SLIDELL, LA -- Voters recently rejected the proposal by Tenet HealthSystem (Tenet) to purchase the assets of Slidell Memorial Hospital (SMH), the first and only not-for-profit community hospital in eastern St. Tammany Parish. Complete returns from all precincts showed an overwhelming vote against the sale to Tenet - 11,794 votes 'against,' or 77%, to 3,508 votes 'for,' or 23%. The proposal by Tenet failed in every precinct in Wards 6, 7, 8 and 9.
Cross Gates resident E.L. 'Gene' Bellisario, president of the Military Road Alliance (MRA), one of a coalition of groups which opposed the proposal, said, "This is a clear victory for the people. They have shown that they don't want a hospital monopoly in our area."
"I am thrilled that the people have voted to stop the sale to Tenet," said Kathy Goss co-leader of Save Our Slidell Memorial Hospital (SOSMH). "We hoped that community residents wouldn't be persuaded by Tenet's slick advertisements, and today's vote makes it clear that they weren't."
Both SOSMH and the MRA plan to remain active in their efforts to help the hospital since the landslide vote against the purchase. The MRA research group plans to offer its findings once Act 180, currently under revision by State Senator Tom Schedler, District 11, is completed and signed by the governor, and a new SMH Board of Commissioners is in place, perhaps by mid-May.
Tenet, the owner of 114 hospitals across the country, proposed purchasing the public hospital in Slidell for $130 million. In December, the SMH Board of Directors approved the bid, but because the hospital is part of the St. Tammany Parish Hospital District Number Two, the voters of the four wards had to approve the sale. Tenet already owns NorthShore Regional Medical Center in Slidell, and would therefore own the only two full-service, acute care hospitals in the greater Slidell area, if the purchase was approved. Several residents concerned by the implications of the sale began a grassroots effort last summer to stop it.
The groups in opposition did not just count on word of mouth, but on the internet, courtesy of Save Our Slidell Memorial Hospital Webmaster Sunny Breeding, of Doubloon Estates, who created the website in a matter of days. "Our website at www.sosmh.org mobilized hundreds of people to oppose the sale. It meant that we could get information out to them quickly and cheaply. There is no way that we could have done what we did without the power of the internet," Breeding said.
On March 12th, the opposition gained even more momentum. The Military Road Alliance hosted a forum featuring the opposition to the sale, which attracted several hundred people. (A prior MRA forum in February had featured Tenet and the SMH Board.)
Then on March 19th, the Military Road Alliance delegates, representing 18 subdivisions, voted to oppose the sale, because the deal failed to protect the community interest.
The MRA's vote, with its 77% vote against the sale also, foreshadowed the April 5 vote of all four wards. Current MRA president Bellisario was one of several members of a working group dedicated to analyzing the sale. "We spent over 800 hours, over four months, reviewing it, and we couldn't find one reason to vote 'yes.' Apparently the voters agreed," he said.
Opposition to the sale was further fueled by an April 1, 2003 letter submitted to the Louisiana State Attorney General by the Federal Trade Commission in Washington, D.C., that said the sale raised serious concerns, including "less choice" and "higher prices, insurance premiums, deductibles and co-payments for Slidell consumers."
Opponents to the sale hope that with this proposal's sound defeat, other options for capital investment to maintain SMH as a not-for-profit, community hospital can be explored and considered. Updates on the future of SMH can be found on the SOSMH website: www.sosmh.org. Further information on the Military Road Alliance can be found at: www.MilitaryRoadAlliance.org
To contact the Military Road Alliance, call Bellisario, (985) 643-8611; to contact Save Our Slidell Memorial Hospital, call Goss or Towler, (985) 649-4348.
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