By Stephen Tait
Staff Writer
May 20, 2008 03:56 am NEWBURYPORT — Officials from Anna Jaques Hospital and the city will testify today in Boston against a proposal from the state's Department of Public Health that, if approved, would halt construction of the Newburyport Medical Center. "We would have to stop construction cold, and that absolutely cannot happen," said Deb Chiaravalloti, vice president of marketing and public relations for Anna Jaques Hospital. Delia O'Connor, president of Anna Jaques; George Ellison, chairman of the hospital's board of trustees; and Mayor John Moak, among others, plan to testify at a hearing considering physician exception letters, a part of the Determination of Needs bylaws of the state agency. Such letters, which emerged in the early 1990s, allow the construction of free-standing health facilities without going through a formal Determination of Needs review by the state. Public Health officials contend the letters circumvent the formal process and thus add to the cost of health care. The Department of Public Health is proposing regulations that would void physician exception letters if a facility is not operational by Aug. 1. The Newburyport Medical Center is expected to be serving patients by December. "These letters are problematic...," Paul Dreyer, director of the Bureau of Health Care Safety and Quality, wrote in an informational briefing. "They allow the acquisition of new technology outside the purview of (Determination of Needs) and they add to the costs of health care because they are implemented via a sale to a third party." O'Connor said she does not dispute the "theme" of the proposed changes but argues that when the planning for the center began in 2004, the letters were a legal and often-used way to build facilities, and that going through the full review process was not considered. However, O'Connor said she thinks permission would have been granted even after the full process. "I think we would have gotten one anyway," she said. "We have a population that needs the service." At the hearing today, O'Connor and the others will ask the state agency to extend the time for completion to Aug. 1, 2009, to allow finishing and opening of the center, which is already under construction. If the pitch is unsuccessful, construction would have to halt pending a full Determination of Need review by the DPH, hospital officials said. "If we don't get it modified, it would really be a crushing blow to the cancer center," O'Connor said. O'Connor said she found out about the proposed changes in April. She said in talks in previous years regarding the exception letters, state officials said a year warning would be given if they were to be eliminated. "It was always the assumption and idea that you would get at least a year's warning," she said. Despite the setbacks, O'Connor said she remains optimistic that the Public Health officials will either "relax the date" or give Anna Jaques and the project an exception. "I think we will do OK, but it really does require mobilizing everyone," she said. "We can't afford to lose this. We've got to win." Part of that mobilization is Moak and Ellison, and O'Connor said Ann Ormond, president of the Chamber of Commerce, also will testify. And state Sens. Steve Baddour and Bruce Tarr, Rep. Mike Costello and Ward 4 City Councilor Ed Cameron have written letters on behalf of the hospital. The development, which was started by Tom Jones, a city councilor, is now under the direction of Needham-based Murphy and McManus, which has developed institutions, such as Caritas Good Samaritan Medical Center in Brockton and the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical centers in Chelsea and Brockton. Newburyport's center will provide cancer patients the convenience of a one-stop facility for cancer treatment, which will be the first of its kind North of Boston, officials say. It also means 30 to 40 more jobs coming to Newburyport. Dr. Walt Kagan, the president of Commonwealth Hematology-Oncology, the largest private practice cancer treatment program in New England, is the anchor tenant of the new building, taking up 13,000 square feet. Construction on the project started this spring under the physician exception letter of Alliance Imaging, the company providing the cancer-treatment equipment to the center. O'Connor said a decision will likely not be announced until July. Until then, she said construction crews will continue as normal at the site.
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