HOSPITALS STUDY REPRODUCTIVE ISSUES

The question of women's reproductive issues remains unanswered in affiliation talks between Cape Girardeau's two hospitals.

James Sexton, president of St. Francis Medical Center, said the Catholic hospital is looking for ways to offer tubal ligations as part of a permanent affiliation between St. Francis and Southeast Missouri Hospital.

Sexton and James Wente, Southeast Missouri Hospital's administrator, spoke at the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce First Friday Coffee at the Show Me Center Friday.

Sexton said St. Francis officials are conferring with Bishop John Leibrecht of the Springfield-Cape Girardeau Diocese of the Roman Catholic Church and with a canon lawyer to see what is possible. "The bishop has not blessed anything," Sexton said.

In March, it was reported in the Southeast Missourian that hospital administrators said the issue had been resolved to Leibrecht's satisfaction and that Southeast Missouri Hospital would no longer perform sterilization procedures or therapeutic abortions for women.

But the administrators said Friday that was a misunderstanding.

Sexton said they are looking for a way to offer tubal ligations to women who are already on the operating table for a Caesarean section, for example.

The administrators told business leaders that the ongoing talks about a possible permanent affiliation are in response to community concerns.

"We heard you," Sexton said. "I've been here 18 months, and we have been listening."

In December, the two hospitals began talks about joining forces in a changing health-care market.

In April, an efficiency study projected approximately $47 million in savings over a five-year period if the two hospitals affiliate.

Sexton said the savings would come in large part from capital avoidance. The hospitals won't need to spend as much money for buildings, supplies and equipment if they work together. In addition, the hospitals wouldn't need duplicated services.

For example, Sexton said, the study committee is considering specialty centers like one heart program or one pediatrics center.

In order to divide services this way, the hospitals will need approval from the federal government.

The Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice already have begun looking at Cape Girardeau. That scrutiny will intensify if the hospitals file a request for some form of affiliation. That request could come as early as July.

"At some point it will be critical to get your support in writing to send to the federal government," Sexton said.

In the meantime, the administrators said, they are seeking opinions, ideas and concerns.

"Is this what you want?" Wente asked.

Among other benefits of an affiliation is retention of local control. The two hospitals are both locally owned and locally managed. The boards of directors are made up of local people.

In addition, Wente said, any savings realized by a merger could be kept in the local economy.

And an affiliation could also help maintain the hospitals' economic influence. The hospitals employ 3,000 people and have a $90 million annual payroll.