Marshall Heins Interview - continued from page 10 thinking short-term; it’s definitely slated for a long-term growth plan. And they don’t have an Exxon out there. I think it’s just proximity to Houston that’s driving growth in the Pearland area. RN: What about the Texas Medical Center itself? Does Memorial Hermann have development plans or projects in that part of the city? Marshall: Up until 3 years ago, many of the institutions located in the Medical Center were involved in huge building programs. Since that time, things have been relatively quiet. But now we’re moving forward with a master facility plan. We’re looking to do a major renovation expansion on that campus, and we also believe that the Texas Medical Center will continue to grow and thrive and will continue to be a community of research and advancement in healthcare. We plan to be part of those advancements. Our downtown campus is our teaching hospital with our partner, the University of Texas Health Science Center. It’s also our trauma center, our Level One. It’s going to remain our largest campus. In the future we will move forward with a project that involves one of the building sites that we do have down there. And we’ll do renovations as well. RN: Any word on underserved areas that you’re looking at? For example, are you moving into Sugarland? Marshall: We are in Sugarland, and we’re evaluating a new program out there currently, but I can’t really comment on other areas we’re looking into at the present time. Suffice to say, we are looking at acquiring land and future building options in areas other than the ones I’ve mentioned specifically. But that’s as precise as I can be at the present time. RN: Are there areas or concerns that are a major focus for Memorial Hermann at the present time? Marshall: I will tell you that we continue to monitor healthcare reform. Some of our biggest concerns regard the perception that employers are going to look at their benefit analysis and decide that paying a penalty for not providing employee healthcare is much more economical than providing the plans. This is going to force employees to go into either the private market of one of these new insurance pools created by the federal government. Our fear is that it’s going to be more expensive for the younger, healthier individuals to buy insurance than to pay the penalty themselves, so they’ll opt out as well until they need medical services. That means no wellness programs for young, healthy individuals either. Then, with the current provision that these plans can’t discriminate against individuals for pre-existing services, the only individuals who will be paying into the government health care programs will be those people who need a lot of medical services. This is likely to lead to a very untenable situation on all fronts. In other words, there isn’t going to be the money going into healthcare insurance programs sufficient to pay for the services that will be needed. RN: I can certainly understand the point that you are making. I’ve paid into Social Security and certainly plan to use Medicare when the time comes. Marshall: As well you should. You’ve paid into the program. However, our fear is that there won’t be enough employed young people paying into the funds to pay out the older folks already in the program. That’s when it appears likely the government will cut back on medical services, tax more, or both. This does make us nervous about the future of health care.
12 redNEWS.com
We’re paying a lot of attention to the Baby Boomers! Every day, 10,000 baby boomers are turning 65. They’re qualifying for Medicare, they’re living longer, and they’re staying healthier than their parents, but for the next 20 plus years, they’re going to be the major factor to consider in the health care industry. At Memorial Hermann our focus is on quality of health and quality of life, so we want to treat people before they have a significant episodic need for healthcare that will cause them to become inpatient in a hospital. We want to get those diabetes cases and those cardiac issues addressed early on. We want to keep the baby boomers out of the hospitals. This will save money for everyone as well as contribute to overall better quality of life. RN: How is Memorial Hermann’s focus and emphasis impacted by the healthcare reform that the federal government is implementing as we speak? Marshall: The government is asking us to create programs that keep people healthier and keep them out of hospitals and keep them from undergoing unnecessary procedures and diagnostics. So we see our role as weighing these initiatives toward wellness and the increasing population of Houston, particularly the baby boomers, and one thing that stands out is this: Texas currently has a very different slice of the American economic pie than do many other regions of the country. We’re calling our strategy “Grow with Houston” and if you look at the tremendous increases in population predicted, it’s evident that we’ve got to sow and service growing communities with healthcare facilities and services.
630 Number of hospitals in Texas
Facts
369,000 Number of full and part-time employees in Texas hospitals Top 3
Rank of Texas hospitals as a source of private sector jobs; in major metro (Houston, Dallas, San Antonio), generally in top 20 employers
$177 Billion
Average amount of economic activity generated by Texas hospital jobs
Did you know?
TEXAS MEDICAL CENTER – HOUSTON Boasts the World’s Largest: - Chilled water facility - Medical laundry in - Parking Operation (second is Chicago O’Hare Airport)
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Go to: www.rednews.com/dallasmedical for information related to Dallas medical development www.rednews.com/SanAntoniomedical to review NAI REOC’s 2ndQ medical report https://www.tha.org/HealthCareProviders/Advocacy/Hospital%20Facts.pdf http://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/health/article/The-vision-of-the-Texas-MedicalCenter-s-CEO-4705469.php