epcounty.com - Commissioner Precinct 2

El Paso County Commissioner Pct. 2
Veronica Escobar

Thomason board OKs children's hospital plan
Voters will decide in November if new service worth tax increase
By Erica Molina Johnson / El Paso Times
Article Launched: 03/14/2007
The decision on whether to add a separately licensed children's hospital to a planned tower at Thomason Hospital is a step closer to going to the voters this November.
At Tuesday's Thomason Hospital Board of Managers meeting, the board heard a presentation about a feasibility study for the children's hospital, and voted six to one to ask Commissioners Court to have a special meeting to decide whether the $120 million project should be put on the ballot.
"This is a great day for El Paso," Thomason CEO Jim Valenti said.
Board member Dr. Carlos Gutierrez has long pushed for the creation of a children's hospital in the area.
"This is one of the most beautiful days I've experienced in El Paso," he said. "This is not a political issue. We're fighting for something for our children. I don't think people are going to want to come out in public against that."
Dr. Jesus Arturo Castro-Sandoval cast the sole vote against the proposal.
"It's going to be very difficult to bring pediatricians to this city," he told the board before the vote, adding that other difficulties might accompany going ahead with the project.
His statements incensed board Vice Chair Sam Legate.
"The attitude you articulated is the attitude I hope we stamp out. The words you said I want to never hear again," he said. "I personally believe my city is good enough. Your city may not be. Why don't you go to that city."
The current Thomason expansion plan includes the construction of a five-story mother/baby tower. If passed, the children's hospital would occupy four floors above that, as well as some space elsewhere in the tower and in the annex building.
The 140-bed children's hospital would be separately licensed, have its own board and be operated by its own nonprofit entity.
The feasibility study was conducted by Kurt Salmon Associates, and took into account factors such as growth. It was reported that forecasts predict the hospital will generate enough money to pay for its operation.
"Is El Paso large enough to support a children's hospital? The answer is a resounding yes," George Westfall of the company told the board.
The idea of a children's hospital at Thomason is being met with opposition from some in the area, particularly officials at the Sierra Providence Health Network, which operates the Children's Hospital at Providence.
In 2004, Providence handled about 41 percent of the pediatric cases in the area. Thomason was second in the area with about 23 percent.
The Children's Hospital at Providence occupies much of the hospital's third floor, as well as other areas of the building, and offers services such as a pediatric intensive care unit, children's emergency department, child-life services, pediatric oncology, general pediatric services and the Border Children's Health Clinic, which regularly brings in specialists to treat area children.
"This Children's Hospital at Providence is full service for the children. Do we need another children's hospital? No," said Irene Chavez, chief operating officer at Providence and the children's hospital.
She said hospital services for children are seasonal, with packed wards in the winter and nearly deserted halls in the summer. With more than 120 beds, the facility is larger than many children's hospitals in the nation, Chavez said.
She also said the local shortage of health-care professionals would be exacerbated by constructing the Thomason hospital.
She said Thomason can fulfill its mission to provide access to care for the indigent by brokering through Providence to arrange the services.
"Take our tax dollars and adhere to your mission of trauma and indigent care," Chavez said.
Supporters of the plan said the hospital would be part of a dynamic medical center in the area, anchored by Thomason Hospital and the new Texas Tech medical school, and would be able to attract top physicians.
East-Central Rep. José Alexandro Lozano spoke out in favor of the children's hospital at the meeting. "We want to create something great on this side of the freeway," said Lozano, who represents the area in which Thomason sits.
He said the project would help drive economic development in the area and help increase tourism while providing increased care levels for children in the region. "The area is blighted," he said after the meeting. "This will revive the whole south of El Paso ... It gives me chills to think what will happen."
The presentation also detailed the extend to which the area's pediatric community is underserved. According to the presentation, the national pediatrician to child population ratio is one to 1,769. It is one to 2,421 in Texas and one to 3,532 in El Paso.
Chavez said the Thomason project would increase taxes by as much as $2,500, but Thomason officials said this is not true.
The $120 million project would equate to an annual tax impact of $36.60 for a home valued at $100,000 in 2009, and drop to $27.12 annually for the same home value in 2015.
Hospital officials also said the project at Thomason would cost $500 million -- a number taken from a presentation delivered recently by Valenti.
The figure in Valenti's presentation stated that over several years, an investment of about $500 million will be made on the Thomason and Texas Tech University campuses, Thomason officials said.
Valenti said the city can sustain both pediatric hospitals.
"They (Providence) are not a stand-alone children's hospital. I love Providence. I had my babies at Providence. But a stand-alone children's hospital brings increased Medicaid reimbursement rates," said Commissioner Veronica Escobar, who represents the area in which Thomason is located.
"What we have is a concerted effort by a private entity to misinform the community and prevent competition," she said, after receiving several e-mails from Sierra Providence employees. "Before the feasibility study (was) even released, Tenet (the parent company of Sierra Providence) (was) aggressively opposing the idea of a children's hospital."
She said she would post the feasibility study on her county Web page, and looked forward to community discussion on the matter.
"It is a wonderful step for El Paso," she said. "This is not about anybody but our kids."
Cesar Medrano, whose 6-year-old son Brian was admitted to Thomason on Tuesday, said he favored the construction.
"It would be great," he said. "I'm one of these fathers. I wish I could have my kid in a good situation with the best doctors."
Tuesday's board meeting was the last regular meeting the body will have in its current form. Four seats on the seven-member board are up for reappointment this month by members of Commissioners Court.
Erica Molina Johnson may be reached at emolina@elpasotimes.com; 546-6132.
For more information: www.thomasoncares.org; www.sphn.com