Uninsured births could rise in county if Prince George’s hospital closes

Officials gauging potential fallout from hospital closure

The center, along with Laurel Regional Hospital and Bowie Health Campus, is operated by the county and owned by Dimensions Healthcare System, also Cheverly-based.

Officials at the Maryland Hospital Association, which represents the state’s hospitals and health care systems, have said it is too early to gauge the potential financial impact a closing could have on other hospitals, particularly since talks are ongoing.

However, an increase in uninsured patients, particularly uninsured pregnant women, could affect Washington Adventist Hospital, said spokesman Thomas Grant, but at this point, officials do not know to what extent. Much will depend on how Prince George’s Hospital patients disperse regionwide.

In 2006, Takoma Park’s Washington Adventist Hospital had 1,823 births, Grant said. It is too early to tell how a potential closure of Prince George’s Hospital could affect Washington Adventist’s maternity ward, he said.

Washington Adventist Hospital President Jere Stocks said the potential impact of a closure has been on his mind since the hospital would likely take on more patients due to its geographic location. He estimated the hospital would not be equipped to handle more than 3,000 births a year.

Similarly, the District’s Washington Hospital Center, which delivers more than 4,000 babies a year, has already received calls from private practice physicians who deliver babies at Prince George’s Hospital, asking if that hospital has room to absorb their practice. It does not, a hospital official said.

The load of pregnant patients Washington Adventist might see each day would be inconsistent, but would probably still increase, Stocks said, adding the hospital already sees a significant number of uninsured women through the maternity partnership and clinic it has with the county. The hospital recently hired a physician’s assistant to help with the growing number of women, Stocks said.

In December, Washington Adventist also partnered with Mary’s Center for Maternal and Child Care in Washington, D.C., to meet the demand of people who may need care but don’t have insurance or other means to pay. In 2006, the hospital spent $21.86 million in uncompensated care.

To attract more paying customers and to improve health care, the hospital has provided upgrades, like private rooms, Stocks said. It is also relocating to the White Oak⁄Calverton area of Silver Spring in order to build a better facility.

Dr. Leslie Simmons has worked at Washington Adventist since 2003, providing prenatal care to women both at the hospital and its women’s clinic. She said it is important that the hospital be proactive in anticipating an increased number of patients, many of whom would likely come to the clinic. Simmons does between four and eight deliveries a day, and said with more patients, her days could get busier. However, she said it is important that care is provided to every woman who needs it.

‘‘It’s something I’ve always been very concerned about,” she said. ‘‘... I’ve always felt that’s something I should do.”

Meanwhile, Silver Spring’s Holy Cross Hospital — the largest birthing hospital in the state — also is preparing for a possible increase in uninsured patients who will need maternal care. Holy Cross had 8,239 births in fiscal 2005 and is one of the largest single-service obstetric providers in the United States.

It is unknown at this point as to how the hospital would be affected financially and otherwise, said Roseanne Pajka, Holy Cross’s senior vice president of corporate development.

The state has organized groups with representatives from different hospitals — including those in the District — to look at the potential impact of the Prince George’s hospital system’s closure. Representatives from Holy Cross are chairing a group that is looking at obstetrics and prenatal issues, Pajka said.

‘‘All hospitals affected are looking at what information we need to understand the issue,” she said, adding data is still being gathered.

Holy Cross Hospital has operated an obstetric⁄gynecology clinic for uninsured women since 1963, and in 1999 it formed a Maternity Partnership with the county’s Department of Health and Human Services, which provides services for low-income and uninsured pregnant women. In fiscal 2006, Holy Cross provided prenatal care to about 2,350 women through that program, receiving some money from the county to cover costs.

However, in 2005, Holy Cross told the county it could not be the only hospital to provide that service because it was becoming overwhelmed with patients, so HHS worked with other hospitals to set up similar programs. That year, as the number of women being treated through that program grew close to 2,200, the hospital told the county it would have to limit the number of patients to 1,500 because it could not afford the cost and strain on services.

When the county expanded the program to other hospitals in July, it said it would reimburse hospitals $895 per woman, and required women to pay $250.

That expansion has helped relieve some burden, but Holy Cross is still the predominant provider of those services, Pajka said.

In February 2004, Holy Cross also opened a health center at Montgomery College’s Takoma Park⁄Silver Spring campus. That center provides low-cost primary care to mainly uninsured adults.

Holy Cross provided $9 million in charity care in fiscal 2005. This fiscal year’s numbers have not been finalized, said Yolanda Gaskins, a Holy Cross spokeswoman.

‘‘It’s very important, really, that the hospitals are talking about this,” Pajka said. ‘‘If it should come to [the Prince George’s system closing], the hospitals want to take care of the patients.”

Staff writer Liza Gutierrez contributed to this report.