Bon Secours hospital braces for red ink, cuts 30 beds

hey, MeAgain, if you really want "clean, organized facilities" at DePaul, shouldn't you be supporting the proposal to build a new DePaul, just as Bon Secours wants to do? Even the city's own consultant says that the facility has outlived its service life -- the only question is what is the right size? Bon Secours has laid out a plan, that they will fund, with their capital, to build the facility that will attract people like you, and at the same time provide care to the medically indigent. The only way they will "abandon the citizens of Norfolk" is if the city insists on forcing them into what they think will be a money losing propositon. The choice is clear -- let Bon Secours invest their money to what is the essence of their mission as Catholic health care, or DePaul will close. The only path that leads to abandonment, is the city's path.

Depaul is a community based hospital. SNG hospital is a level one trauma that is suited for emergency cases. The people in the Norfolk community who are uninsured and also on medicaid and medicare they rely on Depaul for their care. With unemployment rising and recession looming ,the community needs Depaul for its health care needs. Regarding the size of the hospital that should be left up to the adminstrative staff to make that determination not the office of the mayor.

As an employee of depaul, I cant understand why we are going through this? We work and work hard for Bon Secours and yet we are being subjected to inferior staff, under wages and monopoly game playing by Mayor Fraim and sentara. It would be better to just close depaul and be done with it. We are 664 million dollars in debt and not getting any better despite having a new V.P. come in and supposedly make things better, its gotten worst. Hard working staff who has supported depaul through all of this has lost their jobs. What of them? no one has said anything about that? Paul fraim is a idiot and sentara is a bully. We give excellent care and yet we getting shotty tactics from City council of norfolk and State of virginia.We are fighting a battle that we cant win. How many more people need to lose their jobs before Paul fraim and the state see the injustice they are doing?

DePaul Hospital is surrounded by very nice, middle class neighborhoods with citizens quite capable of financially supporting their "neighborhood" hospital, but they (we!) don't. Why is that? Could it possibly be because the quality of overall service and the overall condition of the hospital is so poor? Those of us who have a choice choose another hospital. That leaves DePaul to provide services only to those who do not have a choice. Then the hospital wants to complain about the level of indigent service and financial losses? DePaul is losing money because, overall, Bon Secours has chosen to not support the hospital with an appropriate level of facility maintenance and patient care. I am certain there are employees quite proud to work in this fine institution and work hard to provide good patient care. However, without an overall expectation by Bon Secours - demonstrated by things l

Does Mayor Fraim even receive his medical care from DePaul? I know I sure do and I am proud to be an employee as well. If Fraim is so wishy washy about his support for DePaul, why should people not believe he can change his mind about anything he says he supports? I can't believe that Hampton Roads is allowing this monopoly
of Sentara to continue. Maybe Fraim and Sentara have a relationship we are unaware of. I believe in the mission of DePaul and will stand by our Administrations decisions and I unlike Mayor Fraim will not change my mind!!

Mayor Fraim, apparently, has allowed his ego to get in the way of doing what is best for the citizens of Norfolk. Like a petulant child, he is holding his breath until the leadership of a private institution do it his way. There has obviously been a calculated assessment on the part of some organization, that Bon Secours is bluffing. That has colored the Mayor's decision making. I have to believe, they aren't bluffing. And when DePaul does close, then how will the citizens of Norfolk been better served by the Mayor's intransigence? They can close DePaul, tear down the buildings, and sell the land, and be better off than continuing to pour money into a hole, just because the Mayor is starting to turn blue.

Why is the City spending my tax dollars to fight a private business? Spending on legal fees and now placing ads for the DePaul Emergency 134 group. The Emergency 134 group said they were a group of concerned citizens but now they have the City dollars behind them, even paying a guy making to calls on poeple. Is Paul Fraim doing it again as he did with Bay Oaks and the eminent domain issue by the old Coke plant.

The City of Norfolk through Mayor Fraim & Attorney Pisko don't support DePaul's efforts to build a new modern and smaller hospital. Here's the deal for the dummies in Norfolk. Bon Secours will simply close DePaul all together if they are not allowed to do as their management sees fit. It doesn't matter what anyone else thinks or wants. Bon Secours management has determined that operating a decades old 164 bed facility is a long term losing proposition. The City of Norfolk through their Mayor and City Attorney have irritated the upper level board of Bon Secours. Norfolk would have been much better served by the support of City officials. Believe me it is pretty much a either or proposition. Either the City gets on board with a new modern and smaller facility or they can kiss the entire hospital good bye in the next few years. You can't force a private institution even a hospital to continue losin

Bon Secours St. Mary's Hospital located in Richmond was the best experience I have ever experienced at a hospital. My daughter spent five days there and the Pediatric / Intensive Care Unit operated at full steam. Never once did someone roll their eyes when asked to do something and these folks cared about my entire family. Our Surgeon - Residents Nurses - PT and the on-staff Pediatric Intensivist all were on their A Game. We are from Suffolk and would travel again just for the service. Consolidating cost and rearranging staff is just what our capitalist economy demands. I say let Bon Secours run their hospital as they see fit. I have never set foot in the Depaul campus but if they want change let them do it. God Bless Bon Secours and all of it's employees and special shout to the PICU in Richmond St. Mary's.

that Norfolk is full of uninsured patients that are killing the bottom line. That is why they want to move beds to areas that have more affluence, which translates to insured patients. And lets not overlook the fact that we have allowed Sentara to become the bully of Hampton Roads with their monopoly--they should be held responsible as a "non-profit" hospital!

As an employee at Bon Secours Depaul I must say that we provide excellent care for out patients. We work hard every day. Everyone is involeed in this. The community, employee, and patients we all have a hand in this. We lost one hospital that provided for the patients that don't have insurance or money to pay for their care. This place can't contiune to operate without support. Norfolk Community hospital shut down behind the same reason. It might come a day when you don't have a job or insurance to take care of your medical needs. Where will you go? If Santara take on all the people of Norfolk that don't have insurance or money, they to might fall into the same boat. Let's support Bon Secours Depaul!!! We care

As someone who spent 18 years in healthcare I always find it frustrating and irritating at those who have no clue as to what is involved in todays world of medicine. To simply make statements that physicians live off of million dollar salaries, that hospitals are a money making industry, and that they must hire incompetent employees is ignorant and uninformed. If you research the state of healthcare tooday, you will find that most are operating on marginal profits due to rising costs of supplies and materials, deficits in funding, increases in charity write-offs, and losses due to defaulted, unpaid accounts in the millions. The numbers of patients receiving assistance, Medicaid, and Medicare are staggerin. While most hospitals accept patients regardless of their ability to pay, providing the same care and compassion that those covered by the best health plan would receive, the rea

Why are they failing? Do they hire incompetent people? Is Sentara anti-competitive, and working hard to kill Bon Secours? I'm curious as to why they would loose money, especially in one of the few fields that should be guaranteed profits.

Wouldnt that be alot easier to just shut the whole thing down?

As a former patient, I will never go to that hospital again. And as for their emergency room, more than once I have thought "these people don't have a clue what they are doing".