More than 300 people showed up to a public meeting last night in Kennewick to urge the state to approval bed expansion requests by both Kadlec Regional Medical Center and Kennewick General Hospital.

 

Both hospitals want to expand; Kadlec by 114 beds and Kennewick by 25. However, because of state laws that limit expansion of hospitals, most in the community believe one request is likely to be denied. The ‘Certificate of Need’ makes it illegal for hospitals to expand without permission from the government. Washington is one 37 states that require specific government permission to open, expand or modify most kinds of health facilities. CON laws have grown out of the belief that a surplus of medical facilities and services meant providers would pass the excess cost onto patients.

 

The federal government saw the failure of CON laws and repealed them in 1982. Fourteen states have followed suit and Washington should do the same.

 

The ‘need’ for these beds is clear. It has become routine for beds to be full at Kadlec and Kennewick, and for patients to be sent to hospitals outside the area. Doctors at the meeting said they have been averaging 10% growth in patient numbers for the past 15 years because of the Tri-Cities population boom. Doctors entered their profession to help patients, not fight state regulations. Other medical experts who testified said the state is putting them in a position to fight other medical institutions for beds. Instead of medical experts and the communities they serve, the state then becomes the ‘decider’ in determining how much care should be available in each community.

 

As pointed out in the WPC Policy Guide, “CON laws create the opposite of their intended purpose, actively blocking citizens’ access to health care choices and modern health care facilities. The laws also bog down health care providers in stacks of regulation and paperwork.”