Physicians are shocked to hear that their hospital “partner” in their ambulatory surgery center is shifting an entire service line, say, GI, from their facility to another, hospital-owned facility across town. Oops, there goes 50% of the cases in 62% of profitability.
But what if a large acute care hospital owned by a health care giant shifts the entire hospital away leaving only the emergency room and, one would suppose, a ginormous parking lot? How do you feel if you’d spent decades building a hospital-based practice at the facility or an office-based practice across the street in that new medical building, you know, the one with a 7 year lease you just signed last March?
If you can’t close your eyes and imagine that nightmare, you might try asking the physicians impacted by HCA’s announcement that they’ll soon stop providing all inpatient care at their 264 bed Plantation General Hospital in Plantation, FL, and will convert the large facility in an emergency room. Just like in the ASC example attached and above, HCA is shifting all of the hospital business to a facility 6 miles away.
Pick your partners wisely. Spread your risk among opportunities.
Sure, there’s strength in associating with a giant, but the giant doesn’t give a shit about you.
Is it trite to say “don’t put all of your eggs in one basket?” Maybe it is, but it’s still a stupid thing to do.
