NIXON TO HOLD HEARING ON HOSPITAL MERGER PLAN

Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon will hold a public hearing to gather input on the proposed merger of Cape Girardeau's two hospitals.

The hearing will be held this month, but a date and place have not yet been chosen. Plans for the hearing were announced Friday.

"It is important that we hear from all interested citizens on this proposed merger," Nixon said. "We need to make sure that consumers in the Cape Girardeau area are able to get the best possible health care at the lowest possible price."

Nixon said his office will review the merger proposal.

Southeast Missouri Hospital and St. Francis Medical Center have proposed a merger that would include guaranteed cost savings and price freezes over a five-year period.

James Wente, administrator of Southeast, and James Sexton, president and chief executive officer of St. Francis, say they are willing to enter into a consent decree with Nixon's office to guarantee that merging the two hospitals would generate at least $44.4 million in savings.

Under the proposed agreement, any shortfall in that projected savings would be put into an independent foundation to fund community health-care programs.

Nixon said Friday that his staff will be happy to hear the hospitals' proposal.

"We will look at whatever offers and ideas all the parties have," he said, but no formal negotiations have begun. "We're not blocking anything out, but in this situation I think it's important for the public to have the opportunity to voice their concerns or questions."

He said his office has scheduled public hearings on past merger proposals, including the Deaconess-Incarnate Word merger in St. Louis.

The antitrust unit of the attorney general's office reviews proposed hospital mergers and acquisitions to determine if the transaction would have an anti-competitive impact on consumers.

Nixon said his office wants to make sure consumers would still be able to get competitively priced, high-quality, high-tech health care if the merger is allowed.

The attorney general's office and the Federal Trade Commission are already investigating the proposed merger of Lucy Lee Healthcare System, which is owned by Tenet Healthcare Corp., and Doctors Regional Medical Center in Poplar Bluff. Nixon's office and FTC officials say allowing the Poplar Bluff merger would create a monopoly on health care in the Butler County area. In July, Nixon's office and the FTC obtained an injunction halting the Poplar Bluff merger.

In Poplar Bluff, both hospitals are for profit, while both Cape Girardeau hospitals are not-for-profit entities.

Wente and Sexton say the merged hospital would remain a not-for-profit operation.

Southeast's and St. Francis' not-for-profit status "does provide additional analysis concerning a transaction," Nixon said. But his office will want to make sure that the merger would protect that not-for-profit status and its assets, he said.

Wente and Sexton plan to notify the federal government of their intentions to merge this month, as required by federal law.

The administrators already anticipate review of the proposed transaction by federal authorities and have retained antitrust attorneys.

Neither Wente nor Sexton had any comment on Friday's announcement.

Wente and Sexton and representatives of both hospital boards are meeting with employers to outline the details and benefits of the proposed merger.

On Thursday, the Cape Girardeau County Commission endorsed the merger plan.

Wente and Sexton say merging the two hospitals would eliminate duplication of health-care services and help contain costs in the region. In addition, a merger would make the region more competitive in the health-care market and strengthen health-care options, they say.