TONIGHT - Mayor AND LHA Governing Board Member Mike Summers

[marklingm]

"Mayor Summers, who also serves on the governing board for the Lakewood Hospital Association, said that hospital trustees and Foundation trustees will also be on hand to discuss the recent agreement regarding the future of healthcare in Lakewood." [Emphasis added.]

Read more at http://onelakewood.com/News.aspx?NewsID=515:

Community Meeting Set for March 10 to Discuss Future of Healthcare in Lakewood

Monday, March 02, 2015

Mayor Michael Summers has announced that the Lakewood Hospital Association, the Lakewood Hospital Foundation, and the Cleveland Clinic are hosting the third community meeting in the auditorium of Lakewood City Hall at 7 p.m., Tuesday, March 10.

The purpose of the meetings is to discuss in greater detail a Letter of Intent signed by the Lakewood Hospital Association, the Lakewood Hospital Foundation and the Cleveland Clinic.

All residents are welcome and encouraged to attend.

The focus of this third meeting will be the Cleveland Clinic’s proposal for an estimated $34 million, 62,000-square-foot family health center on Detroit Avenue, which will include a full-service emergency department. The new facility will include primary care and specialty programs concentrated on diabetes, geriatrics and cardiac care, among others, in addition to radiology and lab services.

Dr. J. Stephen Jones, President of Cleveland Clinic Regional Hospitals and Family Health Centers, will be on hand to discuss the proposed Lakewood Family Health Center.

Residents will have the opportunity to ask questions and share comments about the plans. They are also encouraged to provide input about the future of healthcare in Lakewood.

The plan includes a transformative investment in Lakewood to transition from the current model to a future one, aimed at modernizing healthcare and delivering a more sustainable way to meet the long-term needs of the Lakewood community.

Mayor Summers, who also serves on the governing board for the Lakewood Hospital Association, said that hospital trustees and Foundation trustees will also be on hand to discuss the recent agreement regarding the future of healthcare in Lakewood.

It is the intent to keep Lakewood Hospital open and running until September 2016. Lakewood Hospital’s emergency department will remain open until the new family health center — with its own emergency department — opens.

A meeting to discuss the proposed wellness foundation is tentatively scheduled for mid-April.

[Jim O'Bryan]

Four questions for tonight...

1) What did the LHA value the hospital at in 2014?

2) What is the net gain to the City of Lakewood from the sale?

3) Were all options looked at?

4) What were the projected profits by the LHA for the next 5 years?

ANSWERS

1) $170+ million dollars

2) NEGATIVE $18 million

3) NO

4) A profit over $2 million a year for the next 5.

I cannot make it tonight do to a previous commitment, but if you want to have fun ask...

BONUS
How much of the money the new foundation is getting came from us in the first place?

ANSWER
ALL OF IT.

This is the worst deal I have ever seen, on second and third look.

.

[marklingm]

As with Jim, I also have a prior commitment tonight - all Tuesday nights actually.

Can someone please attend and ask the questions set forth below and more?

Thanks!

Four questions for tonight...

1) What did the LHA value the hospital at in 2014?

2) What is the net gain to the City of Lakewood from the sale?

3) Were all options looked at?

4) What were the projected profits by the LHA for the next 5 years?

ANSWERS

1) $170+ million dollars

2) NEGATIVE $18 million

3) NO

4) A profit over $2 million a year for the next 5.

***

BONUS
How much of the money the new foundation is getting came from us in the first place?

ANSWER
ALL OF IT.

[Jim O'Bryan]

As with Jim, I also have a prior commitment tonight - all Tuesday nights actually.

Can someone please attend and ask the questions set forth below and more?

Thanks!

Four questions for tonight...

1) What did the LHA value the hospital at in 2014?

2) What is the net gain to the City of Lakewood from the sale?

3) Were all options looked at?

4) What were the projected profits by the LHA for the next 5 years?

ANSWERS

1) $170+ million dollars

2) NEGATIVE $18 million

3) NO

4) A profit over $2 million a year for the next 5.

***

BONUS
How much of the money the new foundation is getting came from us in the first place?

ANSWER
ALL OF IT.

Matt

I have Jared attending but it would be nice to hear from others.

Thanks for posting.


.

[Bill Call]

This is the worst deal I have ever seen, on second and third look.

.

Lakewood Hospital lost a lot of money because of uncompensated care. People without insurance were unable to pay for various reasons . Even then the Hospital had a positive cash flow. The expansion of Medicaid would have made good on a lot of those loses. At that point Lakewood Hospital would have been very profitable.

There were nearly 190,000 patient visits to Lakewood Hospital each year. If there was a commitment to save the hospital and if all of Lakewood's doctors weren't transferred to Avon the Hospital would be expanding.

There is a need in Lakewood for something much larger than the proposed minute clinic.

The Hospital Board and City dropped the ball. Should they be in charge from here on or should the board hire someone who knows the business of healthcare?

There is no need to have a meeting. They can simply publish the truth.

[marklingm]

There is no need to have a meeting. They can simply publish the truth.

Bill,

You and I both know that isn't going to happen from "City Hall and Friends."

They need to keep the charade going through faux meetings.

Simply publishing the truth would be the most transparent thing to do.

Matt

[Jared Denman]

From what I've read and seen, my general impression is as follows:

1) The hospital being sold to the Clinic is a good deal. With Fairview to the West and Avon to the South, the hospital will be bled to death. The City needs to dump it to a willing buyer now. Impact to health care will be negligible. The Hospital's course was set in 1996 with the Designated Agreement with the Clinic.

