Beaumont & Henry Ford Hospitals to Merge?

[Hypestyles]

There's supposed to be a press conference about this today. Very curious, especially considering the plans underway with DMC/Vanguard.

If this goes through, I wonder what kind of name changes, if any, will take place?

I also wonder what this may mean for employees of both systems-- a series of layoffs? Or possibly a call for more trained workers in health care?

[trotwood]

It's being discussed on the afternoon news broadcast as I type this.
This is huge!!

[tkelly1986]

The article in the Free mentioned facility consolidation and layoffs. Thus, one must ask; who has the most to loose from this? Will the facilities be consolidated in to Detroit or Oakland County? What could this mean for jobs in Detroit?

[Honky Tonk]

The article in the Free mentioned facility consolidation and layoffs. Thus, one must ask; who has the most to loose from this? Will the facilities be consolidated in to Detroit or Oakland County? What could this mean for jobs in Detroit?

Considering that these types of mergers are generally thought out and investigated well in advance, and the fact the HFH has been buying and doctoring up properties in the New Center Area, my guess is there will be some big changes to the HFH campus.

[Bham1982]

I would guess that hosptial admissions are declining in the area, given that we have declining population, and so much care can now be handled outside of traditional hospitals.

So I'm guessing there will be some space consolidation and layoffs. Both Henry Ford and Beaumont have signalled intentions to grow on their flagship campuses, but I don't think this makes sense in a merged company. We'll see.

[Honky Tonk]

I would guess that hosptial admissions are declining in the area, given that we have declining population, and so much care can now be handled outside of traditional hospitals.

So I'm guessing there will be some space consolidation and layoffs. Both Henry Ford and Beaumont have signalled intentions to grow on their flagship campuses, but I don't think this makes sense in a merged company. We'll see.

Good point. I would have thought the HFH bean counters would have haulted such expendatures if deemed unnecessary, but who knows. HFH IS located @ major freeway crossroads. Perhaps each facility will speciallize in a certain branch of medicine?

[detroitsgwenivere]

I wonder what this means for the proposed development on Trumbull s of w grand. That neighborhood has been decimated since HF announced their intentions for development there.

[Honky Tonk]

My point exactly. A lot of money went into the decimation. I don't think the the CEO of HFH got up one morning and said "I know, we'll merge with Beaumont!". But then again......

[shoelessjoe]

The obvious point of consolidation is Grosse Pointe. HFH has already shrunk Cottage Hospital down to an ER and a small outpatient clinic. Beaumont Grosse Pointe [[Bon Secours) is a bigger operations with--at least up to this point--expanstion/redevelopment in mind. My guess is you can stick a fork in Cottage...will not survive the merger.

[Honky Tonk]

"My guess is you can stick a fork in Cottage...will not survive the merger."
I don't know. The idea is to get patients through the door, then channel them to the downtown facility. I think Cottage will always serve a useful purpose in the Pointes. There's a lot of money and health care coverage there. They need to keep a brand presence.

[Bham1982]

I had never even heard of Cottage. Are Cottage and Bon Secours "full service" hospitals, or do GP residents mostly go to St. Johns for serious stuff?

[Honky Tonk]

I had never even heard of Cottage. Are Cottage and Bon Secours "full service" hospitals, or do GP residents mostly go to St. Johns for serious stuff?

I'm not sure where they go and I'm unfamiliar with it since it's no longer "Cottage". When it was Cottage, it was a full service hospital. I just can't see HFH letting go that share of the market. They even have an Opthamology center on Jefferson, closer to the Detroit border.

[ndavies]

The number of hospital admissions are actually forecast to jump through the roof. Between all the baby boomers getting into retirement age and the 30 Million+ new people who will have insurance for the first time, There are many forecasts of not having enough Doctors, Nurses or hospitals to handle the increased demand.

We already have a growing shortage of doctors.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-1...las-vegas.html

This may be a move to help streamline and get more productivity out of the facilities we already have.

[Bham1982]

The number of hospital admissions are actually forecast to jump through the roof. Between all the baby boomers getting into retirement age and the 30 Million+ new people who will have insurance for the first time, There are many forecasts of not having enough Doctors, Nurses or hospitals to handle the increased demand.

The shortage of medical professionals is a separate issue from relative volume of hospital admissions. Most medical professionals aren't working in hospitals anyways, and the proportion of patients served in hosptals is dropping, in favor of clinics.

And I wasn't speaking about hospital admission nationally, but locally. I would be surprised if local hospital admissions were increasing, given that the local population is decreasing.

I don't see how a shrinking region has this big need for all these new hospital facilities. Hospital admissions have been dropping nationally, so that trend should be more pronounced locally.

[Gistok]

Henry Ford/Cottage was once a full service smaller hospital [[sort of like Botsford). Over a decade ago there were merger talks between St. John, Cottage and Bon Secour... but those went nowhere. Later Bon Secour was bought up by Beaumont, and Cottage by Henry Ford... while St. John went gobbling up hospitals in Macomb and St. Clair counties and the Providence Hospital complex in Southfield.

Cottage was later relegated to emergency room and Psychiatric status... with other patients moved to the main hospital... not a popular choice among Grosse Pointers who preferred Bon Secour [[still full service)... and a larger improved St. John.

