Coalition Challenges Temple University: "Put Healthcare Before Profit!"
Members of the Coalition to Save Northeastern Hospital- a group of community leaders, healthcare workers, and state elected officials- gathered Tuesday to discuss next steps in their fight to keep Northeastern Hospital open. State Representative John Taylor described Temple University Health System's (TUHS) unwillingness to extend the closure timeline or help find a solution. At this point, no one is answering the question of how Northeastern's patients and 850 direct employees will cope with the closure.
The Coalition is leafleting and phonebanking to put pressure on Temple University president Ann Weaver Hart. The next step is to hold a protest during a Temple fundraiser on May 9th in Center City. Beyond that members of the coalition are working with elected officials at all levels to identify funding options.
Northeastern is a full-service, busy, necessary hospital that serves Port Richmond, Fishtown, Kensington, Juniata and Bridesburg in Philadelphia. Temple University Health System announced March 23rd that they will close the hospital at the end of May. For months, State Senator Stack and Representative Taylor asked them to work with government for a solution; Temple adamantly declined. They want Northeastern off their books. They don't like the payer mixâ€.
50% of Northeastern's patients rely on Medicaid, and the reimbursement rate in Pennsylvania is not sustainable. So, the more a hospital serves the under- and uninsured, the more it is penalized financially. Last year 55,000 patients were treated in Northeastern's ER, nearly 1800 babies were delivered. Temple hopes that some of that business will transfer to Temple Hospital- well, the well-insured patients anyway. Because the state no longer has a Certificate of Need program, which assesses need as well as financial issues, because Temple is such an important institution in Philadelphia, and despite the fact that it is largely state-funded, no one, from Governor Rendell, to our Congressmembers, to our City officials will compel Temple to answer for their public health responsibilities. Nor will they fight for the 850 direct jobs Northeastern provides the community.
Northeastern's closure will mark the 14th maternity unit lost in Philadelphia since 1997. The lack of maternity care access has grown chronic in our region. Where will next year's 1800 babies be born? Hospitals around Northeastern do not have the capacity to absorb that number. And where will the city's growing numbers of under- and uninsured patients go? They will put off care until they wind up in an emergency room, creating greater human misery and further driving up the cost of healthcare delivery. Northeastern Hospital is a "shovel-ready" project. Let's start fixing healthcare here, now.
All of MMPs Feeds
