Bill Puts Health Talks at Risk: Kansas Proposal Would Require University to Get State Approval of Any Partnerships.
By Julius A. Karash, The Kansas City Star, Mo.
Jan. 20–In a move that threatens area health-care realignment talks, legislation was introduced Friday that would require Kansas approval of partnerships between a state university hospital and other entities.
The action comes as a Kansas City-area life sciences steering committee talks about forging stronger ties between the University of Kansas Medical Center and the main campuses of St. Luke’s Health System and Children’s Mercy Hospitals and Clinics on the Missouri side of the metro area.
“Through the years Kansans have invested hundreds of millions of dollars in the University of Kansas Medical Center and School of Medicine,” Kansas House Speaker Melvin Neufeld, a Republican from Ingalls, said in a news release.
“It troubles me that the medical center has involved itself with plans that could take its assets across (the) state line without consulting the Kansas Legislature. … It makes no sense to send Kansas health-care dollars to Missouri.”
The realignment talks have raised fears among University of Kansas Hospital leaders that the hospital’s ties to KU Medical Center — and its success in the marketplace — will be undermined by an expanded affiliation between the medical center and St. Luke’s.
Irvine O. Hockaday Jr., the official spokesman for the steering committee, strongly disputed Neufeld’s charge that the realignment could hurt Kansas.
“The perception that Kansas would be sending health-care dollars to Missouri is stunningly incorrect,” Hockaday said. “Quite the opposite would occur. Missouri institutions would send substantial incremental money to KU Med Center under the affiliation concept.”
Hockaday said money would flow to KU Medical Center from St. Luke’s, Missouri businesses and Missouri foundations. He said he has commitments for $150 million to $200 million for the realignment effort. He said the contributors include 10 businesses, most of which are on the Missouri side of the metropolitan area.
Hockaday noted that “substantial private Missouri funding has supported the University of Kansas and KU Med Center over the years, specifically major gifts from the Hall Family Foundation and the enormous value represented by the Stowers Institute (for Medical Research) in making available over 20 acclaimed researchers to serve on the KU Med Center faculty.”
Hockaday said that if the Kansas Legislature “concludes that it is in the interest of Kansans to turn their back on the Stowers Institute and major philanthropic entities and businesses on the Missouri side, that is of course their option. Hopefully, the facts will be correctly understood and the ultimate position of the legislators enlightened.”
The committee might come out with its recommendations in February, Hockaday said.
David Adkins, vice chancellor for external affairs at KU Medical Center, said he worries that the proposed legislation “would be a major impediment to transforming this region into a top 20 life sciences center. I’m hopeful this bill was introduced primarily to invite a dialogue on these issues, because I think the unintended consequences of this bill would be very adverse to the state of Kansas.”
For example, Adkins said, some might interpret the bill to mean KU Medical Center could no longer enter cooperative agreements with the Missouri-based Stowers Institute without legislative approval.
Adkins also noted that KU Medical Center has residency programs with the main Missouri campus of St. Luke’s and with the VA Medical Center in Kansas City. “I would hope this legislation isn’t intended to undo those productive relationships,” he said.
Adkins also said: “We clearly want to address any legislator’s concern about any issue impacting the medical center. We welcome the opportunity to discuss the details with Speaker Neufeld. We agree with Speaker Neufeld that Kansas taxpayer dollars should be focused on providing direct benefit to Kansans.”
Though they share a campus and are connected in many ways, KU Hospital is a separate entity from KU Medical Center, which consists of the KU schools of medicine, nursing and allied health.
And although KU Hospital operates under an independent governing board, it is still owned by the state, and its board members are appointed by the governor.
“We just received the bill and are reviewing its language,” KU Hospital spokesman Dennis McCulloch said Friday. “Beyond that we’ll have no comment.”
Friday’s action came a little more than a month after officials from KU Hospital and KU Medical Center struck a conciliatory posture at a hearing held by the Kansas Legislative Budget Committee.
Sen. Dwayne Umbarger, a Thayer Republican and chairman of the committee, said then that he thought the two Kansas health entities would work out any differences.
The life sciences steering committee includes KU Hospital, KU Medical Center, the University of Kansas, St. Luke’s, the Stowers Institute, the Hall Family Foundation and Children’s Mercy.
One of the primary goals of the realignment talks is to enable a Kansas City-area entity to attain comprehensive cancer center designation by the National Cancer Institute.
House Bill 2134 is scheduled to be assigned to a committee early next week.
To reach Julius A. Karash, call (816) 234-4918.
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Copyright (c) 2007, The Kansas City Star, Mo.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.
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