If Henry Ford and Beaumont do merge... I can easily see all of small Cottage Hospital's services and staff being transferred to Bon Secour. Grosse Pointers do NOT like to end up at the Henry Ford main campus... it's quite a ways from the Pointes, and discourages evening visitors who are uncomfortable with the area after dark.

Also, it's hard to find more desirable real estate than the Cottage Hospital location. It's the eastern anchor to "The Hill" Grosse Pointe Farms shopping district, and the land it sits on is very valuable, and would easily be redeveloped as an expansion of that shopping area [[not sure the current building could be retrofitted for first floor retail with offices above).

Keeping the "well insured" Grosse Pointers to continue going to nearby hospitals has been a priority for quite some time. Bon Secour has little problem in that regard, since it is deep within Grosse Pointe along Jefferson Ave.

But St. John has found it challenging. The St. John of 15 years ago and today.... there's light years of difference. Now most all rooms are beautiful private suites, and the emergency waiting room is no longer a notorious 60 seat "ghettohood"... but only about 15 seats... with the injured patients whisked off to 3 huge patient control centers with 20 temporary small guest cubicles off each one so there is no longer any patient to patient interaction. Also the emergency room entrance is now like passing thru security at DTW with metal detectors, and security folks ever present. So St. John has spent 180 million on making their main medical center a pleasant experience for Grosse Pointers as well as Detroiters.

And at some point in the future St. John still plans on building a small hotel on the former Woods Theatre footprint [[Grosse Pointe Woods)and part of the back parking lot. This is for the family of out county patients, as well as a likely hotel for visitors to the Grosse Pointes. They might even get the AAA offices site [[former site of Blazo's Restaurant) as part of the hotel site.

[gameguy56]

Considering that these types of mergers are generally thought out and investigated well in advance, and the fact the HFH has been buying and doctoring up properties in the New Center Area, my guess is there will be some big changes to the HFH campus.

I would assume that land is probably cheaper in Detroit than in Oakland county...

[Honky Tonk]

"Between all the baby boomers getting into retirement age and the 30 Million+ new people who will have insurance for the first time"

Unless y'alls boy Mit gets into office. All that will end. The baby-boomers will be put on reservations to be used for target practice by NRA members.

[shoelessjoe]

St John and the current Beaumont/Bon Secours are adequate for not only the Pointes, but the adjacent areas of Macomb County and Detroit. My point is the combined entity will not keep both Cottage and Bon Secours which are barely a mile apart. HFH has consistently reduced the services and footprint at cottage. Beaumont has been actively seeking to expand the services and footprint at Bon Secours.

The "new" St John on Moross is a great facility as the other posters have stated - with the added benefit of it being a Trauma Center.

[trotwood]

"Between all the baby boomers getting into retirement age and the 30 Million+ new people who will have insurance for the first time"

Unless y'alls boy Mit gets into office. All that will end. The baby-boomers will be put on reservations to be used for target practice by NRA members.

There should be some sort of nomination process&award system in place here. Some of your posts are hilarious!!!

[adamjab19]

This has a lot to do with the Medicare/Medicade pie. Some hospitals get more than others and some hospitals need to get more [[pt. demographics change, people don't have as much private insurance) and aren't able. The hospital beds are filled, it's a matter of getting money for services.

Also, HFH and Beaumont have the same electronic chart system. It's a huge amount of money to run and it can now be shared.

And not to get political, but this all has to do with the government. The government as a huge payer [[medicare/medicaid) of medical bills has put a ton of stipulations on their payments, as they should have, and it is causing these mergers and the swallowing up of the smaller hospitals. The smaller places get to cover their upfront costs of the what the government expects to be done in the hospital and the bigger hospitals get another extension of services in another area of town. I'm not saying it's a bad thing what the government is doing, but hospitals have to worry about their bottom line and this is how they do it, combining resources and assets.

[beachboy]

This has a lot to do with the Medicare/Medicade pie. ... And not to get political, but this all has to do with the government. The government as a huge payer [[medicare/medicaid) of medical bills has put a ton of stipulations on their payments, as they should have, and it is causing these mergers and the swallowing up of the smaller hospitals.

adamjab, just an eenie-meenie, teeny-tiny clarification ... the government is not a huge payer of medical bills. Given the horrors of "Obummercare" we, the taxvictims, are the payers of upward-spiraling medical bills. And, in most cases, they're not our medical bills.

Important fact: It's not the government's money; it's our money.

[DetroitPlanner]

Given the horrors of "Obummercare" we, the taxvictims, are the payers of upward-spiraling medical bills. And, in most cases, they're not our medical bills.

Important fact: It's not the government's money; it's our money.

Give me a break, Obamacare has already resulted in the reducing of people's bills. One very important aspect of that is the provision that insurance companies must return some of the profits to those that they stole them from. Almost 13 million Americans have received a rebate from their insurance company this year who would have been overcharged.
http://money.cnn.com/2012/06/21/pf/h...ates/index.htm


That is your government allowing you to keep your money.

This has had added benefits to allow me to keep more of my money this year too. My employer has a cap on insurance and we have to pay what goes over the cap. In the past insurance has gone up anywhere from 8 to 15 percent per year for at least the last decade. Since enactment of Obumercare? It has gone up 4 percent. Still above the rate of inflation, but hey robotic surguries that get you productive again in day instead of weeks cost money.

Do you want the government not to step in when the insurance companies are bankrupting families?

[pgn421]

A lot of hospitals throughout the U.S. are merging. If Obamacare ever comes the hospitals will benefit.