Public weighs in on UMC at forum

People who thought that a forum Monday night was going to be a town hall-style discussion about the future of University Medical Center were disappointed.

The event turned out to be more like an open house featuring large placards listing financial figures and the six management options provided by consulting firm Lewin Group.

Then there was the pink, two-page eight-question questionnaire that could be filled out and left with county employees. The results from the questionnaires, Clark County spokesman Dan Kulin said, will be tabulated, combined and provided to hospital administrators for review.

"I could have just filled that out through e-mail,'' said 52-year-old Jamie Stewart. She uses a wheelchair and had to arrange a paratransit ride to get to and from the Clark County Government Center's Pueblo Room.

"The venue for this public forum is a disgrace," she complained. "I came here to express some concerns, solutions and ideas about our public hospital. Instead, we're just mingling.''

Other attendees voiced similar complaints about an hour into the forum when they realized that there would be no microphone or give-and-take between the public as a group and hospital officials.

"This is no criticism to our current administration ... they are doing a great job, but I thought we would be able to speak as a group,'' said Mary Fazzalaro, a 58-year-old UMC volunteer. "Some of the (Clark County) commissioners should have been here to answer our questions, as a group. We wanted to hear each other.''

Fazzalaro and a couple dozen other citizens attended the two-hour event. County officials said the purpose was to solicit feedback from the public on ways to improve the hospital's operation and funding sources.

Earlier this year, hospital administrators painted a bleak picture of the hospital's finances and future.

Between July and December last year, the hospital lost about $29 million.

In April, administrators asked the County Commission for $61 million to cover last fiscal year's losses. The hospital also asked the county for a $41.4 million subsidy for its 2007-08 budget.

The hospital ran $2.2 million in the red in April. That was an improvement when compared to the operational losses of about $4 million each for February and March, but hospital administrators still must decide whether further cuts and changes in the hospital's overall operations are needed.

The public forum was an attempt to hear from the public first, said Kathy Silver, UMC's interim chief executive. The "informal" format was intended to take away the "us versus them setting,'' she said.

"Not that there is anything wrong with someone having a negative or adverse opinion,'' Silver added. "We just wanted this to be more collaborative.''

Silver said she was pleased with the public turnout and the amount of support expressed for the hospital.

Some of the attendees voiced concerns about possible closures of certain patient care services such as the pediatric endocrinology clinic. They said they also worried about any possible sale of the hospital. As one of its options for the county, the Lewin Group suggested that the county could sell the hospital to a private entity.

Fazzalaro told county officials that they could count her among those who opposed a sale of the hospital. But, she said, she does favor creating a separate advisory board made up of medical care professionals to oversee the hospital's "checks and balances.''

The hospital's current board of directors is the County Commission.

A second UMC "forum" is slated for 10 a.m. to noon Saturday at the Clark County Government Center.