CHBond Issue

El Paso County Commissioner Pct. 2
Veronica Escobar

Children's hospital Bond issue is worthy investment
El Paso Times Staff Article
Launched: 10/21/2007 12:00:00 AM MDT
El Paso needs a dedicated children's hospital, and the El Paso Times recommends that in the Nov. 6 elections, voters approve funding for the hospital. Early voting begins Monday.

There are a number of reasons why the hospital is a good idea.

One is that El Paso is a growing community, and will be growing even faster with the influx of troops at Fort Bliss in coming years. A good portion of that growth, military-driven or otherwise, will be children -- children who will need adequate local pediatric care.

Longtime El Paso pediatrician Dr. Carlos Gutierrez said, "This is a dramatically underserved pediatric community. El Paso's pediatrician-to-child population ratio is double the national average."

Also, El Paso is the largest metropolitan area in the country that doesn't have a separately licensed children's hospital. As it is, pediatricians have to spend a lot of time traveling between various hospitals and also devoting time to their office practices. A centralized and dedicated children's hospital certainly would be more efficient and practical.

A dedicated children's hospital could dramatically increase the amount and variety of children's care available, and would certainly serve to attract more pediatricians to the city.

One of the major concerns about a children's hospital is the governance. A litany of bad experiences concerning Thomason Hospital, its board of managers and County Commissioners Court makes it imperative that county government would

We think that concern has been addressed with the proposed formation and makeup of a children's hospital board. For one thing, no entity would have veto power over the independent, 11-member, 501(c)3 board, including Commissioners Court and also Texas Tech and the Thomason Hospital District board.

Another concern is that the hospital's $120.1 million bond request will boost El Pasoans' property taxes. It will, but the increase is minimal -- $2.38 a month on a $100,000 home, decreasing to $1.99 a month in 2015.

El Paso's taxpayers are already beleaguered with high taxes. No one really likes to pay more in taxes. But at least we will be seeing positive results from the investment of tax money and will even see increases in money coming into El Paso, such as the projected Medicaid reimbursement rising to $7.5 million a year -- the result of having a separately licensed children's hospital.

It's also projected that the hospital will generate positive cash flows in the first five years of operation, with the exception of the first year.

There are many demands on El Paso taxpayers' money. We feel that this is a worthy demand, and recommend that you vote in favor of the children's hospital bond issue.