Written by Coalition to Save Northeastern Hospital
Monday, 09 February 2009
Come to a public meeting about Northeastern Hospital and find out what service cuts at your community hospital might mean to you!
SAVE OUR HOSPITAL!
Public Meeting about Saving Northeastern Hospital From closing of many needed services including Inpatient Medical Beds, ICU, Surgical procedures and Maternity.
Thursday, February 19 7:00 pm Casbah Catering Hall 3461 E. Thompson St.
WHERE WILL WE GO IF OUR HOSPITAL IS GONE?
Twelve Philadelphia hospitals have cut their obstetrics service in the last decade. In the midst of a deepening maternity care crisis, Northeastern Hospital in Port Richmond appears poised to join their ranks. Northeastern is operated by Temple University Health System (TUHS). After closing nearby Episcopal and Neuman hospitals, TUHS assured the community of its commitment Northeastern. Similarly, after closing the maternity unit at Jeanes in 2007, TUHS assured the community it would concentrate resources on Northeastern's maternity unit. TUHS predicted the births these hospitals previously handled would transfer over to Temple University Hospital. In fact, Temple's deliveries have decreased.
Northeastern Hospital now says it plans to “restructure”, but those close to the hospital fear they plan to cut operations (OR) and Obstetrics (OB). The hospital claims to be losing money. But TUHS as a whole continues to operate at a substantial profit. Maternity services are usually cross-subsidized by other, more profitable service lines. And while it's true that Northeastern deals with a large volume of un- and under-insured patients, TUHS has received substantial subsidies, $120 million in the last five years above usual hospital subsidies, to counterbalance those expenses, much of it directed specifically to Northeastern. These public dollars should be invested wisely to strengthen existing services and improve quality at that hospital. The public doesn't know how much TUHS or Northeastern has negotiated from managed care for their reimbursements, but the state pays a global fee of $10,500 to cover prenatal services and delivery for each Medicaid birth. How much has Northeastern negotiated from the insurance companies to reimburse them for maternity services? Is it less than for our hearts or bones? Why haven't they negotiated to cover their costs?
Over the past several months, Philadelphia has witnessed the design and construction of modern homes pointing the way toward sustainable living. Through the convenient medium of the blog, readers have watched two buildings take shape from their own homes and offices.
Building Green on Montrose and the 100K House are blogs charting the weekly progress of two green homes, located respectively in South Philadelphia and Kensington. Southern Liberties, LLC, the design firm renovating the Montrose Street house, and Postgreen, the developers behind the 100K House, have registered for platinum status for Leadership in Environmental and Energy Design (LEED).
Both developers report that they made easy LEED gains by building on existing residential spaces (the Montrose project has renovated a 100-year-old row home, while the 100K house has built on an infill lot). Each project has several enticing features: the South Philadelphian home features a vegetated (“green”) roof and has used “reclaimed, recycled, and sustainably certified materials”; the 100K House achieved exceptional energy performance—bolstered in great part by its SIPs (Structurally Insulated Panels)—and has a hard construction budget of only $100,000 (amounting to $100 per square foot).
