Criticism From Doctors:
“More than 190 doctors at the University of Chicago Medical Center signed a letter to trustees protesting plans to reduce the number of beds available to emergency patients as “unnecessarily risky” and a threat to patient safety.
The controversy over the prestigious hospital’s unusual plan is being closely watched by emergency physicians across the U.S. as hospitals wrestle with rising costs and sometimes inadequate reimbursements from federal and state programs […]Last month, two high-ranking doctors resigned from the university’s medical leadership over the administration’s plan.
Meanwhile, three prominent national leaders of emergency medicine who did a consulting study recommending the hospital add ER beds and make other investments in the department said Tuesday that the current plans were likely to worsen the already hours-long waits in the emergency room. One of the consultants, Donald M. Yealy, vice chairman of emergency medicine at the University of Pittsburgh, called the Chicago hospital’s proposed revisions “a dangerous experiment on one of the most vulnerable populations.”
—Thomas M Burton, “Chicago Hospital Doctors Protest Planned Bed Cuts”, Wall Street Journal, 3/12/2009
Criticism From Community Leaders:
“We know the ones who are going to be shifted around are low-income families,” said Shannon Bennett, lead organizer for the Kenwood-Oakland Community Organization, which has long battled with the university over its proper role in the area. “This sends the wrong message to folks who live in the communities that surround the hospital.”
[…]
“The U. of C. wants to become a highly specialized center for research and treatment, but it has the paradox of being one of the few remaining ERs in that swath of the region,” said Dr. Quentin Young, a health advocate and a former head of the county’s public hospital system. “There’s just a huge need, and now the university is saying it wants to get out of that business.
— Jason Grotto, “University of Chicago ER sends kid mauled by pit bull home;
Neighborhood concerns mount after U. of C. unveils plan to redirect some patients” Chicago Tribune, 2/13/09
Criticsm From the American Academy of Emergency Medicine:
“A higher percentage of the poor and uninsured — one in three — are being redirected from the University of Chicago Medical Center to Mercy Hospital and Medical Center than the typical rate of admission of such patients to hospitals in Illinois.
“I don’t like the fact that they are redirecting people. Period,” said Dr. Larry Weiss, president of the American Academy of Emergency Medicine. “I am not aware of any other similar arrangement. It’s safer to redirect people to another facility on your campus such as an urgent-care center.”
– Bruce Jaspen, 32% of U. of C. redirected patients are poor, uninsured”, Chicago Tribune, 4/27/09
Criticism From Faculty:
“A letter delivered to Dr. Madara last month and signed by 76 faculty members asserts that, since adding the hospital CEO title in 2006, Dr. Madara has lost focus on his role as dean of the Hyde Park medical center’s vaunted research and academic enterprise. A preoccupation with hospital profits and an “insular management style” have “disenfranchised” the faculty, the letter says…”
— Mike Colias, “U of C docs attack CEO’s finance focus”, www.chicagobusiness.com, 05/04/09
…And Actions that Speak for Themselves:
The U of C’s Finances:
U of C’s finances have been strong in recent years. It rebounded from an off year in fiscal 2006 to post an $87.8 million operating profit in fiscal 2007, the strongest in years. U of C hasn’t disclosed results for the year ended June 30, but it was on pace to eclipse the previous year, with $81.6 million in operating income during the first nine months.
Dr. Madara said the medical center is not on pace to lose money this year, but, “we really want to react to this economy from a position of strength,” he said. “We don’t want to get backed into a corner, bled down, so to speak, and have to act chaotically.”
He said plans for an $800-million bed tower on campus will move forward.”
—Mike Colias, “U of C Hospital to cut $100M”, www.chicagobusiness.com, 01/09/09
And How They’re Spent:
“U. of C. has faced criticism from local community leaders who complain that the hospital isn’t providing as much help to poor and indigent patients as it has in the past.. […] In 2007, the medical center donated 1 percent of its $1 billion in revenue for charity care, among the lowest levels in the county, according to a Tribune analysis of state data.
— Jason Grotto, “University of Chicago to shutter women’s clinic”, Chicago Tribune, 5/21/09
