MauryTHINKS

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

A letter that you published recently on MauryThinks.com with the title “Local Hospital Provides For Whole Community” by Mr. Ron Pope, Vice President of Maury Regional Hospital, presented inaccurate information and is indicative of the misleading statements that have plagued MRH’s public campaign to attempt to convince the public that it is proper for MRH to continue to appeal a nearly unanimous second approval of the HSDA for Spring Hill Hospital.

Mr. Pope states that MRH ‘receives no taxpayer dollars’ and ‘has been and continues to be self supporting’. In fact, MRH will receive $390,000 from the recently passed Appropriations Act of 2008 that was indeed funded by taxpayer dollars. As for being ‘self supporting’, it is the residents of Maury County that are ultimately responsible to repay bonds that have been used for capital improvement projects at MRH if the hospital were unable to do so as MRH is owned 100% by Maury County established by Private Act in 1949.

Evidence submitted during the appeal of SHH disclosed the fact that in 2005, prior to the Certificate of Need Application for SHH by HCA, MRH hired consultants who found that Spring Hill residents would need approximately 60 hospital beds by 2015. It was also disclosed that MRH has a small market share of no more than 2% from the City of Spring Hill. Accordingly, the HSDA concluded that because of such a low market share, there is even less reason to believe that MRH will be adversely affected by SHH and unable to continue to provide services to the region. Additionally, when given the opportunity to produce evidence that SHH would cause MRH to be unable to continue the services provided to the community, MRH was not able to do so.

These findings stand in stark contrast to the frequent statements made by MRH officials that a hospital in Spring Hill is not needed and would irreparably harm MRH’s ability to provide services to the region. It is for these reasons that MRH officials have said that opposing and continuing to appeal SHH was the right thing to do.

Just this week, Vanderbilt University Medical Center filed a CON Application in partnership with MRH to establish a $7.3 Million Ambulatory Surgery Treatment Center in Spring Hill. This ASTC facility is proposed to provide Radiation Therapy Services. In the application, VUMC states that the purpose of this request is to “meet the needs of the growing communities in and around Maury County” and also “the ultimate ownership is expected to become a 50%/50% joint venture” for VUMC and MRH.

It is estimated that SHH will pay approximately $1 Million per year in annual property tax to Maury County (based on the approved $105 Million facility) at no cost to Maury County taxpayers and that MRH has spent over $1 Million in fighting SHH (not including the fees that MRH was ordered to pay to cover costs incurred by the State and SHH for the appeal.)

How much longer will MRH continue to fight a hospital their own consultants advised them will be needed? How will a continued appeal of SHH effect VUMC and MRH’s own application for an ASTC facility in Spring Hill? How much more will MRH continue to spend on opposing economic development for northern Maury County?

I implore upon Maury County residents and Maury County Elected Officials to contact Maury Regional Hospital Trustees and Officials to let them know that the time to end the appeal of Spring Hill Hospital is now.

Jonathan Duda
City of Spring Hill Alderman
jonathan.duda at charter.net

EDITORS NOTE:

Mr Duda also included the following documents for source material:

• Letter from Robert Otwell, CEO (MRH) to HSDA (PDF)
• HSDA Final Order of the matter of the SHH (PDF)
• excerptCN0804-02404-14-2008.pdf