Kadlec, KGH competing for more beds

Kadlec Regional Medical Center and Kennewick General Hospital soon may be battling it out to see who gets to add more hospital beds in the rapidly growing Tri-Cities.

Kadlec on Nov. 6 submitted an application to the state's Certificate of Need program asking to add 114 adult beds to the Richland hospital, while KGH submitted letters of intent to the same office saying it wants to expand by 25 or 58 beds.

KGH's CEO Glen Marshall said his hospital will submit an application to add beds at its Auburn Street campus within the next week.

The timing of KGH's application will affect whether both are considered separately or are evaluated together, said Janis Sigman, Certificate of Need program manager.

Although Kadlec's application was submitted first, state staff are determining whether the application is complete, so it hasn't entered a formal review phase, Sigman said.

If KGH gets its application in before Kadlec's formal review phase starts, the two requests would be considered concurrently, she said.

The number of hospital beds that can be added to a community is determined by a formula based on population growth. No hospital can simply add as many beds as it wants -- it first must get approval from the Certificate of Need program.

Rand Wortman, president and CEO of Kadlec Health Systems, said population numbers are projected by the state's Office of Financial Management, which produces low, average and rapid growth estimates.

Certificate of Need program staff generally use the average population growth projections, but the Tri-Cities is growing faster than that average estimate, Wortman said.

That means some or all of Kadlec and KGH's requests may be denied.

Both hospitals say they're at capacity and need to grow.

KGH already has state approval to build a new hospital in Kennewick's Southridge neighborhood because its existing Auburn Street campus is hemmed in with no room for expansion.

"We are out of space here," Marshall said. "We are about half the size we need to be."

And Wortman said Kadlec is turning patients away because the hospital is full and needs more beds.

Kadlec has finished five floors of a six-story tower, with completion of the sixth under way. Another four floors can be constructed as needed, but Kadlec would need state approval before adding floors.

Wortman said the River Pavilion tower's sixth floor will open in June and expand Kadlec's capacity by 29 beds.

But without the state approval for more beds for the hospital, Kadlec will have to take beds out of service elsewhere and patients still would be turned away, Wortman said.

"We needed these beds a long time ago," he said.

Kadlec's request provides three scenarios for expanding by 55, 75 or 114 beds -- with 114 being the number the Tri-Cities will need in the next few years.

"We went for all of it," Wortman said.

But he said he fears the state will look at population projections that are lower than the real growth rate and decide the community doesn't need those beds after all.

"Clearly they're going to say no to most of it," he said.

He also questioned the timing of KGH's decision to ask for more beds.

"They've spent how many years convincing us those were old, run-down beds that shouldn't be used, and now all of a sudden ... they want more?" Wortman said.

Marshall said KGH's statement of its intent to expand had nothing to do with Kadlec's application.

"We're looking at the bed needs projecting out to 2015 and 2016 and felt like potentially there were going to be beds available," he said. "We always intended to backfill beds at Auburn (after moving to Southridge). ... Twenty-five beds is probably what, in following the state's methodology, would potentially be available by 2015 or 2016."

Wortman said he believes the Certificate of Need process is setting the two hospitals artificially in competition with each other by setting a limit based on a lowball population estimate.

"This is not about Kadlec or Kennewick," he said. "This is about the community. We're turning patients away."

KGH has not yet submitted a formal application for expansion.

A decision on Kadlec's application likely will come in about six months.

-- Michelle Dupler: 509-582-1543; mdupler@tricityherald.com