A
major component of the Scripps biotech plan, the research hospital
backed by Tenet Healthcare, may not be feasible after a recent ruling by
a Florida State Judge.
In
an article
released recently from the Palm Beach Post, Staff Writer Stacy Singer
reported that State Administrative Judge James H. Peterson, III strongly
recommended the denial of the hospital's application with Florida's
Agency for Health Care Administration (FAHCA) based on legal grounds.
The Document in question is the Certificate of Need (CON) which is
intended to justify that the new hospital is needed. Based on the
judge's decision, the construction of the new hospital is not necessary.
The
appeal against the CON of the Tenet hospital was filed by Jupiter
Medical Center and West Palm Hospital who made claims that they would
suffer severe economic loss with the construction of this new facility.
As justification for the appeal, Jupiter Medical Center claimed to
expect over $11 million in losses in the first year if the new hospital
were built. The two hospitals in opposition to the project are within a
few miles of the proposed Tenet hospital, and they can't even keep
hospital beds full. In fact,
South Florida Business Journal
reported that only 54% percent of the beds are occupied and about 657
beds are empty every day. Furthermore, Tenet, one of the largest for
profit hospital organizations in the country, already owns 60% of the
hospitals in the northern Palm Beach County area and the addition of
this new hospital would essentially provide them a monopoly over Palm
Beach County's healthcare prices. It was the judge's opinion that this
would likely increase insurance rates for customers in the area.
The
judge also claimed that the Tenet hospital offered little to Scripps in
its research and clinical trials beyond what other hospitals could
provide. The CON claimed one of the hospital's primary functions would
be to facilitate research from the Scripps lab being used in clinical
trials. However, the Tenet hospital had prepared to have only one staff
position dedicated to this task. According to the judges report, this
was not the only claim made by Tenet Healthcare that was highly
inflated. Although it was stated in the CON that this facility would
become a world class medical research facility, the judge found that
there was no evidence of this being the case. It is for these reasons
that the judge issued the order that essentially denies the construction
of the hospital.
Florida's Health Care Administration has 45 days
from issuance of the recommendation to come to a decision on whether
they will challenge the judge's official order. Though there is
precedent for such action, it is unlikely. Especially since FAHCA's
Secretary Liz Dudek didn't officially recommend the project's approval
the first time around. Normally when a project is proposed it is
recommended for approval or denial, but this one wasn't. In Dudek's own
written words:
"There is no need for an additional small community hospital that offers basic services."
Tenet,
Scripps, and the PBG government will likely have to appeal the judge's
ruling in a Florida State Court of Appeals if they hope to see this
decision overturned.
So, what does this mean for the Scripps Phase II project? Scripps wanted Tenet bad. A previous PBP
article
reported that the land that Tenet would be building on is owned by the
county, but Scripps leases it from the county for $1 a year. A letter of
Intent signed in 2011 between Tenet and Scripps would have Tenet lease
the land from Scripps for $5 million dollars a year, profiting big off
the benevolence of the county. Over the course of a 34 year lease,
Scripps would have profited nearly $170 million from the proposed
hospital. Scripps would also have had Tenet employees count towards
their employee total, which is important for Scripps when demonstrating
their job creation ability. With the $310 million state grant for the
Scripps Phase II/Briger project expiring this year, Scripps is likely to
run into financial difficulties and the loss of revenue from this
hospital could be disastrous for them. The CEO of Scripps, Michael
Marletta, is quite disappointed in the decision, but says they will
still try to get a hospital built on the county property.
Even
Shannon Laroque, the Assistant County Administrator and Scripps Program
Manager, is pretty upset about this. She pushed hard for this hospital
to get approved and found it an integral part of Scripps Phase II. In a
2011 article she made it clear by saying,
"Every
other successful biotech/biomedical industry cluster is 'anchored' with
large non-profit research facilities, a major university, and a
teaching/research hospital. We cannot realize a return on the very large
investment made by the Board of County Commissioners and the State of
Florida without it."
Additionally, The Kolter Group, the
development firm looking to buy the portions of the Briger Forest not
zoned for biotech, may not be as interested in becoming involved in
light of the project's recent difficulties.
As
upset as all these profiteers are, we in the fight to protect the
Briger are thrilled! Councilman David Levy said this decision could set
back development of the Briger property two or three years. If we have
anything to say about it, those few years will turn into the permanent
preservation of the land. We're still here to make sure they never break
ground on this project. Keep it wild!
Voice your opinion. Tell
Secretary Liz Dudek to respect the judicial order of Judge James H.
Peterson, III and deny the Certificate of Need for the Tenet Healthcare
Hospital by contacting her Chief of Staff:
Jenn Ungru, Chief of Staff- FAHCA
(850) 412-3606
Reference CON Application No. 10130
Extra sources:
The Sun Sentinel,
Jupiter Medical Center, HCA Oppose Tenet/Scripps Medical Hospital
Palm Beach Post Blog,
http://blogs.palmbeachpost.com/npbc/2013/05/03/gardens-council-react-to-tenet-hospital-rejection/
Sunshin State News,
http://www.sunshinestatenews.com/story/scripps-jupiter-facility-falling-short-job-creation, Rockwell, L.
JMC Tenet Judge Order
