Doctors rally for St. Clare’s Sussex

Sussex — St. Clare’s Sussex campus is consistently rated number one in doctor/patient communication. It is also very highly regarded in overall patient satisfaction. Despite these accolades, the hospital administration has decided to close Sussex’s in-patient medical facility, intensive care unit, operating room and ambulatory/same day surgery unit.

What would remain, if the state approves its plan, are the emergency department, diagnostic imaging and women's health services — in short, outpatient services the community has come to depend on, according to Stephanie Galloway, spokesperson for St. Clare's Health System.

The Sussex hospital is "the most under-utilized hospital in the state," she points out. It is licensed for 120 beds but currently only keeps 30 in service. On a daily basis, the hospital sees from eight to a dozen in-patients.

"...the changing healthcare environment and very low utilization by the community has forced us to evaluate other options of care for the Sussex Community,” Galloway said in an e-mail statement about the plan.

Location critical Dr. John Fisher is vice president of the medical staff at St. Clare’s and he has a private practice in Sussex Borough. Fisher says the administration’s decision makes economic sense — the hospital is losing money. And, he notes, logic says that an unprofitable business should close. But, he argues, “The decision doesn’t make ethical sense.”

Because St. Clare’s is the only hospital in the immediate vicinity, it is an “essential part of the community,” says Fisher. He describes the decision to end in-patient services this way: “Like a crime to take us away from the citizens of Sussex County.”

Dr. Sami Yasin, an infectious disease specialist at St. Clare’s Sussex who also practices privately in Wantage, agrees with Fisher and adds that he "believe(s) the decision to close the Sussex Campus was made too hastily.” He says that the hospital administration came to a meeting six months ago and gave him and his colleagues the bad news that if the hospital didn’t start turning a profit in six months, there would be no choice but to close it.

Who's to blame? Yasin argues that St. Clare’s Sussex is the most under-utilized hospital in the state because the administration hasn’t done a good enough job of promotion. Galloway’s e-mail also addresses this issue. She says there have been multiple attempts to increase the use of the hospital since their sponsorship with Catholic Health Initiatives four years ago.

Fisher also absolves the current administration. He says they’re just trying to fix a problem created by “previous administrations’ years of neglect.” Either way, the doctors agree: closing the hospital's in-patient services is not the right answer.

State to consider plan Fisher cites three main issues that he hopes the state will consider in the upcoming May 1 public hearing with the state commission of health. First, the geographic isolation of the St. Clare’s Sussex campus creates a problem for Sussex County residents who live too far from the Dover or Denville locations of St. Clare's Hospital, or even Newton Memorial Hospital.

Dr. Dennis Fielding, an internal medicine and geriatric medicine specialist at St. Clare’s Sussex has a private practice in Hamburg. A case in point, he says, happened just this past week while he was on call at the hospital. A patient with severe abdominal pains was trying to get to his regular physician in Englewood, but the pain was so severe he could barely drive. He decided to stop at St. Clare’s Sussex, where he was seen by Fielding, who diagnosed the patient with diverticulitis — a severe intestinal infection. Without the local hospital, Fielding said, the man probably wouldn’t have made it on his own to his regular doctor or any other hospital. The doctors at St. Clare’s were there when a member of their community needed them to be, Fielding emphasized.

The second point Fisher brings up is the fact that many of the patients who would normally use St. Clare’s Sussex would choose an out of state hospital if the Sussex campus wasn’t there simply because it would be more convenient. Fisher conducted his own in-office survey asking where his patients would go in the event that St. Clare’s Sussex closed. Roughly 75 to 80 percent said they would choose Newton, very few would go to Morristown, but the rest said they would cross into New York because it would be closer for them. That 15 to 20 percent of patients, Fisher claims, will cost the state of New Jersey a lot of healthcare revenue — something that would be detrimental to a state that is already cutting budgets left and right.

Jobs lost The final point Fisher makes is that the number of jobs that would be cut by closing the hospital would create a surge in the already booming unemployment numbers in the area. According to Fielding, closing the Sussex Campus would lead to 50 to 55 layoffs — a number that was high enough to trigger a state mandate to notify the Sussex Borough Council. While the doctors themselves will have their private practices to fall back on, the non-medical staff of the hospital will be put out of work.

Galloway said in a phone conversation this week that recent calculations by St. Clare's administrators have set the number of layoffs at less than 55 but the number is not yet certain.

Galloway’s e-mail states that the Sussex employees will be “offered alternate positions within St. Clare’s wherever possible” and “if not (possible) will be offered a severance package in accordance with (St. Clare’s) human resources policy.” Dr. Fielding noted this means that some of the employees would be relocating, but those who can work at a different St. Clare’s campus will have to spend more to commute.

Hearing set The state hearing will be held at Wantage School on May 1 from 6 to 8 p.m. Drs. Yasin, Fielding and Fisher and their colleagues from the Sussex campus will be there to give testimonials as concerned citizens. The representatives and leadership of St. Clare’s administration will also be in attendance.

The doctors urge concerned citizens to show up and voice their opinions but to also send letters of concern to both the governor’s office at P.O. Box 001, Trenton, NJ 08625 and to the Commissioner of Health and Senior Services, Mary E. Dowd, at P.O. Box 360, Trenton, NJ 08625-0360.

A little history 1908: Franklin Hospital is created by the NJ Zinc Co. to care for its employees. It is the first hospital in Sussex County.

1918: The family of Dr. Alexander Linn, a Civil War physician, donates the land and a building for a hospital in Sussex Borough. The new hospital is named for him.

1978: Alexander Linn and Franklin hospitals join to form the Wallkill Valley Hospital. Linn Hospital continues to provide acute care; Franklin Hospital becomes an outpatient hospital.

1989: Wallkill Valley Hospital becomes an affiliate of the Sisters of the Sorrowful Mother Healthcare Ministry

1994: St. Clare's Riverside Medical Center, Dover General Hospital and Wallkill Valley Hospitals join to form Northwest Covenant Medical Center, then St. Clare's Health Services

2008: St. Clare's Health System is owned by Colorado-based Catholic Health Initiatives

2011: St. Clare's files with the state to close in-patient services at its Sussex campus

2012: St. Clare's and Catholic Health enter exclusive negotiations with the intent of transferring ownership of Saint Clare’s Health System to Ascension Health Care Network, based in St. Louis.