St. Mary’s to Consolidate Outpatient Care in Hospital

By Phil Galewitz, The Palm Beach Post, Fla.

Dec. 13–St. Mary’s Medical Center plans to stop performing surgery at its Kimmel Outpatient Surgery Center and start doing the outpatient operations in the main hospital.

St. Mary’s is trying to reassign the surgery center’s 24 nurses and eight other employees to new positions at their current salaries within the hospital.

After the consolidation takes effect in the next two months, the outpatient center would be used for pre- and post-operative care.

“As a part of our 2006 business planning process, we are analyzing the way our services are being delivered,” the West Palm Beach hospital said in a statement. “We have found that we can enhance operating-room efficiency by consolidating inpatient and outpatient operating rooms.”

Hospitals across the region and the United States are facing pressure to compete with the growing number of outpatient surgery centers that are owned by physicians or other investors.

St. Mary’s is making the changes because fewer patients are using the outpatient surgery center, said Frank Genung, a nurse at the hospital and treasurer of the Service Employees International Union/Florida Health Care Union, which represents about 1,300 nurses and other support staffers at St. Mary’s.

The hospital, which lost about $50 million in 2004, sees growth opportunities in reusing the surgery center space.

“These measures will ultimately free up space and resources that could be used to support new or expanded programs in other service lines that meet our community’s needs,” according to the hospital’s statement.

Genung said he could not criticize the hospital administration for the change.

“We are not happy about the decrease in patient activity at Kimmel,” Genung said. “It is really unfortunate we have to downsize, but I can’t blame them if there are not enough patients.”

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