Area residents asked to rally around hospital
Date: 4/7/2009
By G. Michael Dobbs
Managing Editor
SPRINGFIELD -- Supporters of the Shriners Hospitals for Children hope that area residents who have a connection to the medical facility will attend a rally April 19 from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Boys and Girls Club of Springfield at 481 Carew St. to show support for the hospital.
Friends of the Shriners Hospital are coordinating the rally, which is not designed to raise funds, but rather to be an event to demonstrate the level of support the hospital has in the community.
The national Shriners organization that operates 22 hospitals across the country is going to determine this July whether or not to close the Springfield hospital along with five other facilities, as well as deciding if it should re-open a hospital that was closed by Hurricane Katrina, according to Al Zippin, the chairman emeritus of the Board of the Governors of the Shriners Hospital, Springfield.
Speaking to Reminder Publications as a friend of the hospital rather than an official spokesperson, Zippin explained the endowment that provides income to operate the hospitals "has been hit by the economy like everyone else."
He said the national organization's endowment lost $3.2 billion in the stock market downturn. He said the 22 hospitals cost about $3 million a day to operate and nationally the organization is suffering from a $1 million a day deficit.
"If we don't do anything...the whole system will come down in five years," he said.
Zippin said there are alternatives to closing the six hospitals that are being discussed. The national organization could cut the operating budget by 20 to 25 percent and could accept third party insurance, which it does not do now.
The Springfield hospital was opened in 1925. It serves children up to the age of 18 and specializes in pediatric orthopedics. Zippin said the hospital serves New England, upstate New York, Puerto Rico, Cyprus and Santa Domingo in the Dominican Republic.
The next closest Shriners hospital, he said, is in Philadelphia.
Zippin said the Springfield hospital serves the second highest number of out-patients in the 22-hospital system.
The economic impact to the area if the hospital closes would be considerable, he said. The hospital employs 200 personnel and relies on an equal amount of volunteers. Zippin said the facility's annual budget is $20 million and does business with over 100 vendors. About 90 percent of the families served by the Ronald McDonald House in Springfield have children at the Shriners Hospital, he added.
"The ripple effect would be tremendous," he said.
"We're trying to do what we can to make sure this hospital doesn't close," he added.
