Prognosis vary for medical partnership
Some view proposed Lewis Center facility positively; others question its benefitBy Nikki Cobb/Staff Writer
APPLE VALLEY — In the Victor Valley, as across the nation, stakeholders from congressmen to parents are debating how best to provide the fundamental services of health care and education to all.
Officials at the Lewis Center for Educational Research think a proposed partnership between the school and a health-care facility, to be built on its grounds, could go a long way toward improving High Desert residents' access to both social needs.
Besides providing medical care, the medical complex would provide Lewis Center students the opportunity to observe health professionals at work and expose them to the range of jobs in the industry.
"It would show our students that there are jobs at every level, for all abilities," said Lewis Center CEO Rick Piercy. "It's a very exciting project, one that I think will enhance Apple Valley and enhance the experiences of our students."
Officials from the nonprofit Victor Valley Community Hospital and St. Mary Medical Center, as well as the for-profit Desert Valley Hospital, agree that providing training for students as early as 10th grade is valuable.
"It's a wonderful chance to benefit the community at large," said Pat Orr, a member of the foundation board at St. Mary. "We're an aging population; we're going to need more health-care workers. Who's going to educate them?"
However, some local providers and national experts worry about the impact a specialty hospital, such as the proposed outpatient surgery center, will have on other area health-care facilities.
"I don't know exactly what their plans are, but specialty hospitals in general don't necessarily add benefit to the community," said Randy Bevilacqua, St. Mary's spokesman.
"We have many, many procedures and services that don't generate excess revenue," Bevilacqua said. "Many, many of our services don't even meet our expenses. But as a not-for-profit (facility), we're there for the community benefit."
Bevilacqua explained that full-service, acute-care hospitals often lose money in providing emergency rooms and treatment of uninsured patients. Such hospitals rely on revenue from procedures such as surgeries to recoup losses — among the most profitable being outpatient surgeries.
Those are the same services the proposed specialty hospital would offer, often at lower cost than the major hospitals, because that's all it would do.
"It's a trend all over the country, to specialize in more profitable procedures without having to staff a 24-hour emergency department and provide primary care to the uninsured," said hospital consultant Doug Elwell, who is based in Indianapolis. "It's very, very disturbing."
Elaine Batchlor, of the California Health Care Foundation, said the issue is being debated at the national level. She said there are benefits and drawbacks to specialty medical facilities, often operated for profit.
"Yes, the for-profit specialty hospitals or surgery centers are extracting a profitable subset of services, leaving the acute-care hospitals, who have a mission of providing access, to do the charity care," Batchlor said.
"On the other hand, the specialty hospitals can develop a more efficient, higher quality product," she said. "Some would argue that innovation in the marketplace of that type should be allowed."
Former Victor Valley Community Hospital board chairman Michael Fermin said the burgeoning Victor Valley population needs more providers, and that specialty facilities could provide health care for patients who otherwise might have to travel down the hill for services.
"There's an increasing need for additional services in all areas of health care," Fermin said. "Any new facility is a good thing, especially one such as this, that allows kids to see allied health professionals at work."
Piercy said the facility on property leased from the Lewis Center is still in the early planning stages.
"This is just one proposal and we haven't signed anything yet," he said. "We're talking to some hospitals, still getting lots of ideas in."
Used with permission by Daily Press, Freedom Communication, 2003