KHI NEWS SERVICE
TOPEKA, March 12
House Speaker Melvin Neufeld, R-Ingalls, sent a letter Monday to the Kansas Board of Regents, asking the board to hire an arbitrator to help the University of Kansas Medical Center and the University of Kansas Hospital reach agreement on affiliation negotiations with St. Luke”s Hospital in Kansas City, Mo.
“Thousands of Kansans and communities across our great state depend upon the health care services and medical education provided by KUMC.” Neufeld wrote to Regents Chairman Nelson Galle, listing three “principles” he said should be upheld in whatever affiliation agreement is struck:
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No agreement should restrict KU Medical Center”s ability to join with other research or medical institutions.
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University of Kansas Hospital should be the designated lead hospital if KU succeeds in gaining federal National Cancer Institute status.
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All partnerships entered into by KU Medical Center should improve the quality and quantity of medical education in Kansas with KU Med, the university hospital and KU School of Medicine-Wichita each encouraged and allowed to expand teaching, residency and fellow programs.
“Kansans have invested hundreds of millions of dollars into the KUMC health care and medical education systems.
It is the responsibility of the Board of Regents to make sure those investments are nurtured and cared for so they might continue to flourish for the good of the entire state, not just one part,”
Neufeld wrote.
“It is clear to me and others in the Kansas Legislature there are still many unanswered questions about these potential partnerships that, if not addressed prior to the deadline, could have a negative effect on our state”s health care system and medical education system.”
Also on Monday, Gov. Kathleen Sebelius issued a statement saying the Legislature should not meddle in the affiliation talks, which she is confident are proceeding satisfactorily, though
KU Medical Center and University of Kansas Hospital were at impasse last week over how to move ahead.
“bringing a cancer center to Kansas should be a top priority for our entire state,” Sebelius said in her prepared statement. “Dr. Roy Jensen, who is leading this effort, has made it clear that obtaining a National Cancer Institute Designation for Kansas is directly tied to the proposed affiliation of Kansas City-area hospitals with the University of Kansas Medical Center.
“The KU Hospital Board was created by the Legislature in 1998, to “facilitate and support the education, research and public service activities of the University of Kansas Medical Center” and under this independent governance, there has been a successful turnaround of a failing institution. We are now at an important next step in the progress made by the hospital, and it would be a mistake to have legislative interference in this process.
I have great confidence that the negotiations, which are well underway, will result in an agreement which strengthens both the KU Hospital and the University of Kansas Medical Center
including its program in Wichita
and will enhance the prospects for a cancer center designation that will bring invaluable treatments to patients throughout the region.”
A regents’ spokesman said officials there hadn”t yet had time to review Neufeld”s letter, which was made available to the media, and so could not immediately comment about it.