DATE: Sunday, September 7, 1997             TAG: 9709050797

SECTION: BUSINESS                PAGE: D11  EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: HAMPTON ROADS ALMANAC '97

SOURCE: BY MARIE JOYCE, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   75 lines

HEALTH CONSOLIDATION, INTEGRATION CHANGE OUR HEALTH CARE

Hospitals aren't what they used to be.

At one time, they were the centerpiece of all high-tech health care.

Now a hospital is likely to be just one arm of an integrated system that includes outpatient surgery, home health care, insurance products, pharmacies and related enterprises such as medical equipment companies.

Ownership is changing, too. More and more hospitals are uniting to strengthen their bargaining power with insurance companies and vendors.

And the daily business of delivering care is changing. Thanks to improved technology - and insurance company cost-cutting - fewer surgeries involve overnight stays. Hospitals are shrinking overnight wards while building up their outpatient areas.

These trends are changing health care in Hampton Roads.

CONSOLIDATION

The biggest recent example is the ongoing merger of two former rivals, Tidewater Health Care, owner of Virginia Beach General, and Sentara Health System. The deal was announced in February. Company officials said this summer that the merger may take more than a year to complete.

In a similar move, Bon Secours Health System, the Maryland-based owner of Maryview Medical Center in Portsmouth, bought DePaul Medical Center in Norfolk, putting both hospitals under a single top administrator.

Bon Secours also bought Portsmouth General Hospital and is in the process of closing it. The closure is a sign of the shrinking need for in-patient hospital beds, industry observers say.

DIVERSIFICATION

Chesapeake General Hospital, one of the few in Hampton Roads that remains independent, has added programs that don't fit the traditional mold of an in-patient hospital caring only for the acutely ill. Many of the new services focus on same-day care and general wellness, and some aren't located in the hospital.

Over the past few years, for example, Chesapeake opened a new radiation therapy center for cancer patients. Although attached to the main facility, it has its own parking lot and entrance for the convenience of patients, who typically don't stay overnight.

The hospital also owns a fitness center and a nursing home.

And the Sentara-Tidewater merger involves a lot more than the companies' five hospitals. On the Tidewater end, for example, the deal includes: Windermere at Virginia Beach, a nursing home; Priority Health Care, an HMO company; a special health plan for people using Medicaid, the government health insurance program for the poor; Tidewater Medical Group, a practice with dozens of physicians; and a physical therapy and rehabilitation center.

Bon Secours' Maryview Medical Center has been finding new uses for the facilities that will be moved as Portsmouth General closes.

Maryview recently received state permission to establish an outpatient surgery facility and a diagnostic center using equipment from Portsmouth General. The center will be in a new building on the northwest corner of Interstate 664 and U.S. Route 17.

Not everyone agrees on what the new health care systems ultimately will look like. Some companies are pursuing a strategy based mostly on hospitals and health care delivery. Others believe that delivery must be joined with insurance companies in order to survive. MEMO: BUSINESS ALMANAC ILLUSTRATION: Photo

IAN MARTIN/The Virginian-Pilot

Dr. Bradford Tisdale...

Graphics

The Virginian-Pilot

HOSPITALS IN HAMPTON ROADS

SOURCE: Virginia Health Information

[For complete graphic, please see microfilm]

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