Sun, Jul 05, 2009
 Despite fewer patients and a decision to delay new hospitals outside Tucson, construction at St. Mary's Hospital is continuing. A.E. Araiza / Arizona Daily Star
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Hospital plans are on ice in Sahuarita and Nogalesarizona daily star ARIZONA DAILY STAR
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 11.22.2008
The Carondelet Health Network has shelved plans for two Southern Arizona hospitals as it rethinks its growth strategy to deal with the sluggish economy.
Several years ago, the health network announced plans to build a hospital in Sahuarita and replace one in Nogales. But the economy has changed since then, and people are skipping visits to hospitals — forcing Carondelet to re-evaluate, said spokeswoman Letty Ramirez.
"It is definitely starting to impact the health-care industry," Ramirez said. "We are looking at whether we are organized appropriately to weather the economic environment."
Carondelet still has plans to expand outpatient services by adding physicians' offices and increasing access to urgent care in Green Valley and Sahuarita, Ramirez said.
She said Nogales residents can continue to get health-care services at Carondelet Holy Cross Hospital in the border city.
Officials have said in the past that work on the Sahuarita hospital would begin in 2010 and it would open in 2011. While Carondelet has scrapped those immediate plans, it doesn't mean it will never open a hospital in that area, Ramirez said.
"We look at our communities' needs and go from there," she said.
People south of Tucson would have benefited from a full-service hospital, said Joyce Finkelstein, executive director of the Green Valley Community Coordinating Council.
"Green Valley is a community primarily of seniors and to have a hospital, basically in our backyard, would have been a gift," she said. "But we understand the economics of this situation."
Adding urgent-care facilities — so patients don't have to wait all day in a hospital's emergency room — will help the community in the absence of a hospital, Finkelstein said.
Carondelet, which runs three hospitals in Tucson and one in Nogales, is feeling the pinch as finance and building costs increase.
Coupled with that is a national trend of people putting off elective surgeries and doctor visits.
"Consumers are really looking at conserving their cash," Ramirez said.
Other local hospitals have noticed fewer patients coming through their doors. Tucson Medical Center, with its main campus at 5301 E. Grant Road, also has seen an overall decrease in patient volume, said spokesman Michael Letson.
TMC still has plans to build Rincon Community Hospital on the Southeast Side, near South Houghton and East Drexel roads, Letson said, but he had no estimate of when that hospital would open.
TMC is tightening its belt during tough economic times and looking carefully at expenses. Still, there haven't been any layoffs, nor has TMC instituted a hiring freeze, he said. "There's not an official hiring freeze, but there's a sense that we're holding the line on employment," Letson said.
Carondelet also has not laid off any employees.
Carondelet Health Network is dealing with changes in its administration as well.
Spokeswoman Letty Ramir-ez said the changes are independent of economic conditions or any change in Carondelet's strategic plan.
Greg Angle, the CEO of Carondelet St. Joseph's Hospital at 350 N. Wilmot Road, resigned after holding his position for eight years, Ramirez said. His last day was Nov. 14, and he made a personal decision to move on, she said.
Tom Murphy, who's been Carondelet's chief legal counsel for 13 years, is planning to retire for personal reasons, Ramirez said.
To fill Angle's spot, the health network is moving Odette Bolano, who is the CEO of Carondelet St. Mary's Hospital at 1601 W. St. Mary's Road. That move will happen in January or February, Ramirez said. Bolano is also the CEO of Tucson Heart Hospital at 4888 N. Stone Ave.
An interim CEO, Scott Fuller of Austin, Texas, will be provided by Carondelet's parent company, Ascension Health, to temporarily fill the St. Mary's job, Ramirez said.
Carondelet has begun a national recruitment effort to find a permanent CEO for St. Mary's, Ramirez said.
● To contact reporters: Dale Quinn, 573-4197 or dquinn@azstarnet.com; Stephanie Innes, 573-4134 or sinnes@azstarnet.com.
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