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Swift: No 'magic bullet' for hospital
By Michael Kunzelman
Friday, February 15, 2002
Giving emergency state aid to Deaconess-Waltham Hospital isn't wise
if it merely delays the hospital's closing, acting Gov. Jane Swift
said yesterday.
Swift, during a meeting with MetroWest Daily News editors, suggested
that it remains unclear whether the Waltham hospital should receive
any money from the state's distressed-hospital fund.
"Our responsibility in utilizing the distressed-hospital fund is to
do it in such a way that we don't prolong the inevitable, but that
we contribute to a turnaround plan that's viable," Swift said yesterday.
Earlier this week, Swift met with hospital and local officials to
discuss their efforts to prevent Deaconess-Waltham from closing.
Swift said she sees "new life" in a developer's plan to save the hospital
by raising $12 million in funding to keep the hospital afloat and
to build a large apartment complex next to the facility.
"But the state will participate (only) if there is a financially viable
way to keep the facility operating," she added. Swift also said she
has seen "some pretty compelling numbers... that by losing that emergency
facility, we would be greatly impacted in the MetroWest area, Waltham
in particular."
"We're trying to be helpful, but I think there's a bigger picture,"
she added. "We have a serious health-care issue facing us in Massachusetts,
and we've got to look at how we can manage costs better."
Overcrowded emergency rooms present a "serious dilemma" that could
be solved by hiking the state's funding of Medicaid reimbursements
and the uncompensated care pool, Swift said.
"I'm sorry to say we don't have a magic bullet yet," she added.
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