facility. Not to mention it can run, probably with lower overhead, and greater care without the demands of inpatient care.
josefina
Wed, May 26, 2010 : 6:28 p.m.
This closure is another sad reflection of the economy. Even though we're seeing things turn around nationally, I'm afraid we'll keep seeing more closures in the area. Saline Hospital will be much missed.
jcj
Wed, May 26, 2010 : 6:11 p.m.
They would prefer to run everyone through the main hospital like cattle! Obama Care! "It's estimated no more than 50 jobs will be eliminated due to the changes" said Rob Casalou. If any of those 50 were a relative of his he would not make those statements so flippantly!
Thick Candy Shell
Wed, May 26, 2010 : 4:44 p.m.
Well, this was the obvious result. Cut Medicare Reimbursements, cut Medicaid Reimbursements. Drive the reimbursement by success levels.... ie: don't take anything that could make you look bad. And now we see the results there is no way to keep this hospital open at its current level @David Rhoads: "Does every aspect of the hospital have to generate excess revenue?" Isn't that a fairly clear question. If it doesn't why would it exist.
David Rhoads
Wed, May 26, 2010 : 4:23 p.m.
We should not sit idly by and let this happen. The Saline Community needs to reclaim ownership of St Joes Saline and help to guide its use. It appears the hospital has moved from being a community hospital to being a corporate hospital. Our hospital is one of the major reasons why people move to Saline and I, for one, dont want to see its value diminish. I would respectfully request that Gary Faja set up a community meeting to help us understand why this decision had to be made. The stated reason was that not enough in-patient beds were being utilized to off-set the costs. Was any effort made to market the availability of those beds, or the fact that many people feel more comfortable in a smaller facility? Does every aspect of the hospital have to generate excess revenue? Please visit my blog at www.davidrhoadssaline.com to express your feelings about this proposed action.
AlwaysLate
Wed, May 26, 2010 : 3:39 p.m.
To insinuate that the lose of Inpatient Services and 50 jobs in Saline is a "...community benefit..." and a "..consistent delivery of high quality, compassionate care..." is simply a lie. This announcement is a shame!