Holding down the costs of health care
Interview with Skip Davis, CEO, Sacred Hearth Medical Center and Providence Services Eastern Washington

What is the biggest issue facing the hospital industry, and how will it affect consumers?

"Medicare/Medicaid reimbursements (not keeping up with costs). Many physicians in this community aren't taking new Medicare patients. Access to care will be a greater issue. We do not deny people access to our hospital if they come to the door. The problem is: If they can't see a primary physician, they see us in crisis. So it's cost shifting that affects us."

Will there be layoffs or reductions in hours for Providence Services?

"I don't have a list right now. We have to respond and live within our means. If the funding continues to ramp down, as I said, we'll have to do things differently. We are proactively rebudgeting for 2003. We're going to look at all of our expenses. We don't contemplate any, quote, layoffs, however, we may take the privilege of not filling retired positions and look at where there is attrition and not fill some positions. So we'll be looking at our operations and trying to do as much of a soft landing as we can."

Is health care a right or a privilege?

"That is a debate you could have at a coffeehouse for a month and perhaps not have an answer afterward. What I'd personally like to see is some type of health care that touches everyone -- I hate the word "basic" -- but basic care for everyone. Economically, it makes good sense, because if you intervene early, you have a good chance of at least tempering the degree that people have chronic illness later. . . . I think a country as wealthy as we are needs to find a way to have more equitable and affordable distribution of health care for all its citizens."

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