Document text
56 °F Forecast | Road Cams Saturday, May 7, 2005 Today's News | Shop Our Valley | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery | Contact Us SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Health Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Real Estate Guide Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley SHOP OUR VALLEY AutoFinder HomeFinder JobFinder Classified Place an ad TOP JOBS EXTRA Ashland News NIE Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People Volunteer Moving here? eSouthernOregon CUSTOMER SERVICE FAQ's Advertise with us Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend April 30, 2005 Hospitals exempt from relocation, expansion-approval bill By DON JEPSON for the Mail Tribune SALEM — Oregon hospitals scored a major victory Friday when a Senate committee OK’d amended legislation that exempts them from needing state approval for any expansion or relocation. The measure, Senate Bill 503, now applies only to free-standing medical clinics — such as ambulatory surgical centers and diagnostic imaging centers. The Health Policy Committee forwarded the bill to the Senate floor, where it faces an uncertain future because of opposition from the bill’s prime supporter, Local 49 of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). Lynn-Marie Crider, a spokeswoman for SEIU, said her organization will now oppose the bill because of the exemption. New hospitals must still obtain a certificate of need. "We would support a bill that includes a certificate of need for hospital expansions," Crider told the committee. "But we won’t support this bill." Advertisement The union was instrumental in shaping the initial legislation, part of a package introduced this session to rein in escalating health care costs. Prior to opening a work session on SB503, Sen. Laurie Monnes-Anderson fingered hospitals as "the major driver in health care costs." She’s a Gresham Democrat and chairwoman of the Health Policy Committee. One of the region’s more powerful employee unions, SEIU represents about half of the state work force, including many hospital employees and janitors. As amended, SB503 for the first time will require non-hospital medical facilities to go through the certificate-of-need process. The panel agreed to exempt oncology clinics after witnesses testified Wednesday that an aging population requires more clinics, not fewer. Monnes-Anderson, a nurse, said hospitals were taken out of the bill so it can pass the Senate. The legislation was introduced at least in part to require hospitals to seek state approval for new services, because current law does not require it. "We need this legislation," she said, adding that the next Legislature could take up the question of folding hospitals back into the certificate-of- need process. That didn’t impress Crider. In an unusually blunt assessment following the hearing, she told Monnes-Anderson, "We needed some solutions to rising health care costs. We didn’t get it here." Among the sponsors is Sen. Alan Bates, D-Ashland. Bates was in Medford Friday and a spokeswoman said he wanted to study the amended version of the bill in Salem Monday before commenting. Bates is a strong advocate for reducing duplicative medical services as a way to curb rising health care costs. He has said the problem is particularly acute in cities such as Portland, Eugene and Medford, all of which have two or more competing hospitals. Don Jepsen is a freelance writer living in Salem. Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback Free Music Downloads Conference Calls - $50/Month Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker, Trunk, Footlockers home equity loans helzberg diamonds Distance Education Diamonds Paris Hilton Online Poker Auto Insurance Mesothelioma Slippers Student Loans Tatoo tcg student loan consolidation teleconferencing Website Design & Marketing Memory Foam Mattress w2 forms Tatoos Mortgage Calculator Free Home-Loan Referrals Payday Loans Advertisement s