The University of Louisville and University Medical Center Inc. seek a knight in shining armor to bail them out.
“Investing in and delivering healthcare services, education and research in conjunction with the University of Louisville and University Medical Center.”
The University of Louisville and University Medical Center, Inc. have jointly filed an RFP “to seek a business partner that will bring capabilities, experience, and commitment to include but not limited to: Critical Care, Facilities/Operations, Teaching/ Training and Research.
The following represents my initial thoughts as I read through the request for proposal (RFP) and the attached current Affiliation Agreement by which UMC operates University Hospital for the Commonwealth and the University. I apologize for typos and bad grammar. I am trading off timeliness for polish. I will attempt to clean it up in the days ahead. Because the timeline chosen by UMC and the University is deliberately and unduly brief, I would rather have something out there to work from then nothing at all.
Executive Summary
By way of an executive summary of my initial thoughts, shaped as they are by other recent events in our community, I offer the following.
The qualifications and criteria for judging responses to this RFP parallel exactly the justifications and solutions advanced at the time of the recently failed acquisition of University Hospital by Catholic Health Initiatives. I am having the feeling of déjà vu all over again. The extraordinarily short timeframe of action, together with the severely constricted avenues by which an external agency can gather information are not compatible with the due diligence that should be required of any third party not already intimately involved in the operation of the downtown medical center. The criteria for processing applications described in the RFP gives the University and UMC great leeway in whom they might select or refuse to consider. I cannot in my own mind come to any other conclusion than that this RFP was written solely with a single applicant in mind who has already signaled interest in close affiliation with University Hospital and with whom the structure of agreements has already been agreed. I cannot force the word, “sham,” from my thoughts. What a shame. I will be glad to be proven wrong.
The RFP process does not permit any public disclosure until after an agreement is signed. There is no recognition that any acceptance by the Commonwealth of Kentucky is required. The University of Louisville and UMC appear to have ignored any lessons they might have learned from the fiasco of last fall and winter. This community demanded the right to know what decisions were being made about their healthcare and by whom.
The rush to conclusion seems incongruous with the magnitude of the undertaking. I cannot personally ignore the conclusion that the haste is intended to allow documents to be signed before the Kentucky Appeals court has ruled on the issue of whether University Medical Inc. is a private entity free to do as it pleases, or whether it is an arm of the University and of the Commonwealth. What rational corporation would take on the responsibilities of this RFP without such determination made and finalized?
Many numbers are thrown out but fewer definitions and even fewer comparative data. An attempt is being made to compare our situation here in Louisville with other Academic centers around the country. This is justifiable and worthwhile, but cannot alone determine the direction our community should take. The current consultants to UMC have stressed that every medical center is different. We want ours to be different to. We want it to be better.
All the comments in this brief represent my personal opinions but I would like to think they are informed opinions. There is no one in Louisville more committed than I to the long-term survival of University Hospital as an ethical and excellent teaching facility, and for a healthcare support system for the underserved that is characterized by quality, dignity, and justice.
In my mind, the least positive implication of this rush to conclude a deal is that we will memorialize in stone for yet another generation, a segregated and second-class system of healthcare for those who do not qualify for mainstream medical services. The comments below are not mine, but I could not have expressed them better. A respected authority describes the system we have now in Louisville.
“If someone decides there are some hospitals in Louisville whose job it is to take care of the poor black and the marginalized and that it’s okay if they have to be kept waiting for a couple of weeks and it’s okay if the carpet is frayed, it’s okay if the phones don’t get answered, and it’s okay if the doctor is late, but there are other hospitals in Louisville where upper-class white people get taken care of by doctors who answer the phone on the first ring and smile a lot. There’s shag carpeting, and wood wainscoting on the wall. Was there a plebiscite … in Louisville where people voted and said they wanted to have segregated medical care? I don’t think so. But, there is a very strong theme that it’s okay for medical students and interns and residents to learn on poor people, but when you’re done, then you’ll be able to take care of private patients.”
Edward C. Halperin, MD
From: “Slave Medicine and the Banality of Evil.”
Gheens Foundation Lectureship,
University of Louisville School of Medicine, Feb 2, 2012
To participate in the above system of contemporary segregation is to participate in an evil. I think it is time for a plebiscite in Louisville, and I trust that our citizens to favor a different set of priorities. Those decisions must not be made behind closed doors by a self-selected privileged few. The leadership of our University and our health care systems need to hear from all of us.
Peter Hasselbacher, MD
Analysis of RFP continued below. Continue reading “UofL and UMC File an RFP for a New Hospital Partner”