2) The $158 million of net LHA/LHF assets being split between the Clinic and the new not-for-profit is the kernel of this issue. I doubt the City has hired a mergers and acquisitions expert, a transaction lawyer, or an antitrust expert. This translates into the public essentially not having their interests represented. It is true under IRS regulations that because the Clinic is a non-profit under 501(c)(3) that the hospital does not need to be sold for fair market value. However, the standard practice of obtaining appraisals from three separate parties is considered boilerplate in a deal like this. Something that clearly has not been done.

3) If the Hospital is being sold, why do we need another non-profit that is essentially retaining a larger portion of the deal than the City?

The only other question that remains is Cui bono? Who benefits? It seems that the winner in the deal is the Clinic, by receiving the net value of the $158 million- after wind-down costs- and the group of people that will form the new not-for-profit.

[Kristine Pagsuyoin]

Just a thought as some financial information is being discussed. My daughter brought home the form to participate in the Ambulance Chase which is scheduled for May. This is a fundraiser that is supposed to benefit Lakewood Hospital--checks are made payable to the Lakewood Hospital Foundation.

My daughter asked the teachers where the money actually goes since the hospital is closing. She was told that the money would go to the new facility.

My questions is this, will Lakewood Hospital continue all of its fundraising and is this really where the money is going?

This is the registration page, http://www.hermescleveland.com/roadraci ... ulance.asp. I couldn't find specifics and so I was planning on trying to get a hold of the organizers.

[Stan Austin]

Kristine-- such a significant question---once you get past the "Lakewood Hospital" which we have all known and relied on, what about all the ancillary entities which have large sums of money that was dedicated over decades to specific purposes?
Out of the mouths of babes comes a real kick in the butt of the essential questions.
Stan Austin

[Jim O'Bryan]

Just a thought as some financial information is being discussed. My daughter brought home the form to participate in the Ambulance Chase which is scheduled for May. This is a fundraiser that is supposed to benefit Lakewood Hospital--checks are made payable to the Lakewood Hospital Foundation.

My daughter asked the teachers where the money actually goes since the hospital is closing. She was told that the money would go to the new facility.

My questions is this, will Lakewood Hospital continue all of its fundraising and is this really where the money is going?

This is the registration page, http://www.hermescleveland.com/roadraci ... ulance.asp. I couldn't find specifics and so I was planning on trying to get a hold of the organizers.

Kristine

That answer was not correct.

The Ambulance Chase is a from a restricted trust, that l;eaves money for the event to
happen, and the Hospital Foundation keeps the money. As this is restricted, and the
hospital will still be in business, they will have that event. Money stays with Foundation.
Where that money goes will be "health in the area."

That will be the last fundraising event the Lakewood Hospital will have. as I spoke with
the Foundation last week, they mentioned Starry Night would be canceled, even though
100% of the funds raised there have always gone to Diabetes research.

.

[Jim O'Bryan]

There is no need to have a meeting. They can simply publish the truth.

Bill,

You and I both know that isn't going to happen from "City Hall and Friends."

They need to keep the charade going through faux meetings.

Simply publishing the truth would be the most transparent thing to do.

Matt

Matt/Bill

I think we all agree if the city had been upfront all along, we would not be in this
discussion. If the meetings had been posted, and council informed.

Tonight the Mayor said our numbers were wrong.

I have had lawyers and accountants going over the LOI and Annual Reports. While the
numbers vary depending on some of the intangibles the fact remains.

The second the deal is signed, the Clinic takes over the Lakewood Hospital Association
which has about $53 million in it. Ad everything coming back to City of Lakewood and
we lose money. Add in what comes back to Foundations, we have less than when we
started.

I have met one person on the Foundation, that can accurately describe the deal. The Mayor
was next closest to being able to describe the deal. Jared can describe the deal though
we have slightly different feelings on what is needed. But hey, it's a free country.

.

[Bill Call]

This article contains some odd information:

http://www.ohio.com/news/local/clevelan ... k-1.497435

What do I find odd?

Well, Lakewood Hospital had about 37,000 ER visits and nearly 150,000 out patient visits and is to be demolished.

ER visits:

Brunswick: 14,000
Twinsburg: 18,000
Avon: 22,000

All three are to be expanded.

[Scott Meeson]

This article contains some odd information:

http://www.ohio.com/news/local/clevelan ... k-1.497435

What do I find odd?

Well, Lakewood Hospital had about 37,000 ER visits and nearly 150,000 out patient visits and is to be demolished.

Bill,

Any idea how many of those visits(ER & OP) are from residents of Lakewood?

Scott

[Bill Call]

This article contains some odd information:

http://www.ohio.com/news/local/clevelan ... k-1.497435

What do I find odd?

Well, Lakewood Hospital had about 37,000 ER visits and nearly 150,000 out patient visits and is to be demolished.

Bill,

Any idea how many of those visits(ER & OP) are from residents of Lakewood?

Scott

No. Although I'm 100% sure the Clinic and the Lakewood Hospital Foundation has those numbers. I just got the numbers from US News annual report on U.S. Hospitals.

I guess it actually doesn't matter. The Hospital is coming down and the Recreation Center is going up. While it's nice that a Family Health Center will be built in Lakewood the proposed building just isn't a serious proposal.

Why do I say not serious?

If you start with the proposed 65,000 square feet and subtract the 20,000 square feet for the new ER and subtract the existing Clinic buildings on Detroit and 117th and Madison you end up with nothing new.

The new facility will offer such a limited range of services that most people will end up going to Avon.

Of course the really CRIMINAL aspect of this deal is that the Cleveland Clinic will seize the $33 million in assets of the Hospital Foundation and use it in "Lakewood and SURROUNDING AREAS".

Read surrounding areas as the Jacobs Center in Avon.

[Kristine Pagsuyoin]

Thanks, Jim.