LETTER: BUSINESS GROUP TAKES STAND ON LAB

To the editor:

It was with dismay and surprise that we read of your support of the proposed additional cardiac catheterization laboratory at St. Francis Medical Center.

The Southeast Missouri Business Group on Health has adopted a position in opposition to the proposed expansion. We believe we have done so after a careful review of the data. Our position has been echoed by the Certificate of Need staff in its recommendation of the Certificate of Need Board. This report is public knowledge, and copies are available by request from the Certificate of Need Board or the Business Group on Health.

The Southeast Missouri Business Group on Health does not support an additional cardiac catheterization lab. We are in agreement with the Certificate of Need staff that replacement/upgrading of the current lab's equipment is desirable. Certainly, the attainment of the highest quality of care possible is the common goal of us all. It is important that equipment be periodically upgraded or replaced to take advantage of improved and new technology. Representing the SEMO Business Group on Health, I will be carrying this message when I speak at the final Certificate of Need Board hearing scheduled in Jefferson City on Sept. 14.

So, please, let there be no misunderstanding about what we are opposing in this matter. We are opposing the addition of another cardiac catheterization laboratory. All the relevant data disproves the community need for an additional laboratory. If a laboratory is added and there is not enough use to pay the costs of equipping and staffing the lab, does anyone believe that St. Francis Medical Center will simply take a loss? Or, is it more logical to believe that St. Francis Medical Center will raise prices sufficient to cover the short-fall? In spite of assurances and protestation by St. Francis Medical Center to the contrary, an additional cardiac catheterization laboratory, not justified by relevant data, will be under used and will cause an increase in prices. This increase will become part of St. Francis Medical Center's overhead and will have to be supported by the community.

Of particular note in the Certificate of Need staff recommendations is the observation that "Inter-hospital cooperation is desired by the public and business, but was not considered as an alternative." The Certificate of Need staff, in essence, seems to be reinforcing the idea that perhaps all of us - area citizens, employees, hospitals, physicians and businesses - can benefit through efforts on the part of our hospitals to share services even more than is already occurring.

It is and has been our belief that Cape Girardeau and the Southeast Missouri region would be far better served if the area hospitals would take steps necessary to eliminate the services which are unnecessarily duplicated and which add millions of dollars of cost to an already costly system. We applaud Charles Hutson, chairman of the board of Southeast Missouri Hospital, for publicly stating that merger is an alternative which should be explored. We would challenge the board of St. Francis Medical Center to abandon its anti-merger position and to begin working with Southeast Missouri Hospital, area physicians and employers to develop an organized regional system of health care that effectively addresses the excess capacity of the current system.

MARY DUNN

Executive Director

Southeast Missouri Business Group on Health

Cape Girardeau