By Sarah Green
KHI News Service
TOPEKA, March 5
With negotiation deadlines quickly approaching, Irene Cumming still isn”t satisfied with affiliation talks between the University of Kansas Hospital and the University of Kansas Medical Center.
Cumming, the president and CEO of the KU hospital, spoke to the House Government Efficiency and Technology Committee on Monday about the hospital”s perspective on the proposed affiliation between the KU Med Center
the state”s medical school
and St. Luke”s Health Center in Kansas City, Mo. The KU Hospital, which staffs the research institution”s physicians, has also signed a letter of intent to reaffirm their own affiliation with the medical school.
The deadline for negotiations is Tuesday, Cumming said, and there are still issues for the hospital and medical center to work through.
“Unfortunately, last night, I received word from the University that it does want major revisions to where I thought we were in terms of a plan,” Cumming said. “I was hoping that I could report to you today that we”re on the right page together and that we”re moving forward. Well, unfortunately, we”re not there.”
The presentation was the first of a slate of presentations about the issue scheduled this week at the Statehouse. Committee Chairman Jim Morrison, R-Colby, arranged the meetings as a “forum” to provide as much information to the Legislature as possible on the proposed affiliation between the Kansas medical school and the Missouri hospital. Several bills and a resolution have been introduced this year, but none have received approval of either the House or Senate.
“I don”t know anything about this personally,” Morrison said. “I don”t want to see the Legislature get in and micromanage this. But I do want to stay public with it.”
Cumming told the committee about improvements in staffing and patient care since the Legislature created an independent authority to run the hospital in 1998.
But the agreement with St. Luke”s could hurt the hospital”s ability to recruit and retain physicians, which has been one of the hospital”s keys to success, she said. An affiliation between St. Luke”s and the KU Med Center would give academic appointments to physicians at St. Luke”s
making the Missouri hospital that much more attractive to doctors who are often reluctant to move to the Kansas City area, she said.
Rep. Kenny Wilk, R-Lansing, asked if there was a way, in Cumming”s opinion, if there could be a “win-win-win” between the hospital, St. Luke”s, and the Med Center.
“The KU Hospital is the only one at risk of losing here,” Cumming replied.
St. Luke”s affiliation is a string attached to a proposal from the Kansas City, Mo.-based Stowers Institute, Cumming said. The Stowers Institute is a biosciences research organization that has expressed interest in helping the university move towards its goal of obtaining a National Cancer Institute designation, a major research and clinical title.
The KU hospital has made it clear that they want to be the primary hospital involved in the designation
one of the issues that have not been worked out, Cumming said.
“There does not need to be a School of Medicine and St. Luke”s affiliation to gain the NCI designation,” she said.
Among the other “vital issues” that have not been agreed upon, according to Cumming:
* Defining KU Hospital”s status as the “Primary Academic Clinical, Teaching and Research Hospital” for the Medical Center;
* Establishing a level playing field for the hospitals, including insuring that the KU Hospital will be able to continue growth in manpower and patient care;
* Addressing the number of medical residents needed in Kansas; and
* Establishing a plan of support in case the affiliation with St. Luke”s creates financial problems for the KU Hospital.
The KU Hospital and Med Center are coming closer to reaching an agreement, but they”re not there yet, Cumming said.
“I”m an optimist, and I”m hoping that we will be there,” she said. “But I hope you can appreciate how difficult it is to go through these negotiations, the bar is moving, people are changing, positions are changing.”
The House committee will hear reports from subcommittees tomorrow; the Board of Regents will make a presentation on Wednesday and representatives from the KU Medical Center will speak to the committee on Thursday. Each meeting starts at 3:30 in Room 526-S.
The medical school will present more details
about the affiliations to the committee during Thursday’s meeting,
said Amy Jordan Wooden, senior director of public affairs for the medical school.
“We remain committed to the negotiation process, and we are hopeful that we can reach an agreement,” she said. “We believe the hospital affiliations lead to more doctors, better doctors and better care for patients. We remain focused on that.”
-Sarah Green is a staff writer for KHI News Service, which specializes in coverage of health issues facing Kansans. She can be reached at
sgreen@khi.org
or at 785-233-5443, ext. 118.