For-profit hospitals eye county funding

Adrienne Packer

Wednesday, Dec. 20, 2000 | 11:25 a.m.

An independent auditor will determine whether for-profit Southern Nevada hospitals serve enough uninsured, low-income patients to warrant receiving a portion of Clark County funding.

Sunrise Hospital, whose pretax profits amount to $27 million annually, has applied for Disproportionate Indigent Share Hospitals (DSH) funding from the county because of the increasing number of low-income patients it serves.

Sunrise and Lake Mead Hospital, which recently applied for funding, meet the funding criteria established in 1993. Those guidelines say a hospital is eligible if 20 percent of its patients are indigent.

But commissioners emphasized that in the last seven years the population -- including the number of indigent residents -- has increased considerably. They agreed that the 1993 criteria should be updated to reflect growth.

"Because of the question of the viability of the standard we have today, I think we need to have a standard that needs to be worked on with staff that is clear and concise," Clark County Commissioner Yvonne Atkinson Gates said.

Commissioner Erin Kenny also wanted county staff to work with the hospitals so that everyone agrees on a fair method to distribute the money.

"Work out a system that is fair, so whether Lake Mead, Sunrise or UMC is taking a look at it, we all understand where we're going," Kenny said.

While Sunrise officials said 21 percent of the patients they serve are uninsured, Lake Mead officials said 35 percent of its North Las Vegas facility's clientele are lower income patients.

The county, however, fears if the funds are shared with for-profit hospitals, University Medical Center, the only facility that receives the DSH funding, will lose money.

If Sunrise and Lake Mead hospitals' applications are granted, it could strip UMC of $6 million of the $25 million it receives each year. Some county officials fear if the nonprofit UMC's budget is cut, services and staffing might be affected.

Commissioner Myrna Williams, whose district has a high indigent population, leaned toward awarding Sunrise the funding. Williams pointed out that the neighborhoods surrounding Sunrise Hospital on Maryland Parkway have changed over the years. Many residents have no method of transportation and Sunrise is their closest option for health care.

"It's not a question of taking money away from UMC," Williams said. "We're not talking about anything but making health care available."

Commissioners opted for an external audit after the county's internal audit, conducted by Jeremiah Carroll, was inconclusive.