The president of the Westmoreland County Medical Society said the Westmoreland Regional and Latrobe Area hospitals may be on a collision course over plans to duplicate health-care services.
Dr. Donald Brown, of Irwin, in a letter to colleagues in the medical society's March newsletter, said with increasing costs and decreasing reimbursements for care, the hospitals' plans are "a recipe for financial disaster."
Brown said the society has offered to mediate discussions between the two hospitals in hopes of persuading them to abandon their plans.
Brown said medical society members - who work at both hospitals - have told him that Westmoreland is considering expanding its cancer treatment center even though Latrobe plans to open a treatment center this summer in the Mountain View area of Unity Township in a joint venture with the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.
He said Latrobe is considering an open heart surgery center that would duplicate the program that Westmoreland offers now.
"Westmoreland Hospital has an established and well-regarded cardiac surgery program while Latrobe Hospital is developing a cancer center with the equally well-regarded Pittsburgh Cancer Center," Brown wrote. "We also hear that each hospital is considering developing the other program that it does not have and the other hospital does have.
"This is like a medical version of the mutually assured destruction scenario that existed during the Cold War."
Brown said he has not received a reply from either hospital.
David Gallatin, interim chief executive officer of Westmoreland Regional Hospital, said the hospital has no plan to build a cancer treatment center separate from the in-house program now operating.
If Latrobe is considering heart surgery, he said, "I would urge (Latrobe) not to duplicate services already here. If the medical society can help, that's a valid task for them to do."
According to Richard McGarvey, a spokesman for the Pennsylvania Department of Health, hospitals are not required to submit program plans to the state for approval. However, they must notify the state of new programs.
Officials at both hospitals admit they are engaged in discussions with Pittsburgh-based health-care systems.
Gallatin said Westmoreland has an "ongoing dialogue" with the West Penn Allegheny Health System in Pittsburgh as well as discussions with the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, "not about a merger but about programs."
He would not discuss specifics of the talks. He also would not say whether the hospital would expand its in-house cancer treatment program.
Latrobe CEO Doug Clark said talks have started with the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. He would not discuss the focus of the talks except to say, "It's early in our discussions."
About the possibility of Latrobe opening a heart surgery center, Clark would only say a "decision hasn't been made on that yet." He also would not say whether a time limit has been set on the discussions.
"It's very, very difficult to tell," Clark said. "I honestly don't know. Discussions like this take on a life of their own."
Clark would not comment further on the talks because of an agreement with UPMC not to discuss the matter publicly. However, it has been reported that UPMC is clearly interested in expanding its relationship with Latrobe either through affiliations, treatment programs or an outright acquisition.
Last December, Clark denied the hospital was holding talks with Pitt until a private memo surfaced that outlined various options Latrobe was considering. One of those options was a merger with UPMC.
Brown said that all duplication of services will do is drain more revenue from both hospitals at a time when hospitals are suffering financially. He added that the proximity of the two hospitals with duplicate treatment programs would make it unlikely that either one will attract enough new patients to make either program profitable.
"They may make money or they may lose money," he said. "If it was a brand new service to the area that would stop people from going to Pittsburgh, that would be a valuable service. Just duplicating services raises the ire of the public and lawmakers toward doctors and hospitals."
