The Virginian-Pilot
©
NASSAWADOX
The state health commissioner has approved a request to relocate the Eastern Shore's only hospital about 16 miles.
Riverside Health System proposed to move Riverside Shore Memorial Hospital from Northampton County to Accomack County, saying it would bring acute care services closer to the Shore's population center.
The plans call for a new $84.6 million, 78-bed facility. An outpatient diagnostic and urgent care center would replace the 143-bed hospital on the former site.
Northampton County leaders have objected to Riverside's plan, saying it would leave almost half of the county's 12,400 residents more than a half-hour away from critical-care services.
In her decision, Health Commissioner Karen Remley said she approved the project because a hospital on the new site would better serve the majority of the Eastern Shore's residents and because Riverside had committed to operating an outpatient center in Nassawadox.
The relocated hospital also would help acute-care services to continue on the Shore in the long-term, according to her three-page letter. Riverside has said that Shore Memorial lost more than $10 million between 2003 and 2009, the year its affiliation with Riverside started.
Remley turned down Riverside's request to include a fixed MRI scanner at the new site, instead requiring construction of a pad for a mobile MRI scanner.
"We are pleased that Dr. Remley came to the same conclusion as our Board of Directors, specifically that a new and relocated facility will best serve all of the residents of the Eastern Shore," Joseph P. Zager, vice president and administrator of Shore Memorial, said in a written statement. "The physicians, staff and Board of RSMH are delighted and look forward to working on the next phase of health care delivery for our community and to the day when the new hospital opens its doors."
Construction could begin as soon as fall 2012.
The Northampton County Board of Supervisors will consider whether to continue its opposition, said H. Spencer Murray, who is on the board and is part of its hospital task force.
"It is disappointing that the commissioner has rubber-stamped an inadequate staff report that ignored the negative and life-threatening impact to citizens in lower Northampton County," he said.
Amy Jeter, (757) 446-2730, amy.jeter@pilotonline.com
Delicious
Digg
Reddit
Facebook
Twitter
Google
Yahoo
No Rocket Scientist
Unless I am mistaken we are talking about doing away with a hospital that has served the "shore" for at least 60 years that I know of for a new hospital with less beds at a cost of over a million dollars per bed. Somebody has bumped their head or there is some graft involved.
I refer you...
...to my comments on "feasibility" below.
Only 16 miles?
I could see relocating the only hospital to the center of the Eastern Shore if it was in Cape Charles or Chincoteague.... but only 16 miles? Sounds like there are some lucrative construction contracts and a "good ol boy" mentality behind this. Upgrading or adding to the existing hospital sounds much more cost effective that trying to justify a move 16 miles away.....
That 16 miles
Those 16 miles does put the hospital closer to the middle of the population of the Shore, at the lower end of Accomack. Accomack County has about 3 times the population of Northampton County.
I think this move will have a bearing on whether folks in northern Accomack stay in Virginia or head to Maryland for medical services. And this could very well do good for the financial situation the hospital has found itself in.
Virginia tax money....
for a new 78-bed hospital 16 miles away from an existing 143-bed facility that is to be closed? I'm sorry, but rehab of existing facilities and/or expansion is a better way to spend taxpayer's money.
As far as people in Accomack having to drive those extra 16 miles to the existing facility..... if I was coming from Chincoteaque do you think I am really going to have a fit over those same 16 miles they have been driving for years?
A park&ride transportation shuttle for a 16 mile trip is an option for those living in the larger/more populated areas of Accomack. Just don't ask Norfolk for any help on light rail.
If folks in Accomack are thinking of moving to MD for medical services they can always move closer to the existing hospital.
FEASIBILITY
How feasibile would it be to rehap the current hospital while tending to patients at the same time? This is likely causing the need for a separate building. Meanwhile, locating the hospital closer to the population center of the Shore (in Accomac county) is absolutely correct, as well.
So you're familiar with the structure
How can you make a blanket statement like: "I'm sorry, but rehab of existing facilities and/or expansion is a better way to spend taxpayer's money. " Are you familiar with the structure, not only its condition but what would be required to support the services that will be offered from the new facility? My wife and I have been restoring/rehabbing our 98 year old house for years now (its a hobby). This year the EPA now requires lad abatement when we replaced the original 1921 windows! A new $$$. Lets not even start to talk about asbestos that was used in old buildings. $$$
I can see where starting with a new building will be cheaper in the long run.
Yes....
I am familiar with the structure and the available or undeveloped property surrounding it. I'm always looking at property and business opportunies up on the shore. A 50% reduction in bed space for a new facility only 16 miles away just does not make sense to me....
Not the best decision for
Not the best decision for us.