THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, September 12, 1996 TAG: 9609120333
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARIE JOYCE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 39 lines
A proposal to move six operating rooms from downtown Portsmouth to the suburbs aroused no opposition - and no public interest - at a hearing Wednesday.
Maryview Medical Center has asked state permission to move the rooms from Portsmouth General Hospital to a new building about eight miles away. Maryview recently bought the rival hospital and plans to shut it down.
Maryview officials want to shift almost all outpatient surgery from Maryview and Portsmouth General to offices they'll lease in a planned medical office building. The building would be on Lynn Drive, on the border of Chesapeake and Suffolk, about 1 1/2 miles over the Portsmouth line.
Wednesday morning, hospital leaders made their case before the Eastern Virginia Health Systems Agency, a state-appointed body that regulates hospital expansion.
The state limits the number of operating rooms because little-used rooms don't pay for themselves and raise the cost of health care, said Paul M. Boynton, executive director of the agency.
All except one speaker were involved with Maryview, including several surgeons. Most said the facility would be convenient for patients and would help Maryview compete in a changing health care market. The remaining speaker runs a clinic in Portsmouth.
Any operations requiring an overnight stay in the hospital would be handled at Maryview's main building on High Street.
Boynton has praised Maryview's decision to shut down Portsmouth General, saying the city can't support two hospitals. But he's concerned that Maryview officials say they don't know what they'll do with five remaining operating rooms at Portsmouth General.
``The application would be stronger had they committed to shutting down'' those rooms, he said.
The agency will decide next month. The decision must be reviewed by health officials in Richmond. by CNB