Key West Commissioners join hospital battle

BY PRU SOWERS

KONK LIFE STAFF WRITER

Key West City Commissioners are stepping into a brewing battle between the local hospital and a newly-formed political action committee gunning for changes at the medical facility.

Commissioners agreed to hold an Aug. 11 public workshop to hear complaints against the Lower Keys Medical Center, located on Stock Island, from the Committee to Rescue Our Hospital (CTROH), a group headed up by former city Commissioner Henry Bethel. The committee has placed full-page ads in a local newspaper outlining its complaints against the medical center and, in the most recent ad, asking residents to take a survey to “ascertain the depth and pervasiveness of the issues.” Feedback can be submitted at the committee’s website at www.ctroh.com.

“Lower Keys Medical Center (LKMC) has lost the trust of the community it serves,” the advertisement reads. “Based on a myriad of complaints by patients, their family members and active health care professionals, which suggest quality of patient care issues and price gouging, none of which have been addressed by LKMC or [hospital owner Community Health Systems] to the satisfaction of the public, it has become clear to this committee that management of LKMC has to change.”

The committee proposes to rescind or change the enabling legislation approved by state legislators that turned the hospital from a community-owned facility to one privately owned by Community Health Systems (CHS), a Tennessee-based company that owns and operates approximately 200 medical facilities in the United States. CTROH also wants an audit of the hospital’s pricing, billing systems and contracts with physician vendors, with results released publically.

“I continue to be very disturbed about the status and condition of our local hospital,” said Commissioner Richard Payne at the commission’s July 6 meeting. “Almost daily I read of problems that have been occurring out there, such as shortage of nurses and the low morale of hospital personnel, favoritism for certain doctors, unbelievable billing for services, [and] questionable documents that local doctors have been forced to sign or risk giving up their hospital admitting privileges.”

Commissioner Sam Kaufman had originally asked his colleagues to approve a resolution at the meeting to support CTROH’s goals. But he asked that the resolution be postponed to allow staff to collect more information, as well as allow co-sponsor Commissioner Billy Wardlow to be present. Wardlow missed the July 6 meeting because of the birth of his grandchild.

Kaufman said he had read the 50-plus page lease agreement between Monroe County and CHS. He pointed out that agreement expires in 2029.

“It’s an opportunity for us to think about the future of the hospital regardless if there is a potential for renegotiation of this lease or not. Thirteen years from now there will have to be a change,” he said.

In a statement issued by LKMC CEO Nicky Wills, she outlined how the hospital takes seriously any concerns voiced by patients and their families. The hospital has listened carefully and responded, she said, adding that “our door is open and we welcome the chance for constructive dialogue.”

“We continuously strive to meet the requirements of the American College Health Association and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid and participate fully in all public reporting,” Will said in her written statement. “Our hospital is committed to delivering high quality medical care and to operating with the highest ethical standards.”

But complaints against the medical center have continued to mount in the past several months, including the fact the facility’s governing board holds its meetings in private, emergency room staff refusing to call patients’ personal doctors, and billing practices that appear abusive to some patients. There have also been complaints about the LKMC using a private medical helicopter service to shuttle seriously ill patients to hospitals on the mainland – costing the patient $63,000 – instead of using the Monroe County-owned medical helicopter that is free to county residents.

Commissioner Jimmy Weekley said he and other commissioners have read multiple emails sent to them recently as a result of the CTROH ads.

“There’s some pretty nightmarish stories in some of those emails about the way patients were treated and other aspects. But there are also two sides to a story. We need to hear both sides,” he said.

And Commissioner Margaret Romero said that the CTROH goals need to be more specific before a public workshop is held.

“I think we’re putting the cart before the horse and we’re acting on emotion,” she said. “Some of us might remember it [LKMC] was community-owned and it was bleeding big time and that was one of the reasons why it went to the management of another property.”

“Those very points that you make are the reasons we need the workshop,” Commissioner Clayton Lopez responded to Romero. “The workshop will allow us to… bring some of those things to the surface and put them on the table.”

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