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Board wants more details, questions to Spohn remain unanswered [Corpus Christi Caller-Times, Texas :: ](Caller-Times (Corpus Christi, TX) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Aug. 20--CORPUS CHRISTI -- Negotiators with the Nueces County Hospital District and Christus Spohn Health System held an all-day meeting last week, but apparently accomplished very little. They met Aug. 12 about the health system's $325 million proposal to expand Shoreline hospital and shutter the 70-year-old Memorial hospital complex located just 1.5 miles away on Morgan Avenue. While the proposal wouldn't involve any taxpayer money, demolishing the government-owned hospital building would require approval from Nueces County. CEO Jonny Hipp reported back to the seven-member Hospital District board on Tuesday afternoon, telling them Spohn doesn't have all the details. For example, Hipp said the Hospital District asked Spohn how many hospital beds the health system would keep. Read the current membership agreement between the Nueces County Hospital District and the Christus Spohn Health System. "In terms of their planning process for beds and stuff, what they've told us is that they won't be able to do the planning until they get a go-ahead from us to go along with the deal," Hipp said. "It's a chicken or the egg deal. And we basically told them we can't do that." Nobody from Spohn attended the Hospital District meeting, and a spokeswoman wasn't immediately able to comment on the negotiations or discussion Tuesday night. Spohn CEO Pam Robertson talked broadly about the $325 million proposal during six public meetings last month. Under the proposal, Spohn would dramatically expand Shoreline hospital. Key medical services, including the region's only Level II trauma center and two medical residency programs, would move from Memorial to Shoreline. After shifting the key medical services to Shoreline, the health system would demolish Memorial. Spohn would replace the 70-year-old hospital with a new primary care clinic named for civil rights leader Dr. Hector P. Garcia. Robertson, though, emphasized that many details remained undetermined. For example, Robertson said the new clinic would cover approximately 40,000 square feet, but that the number of floors hadn't been decided. Few new details emerged during the negotiating session, Hipp said, and they haven't scheduled a second session. "It seems to me that -- and this is just from what I know -- that they're pushing, they're pushing, but yet they can't tell us what they're going to do. But yet, when the money rolls around, they know how to get to that. And I personally would like to see a lot more detail," board member Raymond Wetegrove said. "I mean, it reminds me a lot of the Affordable Health Care Act -- we'll fill in the details later." Understanding why Spohn submitted the proposal and how the health system would benefit may help address public concerns about the plan, said board member Rodney Hart. "So far, they have told us really very well what they want to do," Hart said. "I don't think they've addressed exactly why they want to do it. And those are the details we're still looking for." Hart said he'd independently asked that question to Spohn and wanted to talk about the answer he received with the Hospital District board. The Westside Business Association urged the Hospital District to halt negotiations altogether . Concerned about a lack of transparency during the process, the association wants the Hospital District to suspend negotiations with Spohn for six months and form a committee to study the proposal, said Angela Leal, a business association board member who attended the meeting. After the initial discussion, the Hospital District board entered executive session -- private discussion allowed by the Texas Open Meetings Act -- to talk about the negotiations with Spohn. They entered executive session at 6:34 p.m. and remained behind closed doors at 8 p.m. ___ (c)2014 Corpus Christi Caller-Times (Corpus Christi, Texas) Visit the Corpus Christi Caller-Times (Corpus Christi, Texas) at www.caller.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |