Editorial: Not much promise in a UMC sale

Friday, Aug. 9, 2002 | 5:43 a.m.

WEEKEND EDITION: August 11, 2002

Clark County government officials suggested last week that the government should consider selling University Medical Center to a private, nonprofit group if the county-run hospital keeps losing millions of dollars. Last year UMC lost almost $6 million, bringing to mind the period during the 1990s when the Clark County Commission, which oversees the operations of the hospital, had to pump $17 million into UMC so it could keep running.

UMC is struggling financially, and ditching the hospital might seem to be a way to relieve the county of a costly obligation that would free up money for use elsewhere. But county officials should reconsider contemplating such a radical move. For starters, selling the hospital doesn't relieve the county of its obligation to provide medical care for the indigent. If a nonprofit takes over, the county will still have to pay for those services, so it's unclear if any money actually would be saved. Even if a nonprofit takes over UMC, there is no guarantee that it would offer the same level of commitment and responsiveness to the community that a government-run hospital does. And all too frequently over the past few years nonprofit hospitals have been purchased by for-profit corporations, which unfortunately bring their bottom-line-or-else mentality to medical care.

We've already seen, at every level of government, the failures of privatization. UMC is an important resource for this growing metropolitan area, a public hospital that treats anyone, regardless of their ability to pay. That is a commitment that we can't imagine Clark County government walking away from.