Datestamp: 05/17/2012

Inpatient pediatrics unit may close

Use is below capacity; board would not consider move until at least July

Salem Hospital is considering closing its inpatient pediatrics unit, hospital officials said Wednesday. The hospital notified local pediatric clinics and hospital staffers in separate meetings, spokeswoman Sherryll Hoar said. The meetings were to get input from stakeholders, she said. The news came less than a week after CEO Norm Gruber wrote to employees saying the hospital could eliminate as many as 150 fulltime equivalent positions, citing low patient volume and some programs operating at a loss. If hospital officials choose to propose the closure to the Board of Trustees, it will consider it in its July meeting at the earliest, Hoar said. Hoar said it's unclear what the full effects of the closure would be because leaders are in their early stages of exploring the option. Even if the hospital closes the unit, it could decide to provide another service to help fill a gap. The bottom line, Hoar said, is that the inpatient pediatrics unit does not see a lot of patients. Its capacity is to care for 27 patients, but the average daily census was seven in 2009, six in 2010 and five in 2011. Common reasons children stay at Salem Hospital are for pneumonia, bronchial inflammation, jaundice and dehydration. Hoar said the unit does not care for patients who need longer hospital stays. The average length of hospitalization in the pediatrics unit is two days. "The specialty doctors who work with really sick kids are all in Portland," where children with complex conditions already go, Hoar said. But a Portland pediatrician said community hospitals aren't meant to serve the sickest kids anyway. "I don't think in the long run this will cause harm to the kids," Dr. Jay Rosenbloom said. "I think it's just going Inpatient pediatrics unit may close 1

to be harder on the families when they have to travel for a lesssevere illness." An equivalent of 15 fulltime employees work in the ward. Hoar said the pediatrics option is the first program closure hospital officials are considering. More are likely as they look for ways to balance labor with declining revenues. "We like to keep people in Salem for their care," Hoar said. "What we're looking at, given our current financial situation, is how much can we do anymore." The potential cut does not mean Salem Hospital would stop treating children. They could seek services in the emergency department and the pediatric rehabilitation program. The neonatal intensive care unit is separate from the pediatrics unit, Hoar said. But the hospital would lose the experience of working with children, said Rosenbloom, who practices at Pediatric Associates of the Northwest. He said that if he needs to send patients to the emergency room, he has them go to a hospital that has an inpatient pediatrics unit. "Only because that's where most of the kids are seen," he said. "By not having an inpatient pediatrics ward, you'll have less experience in the hospital even doing some of the more routine tests." Dr. Jim Lace, a pediatrician with Childhood Health Associates of Salem, said losing the area's only inpatient pediatric ward would be a "travesty." "You're deserting your patients," he said. syoo@StatesmanJournal.com, (503) 3996673 or follow at Twitter.com/syoo At a glance On May 10, Salem Hospital CEO Norm Gruber told employees that an equivalent of 150 fulltime positions could be eliminated in the next several months. The inpatient pediatrics unit is the first program being considered for cuts.

Caption: Salem Hospital said Wednesday that it might eliminate its inpatient pediatrics unit. KOBBI R. BLAIR / Statesman Journal file Section: Page one Page: 1A Byline: Saerom Yoo Source: Salem From: Yoo, Saerom

Inpatient pediatrics unit may close