Oklahoma State University Medical Center to stay put

Journal Record, The (Oklahoma City), Nov 26, 2008 by Janice Francis-Smith

Oklahoma State University Medical Center will remain at its current location, state officials announced late Tuesday.

Parties to the negotiations were vague regarding the details of the plan, except to say that the issues regarding indigent care and the financial woes that threaten hospitals in north Tulsa have been resolved by a tentative agreement. The agreement does away with a plan to move the OSU medical program to St. Francis Hospital by July 1.

"Essentially, this proposal will save the OSU medical program, keep the doors of the OSU Medical Center open and address both the short- and long-term health care challenges in the Tulsa area," said Gov. Brad Henry in a statement issued at 5:45 p.m., following a long day of negotiations. Parties involved in the meeting included state House Speaker Chris Benge, R-Tulsa, Senate President Pro Tempore Glenn Coffee, R-Oklahoma City, state Treasurer Scott Meacham, OSU President Burns Hargis, Ken Levit of the Kaiser Family Foundation and other stakeholders.

Tulsa Mayor Kathy Taylor said she had spoken with Meacham earlier Tuesday and heard the meeting was very productive.

"The city stands by, willing to assist in any way we can, whether that involves forming a trust to take ownership of the program or something else," said Taylor. "The vital focus is for this facility to stay open."

The plan to move the program sparked fear that if OSU Medical Center were to close, the two hospitals within a mile of the facility - St. John and Hillcrest - would be deluged with additional indigent patients. All three hospitals in the area already report millions of dollars in uncompensated losses each year attributed to providing care to patients with inadequate coverage or no health insurance at all. If the OSU Medical Center were to close, the estimated 40 million people who visit the facility's emergency room each year would instead be added to the remaining hospitals' patient load.

The remaining hospitals and stakeholders engaged in a grass- roots campaign to persuade state leaders reluctant to take on the recurring expense of supporting the hospital to agree to provide the support needed to keep the current facility open. Tulsa city and county officials passed resolutions in support of the program at its current location, letters were written to the editors of the state's largest newspapers, and residents were encouraged to contact their state legislators. Often, comparisons were made to the University of Oklahoma's medical program in Oklahoma City, which does receive support from the state.

The resolution passed by the city of Tulsa estimates the program could be saved with a state subsidy of about $12 million a year. The state had already provided $20 million for capital improvements, which has thus far gone unspent due the uncertainty of the program's long-term location.

Benge, himself a Tulsan, said the issue was not to achieve parity between funding for OSU and OU, or between Oklahoma City facilities and those in Tulsa. The issue was to resolve the problem of indigent care and to keep the OSU residency program going.

"All along we have had two objectives when dealing with this critical situation: to stabilize the OSU residency program and to ensure the indigent patients in Tulsa have a place to go for care," said Benge. "Both of those issues are addressed with this agreement."

Benge was named speaker of the House at the beginning of the 2008 session, but he said he became active in ongoing discussions regarding the program when Republicans took control of the state House in 2004. "I've been very committed to trying to resolve this issue," said Benge. "It has been frustrating at times, the solution has been evasive, but we're beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel."

"Protecting medical education and ensuring the availability of indigent health care in Tulsa and northeastern Oklahoma are high priorities for our state's leaders," said Coffee, R-Oklahoma City. "This is a positive step for the Tulsa area that is beneficial for rural and central Oklahoma, as well."

Benge said several parties have a role to play in the final agreement, including St. John, the state Legislature and the Kaiser Foundation. But state officials declined to comment further on the agreement "until all of the stakeholders have received final approval from their governing boards," according to the governor's statement.