« Ind. Decisions - 7th Circuit issues two, both Indiana-related | Main | Ind. Courts - Supreme Court merges Clerk of Courts with Court Administrator »

Tuesday, January 31, 2006

Ind. Decisions - Re recent federal court decisions on whether Indiana communities have right to restrict new medical centers

Judge Hamilton's ruling in Sisters of St. Francis v. Morgan County (SD Ind., 11/2/05) (see 11/2/05 ILB entry here) and Judge Barker's ruling in Kentuckiana Medical Center v. Clark County (SD Ind., 1/18/06) (see 1/19/06 ILB entry here) are discussed in this Indiana Business Journal article for the week of Jan. 30-Feb. 5, 2006, by Tom Murphy. Some quotes:

A federal court decision this month dealt a death blow to the idea that Indiana counties can halt health care construction to protect their own hospitals.

Representatives of safety-net hospitals say the ruling left them more vulnerable than ever to outside competition that sucks away profitable patients and leaves behind the poor and uninsured.

"I still think that issue is underlying all of this, and so far I haven't seen that issue being addressed," said Robert Keen, CEO of Hancock Regional Hospital.

Hancock, Marion County's eastern neighbor, is one of just two counties in the state with a surviving moratorium that restricts health care construction. Harrison County in southern Indiana is the other.

Those laws are probably no longer worth the paper they're written on, said Edmund Abel, director of health care services for the Indianapolis-based consulting firm Blue & Co.

"The ability to do something on a county-by-county basis has, I think, pretty much been mooted," he said. * * *

[Daniel Warncke, a lawyer who represented plaintiffs in the Kentuckiana case] said he hopes the court rulings end talk of county moratoriums.

"It never made sense to me," he said, noting the General Assembly wants to promote competition, and the state years ago repealed a certificate-of-need law that restricted health care construction.

County moratoriums would lead to a "patchwork of regulation that would basically Balkanize the state," added Dave Bromund, a partner with the Indianapolis law firm of Sommer Barnard who represented St. Francis in its case.

"It would just be incredibly difficult for hospitals and health systems to operate if each county had their own rules about this," he said.

County hospital representatives, however, say they need the protection. They've long argued that other health care companies move into their territory and skim off profitable business while avoiding emergency care and other unprofitable segments.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on January 31, 2006 03:16 PM
Posted to Ind Fed D.Ct. Decisions