By Steve Rhodes
“Roseland Community Hospital warned that it will stop accepting patients on Wednesday, if it doesn’t receive enough money to stay open,” the Sun-Times reports.
“Roseland is $7 million in debt. Hospital executives say the state owes them $6 million of that in delayed payments for procedures Roseland had performed on patients.
“It is shameful that the State of Illinois cannot provide funding for its poor sick citizens,” said Dian Powell, president and CEO of Roseland Community Hospital. “The closing of this hospital will be devastating.”
Here is a twist in the story, though, that I don’t believe I’ve seen until now:
But a spokeswoman for Gov. Pat Quinn strongly disagreed that the state of Illinois owed Roseland $6 million.
“That is false. In fact, the State of Illinois has advanced all payments to Roseland for this fiscal year,” Quinn spokeswoman Brooke Anderson said.
The hospital said it could not provide a breakdown of the $6 million that it says it is owed by the state.
Anderson also stated that the hospital and its board of directors “mismanaged their resources into the situation they are in today.”
“The governor is concerned about Roseland’s long term viability,” Anderson said. “Unfortunately, they have failed to respond to our requests for a viable plan to properly run the hospital.”
If that’s the case, perhaps the state – and the city – could help Roseland come up with such a plan. Lives are at stake.
And it’s not like being mismanaged – a characterization Powell denies – has ever been a disadvantage in Illinois before.
That’s right: Sears got $275 million – without a viable plan for the future. Roseland is asking for six. Sears sells crappy clothes. Roseland saves lives.
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“The hospital [has] already laid off 68 people, such as lab technicians and emergency room nurses, and given furloughs to others to stay afloat.”
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“The 162-bed hospital serves a poor, largely minority population from the South Side and south suburbs, hospital officials said,” the Tribune reports. “About 20 percent of patients are uninsured or underinsured, while just under 40 percent of those admitted to the emergency room are uninsured, Powell said.”
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Roseland Community Hospital serves mostly a poor minority population on the far South Side of Chicago. CEO calls the area a ‘health desert.’
— WBEZ Out Loud (@WBEZoutloud) June 3, 2013
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“It is the only hospital within an 8 mile radius in an area that has seen its fair share of violence lately,” WGN-TV reports. “It’s not a trauma center but last year 35 shooting victims went to Roseland first, then trauma centers.”
For example:
“Three young men who police say belonged to two different gangs walked into Roseland Hospital overnight with gunshot wounds, each shot within blocks of each other in a pair of West Pullman neighborhood attacks,” the Tribune reported last month.
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See also: Restoring Roseland: School Confronts Violence.
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And: At least two Roseland elementary schools, Kohn and Songhai, are now slated for closure.
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Meter Madness 2.0
“Finance Committee Backs Changes To Parking Meter Deal.”
Chicago Seinfeld: Kramer accidentally stumbles into parking meter lease negotiations, trades free Sundays for extra hours. Passes council.
— Beachwood Reporter (@BeachwoodReport) June 3, 2013
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The Weekend In Chicago Rock
Do Division vs. the Detroit Cobras.
Rahm’s Bet With LA
What should really be at stake.
SportsMonday: Hawks Making Quick Work Of Kings
Delightful and clever.
The Cub Factor: Our Mock Draft
We have our own ideas of who the Cubs should draft on Thursday.
The White Sox Report: Setting The Game Back
This season’s team would send shudders up Alexander Cartwright’s spine.
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The Beachwood Tip Line: Shudder to think.
Posted on June 4, 2013