Filipino groups vie
for St. Francis

The two health-care organizations
say they want to continue the
Catholic mission

Two Filipino organizations are interested in taking over the two St. Francis medical centers.

The Philippine Medical Association of Hawaii and Hawaii Filipino Healthcare have joined with a mainland hospital organization to submit a bid to buy St. Francis-Liliha and St. Francis-West. Both groups have many members who are doctors at the two hospitals.

Others in discussions with the St. Francis Healthcare System are the Queen's Health Systems, Hawaii Pacific Health and Kaiser Permanente.

The big attraction for those groups reportedly is the 24-acre St. Francis-West complex serving a ballooning West Oahu population.

St. Francis officials could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Last month, Eugene Tiwanak, president of the St. Francis Healthcare Foundation, told the Hawaii Catholic Herald that the system was looking for an arrangement in which it could continue its Catholic health-care mission and get relief from financial pressures.

He said the agreement could involve a management contract, lease arrangement, merger, sale of assets or a combination.

Cardiologist Danelo Canete, speaking for the Filipino groups, cited several reasons for their interest in taking over the hospitals.

"Doctors at St. Francis are very loyal to St. Francis and very upset at the fact that it would be sold to entities that would destroy its mission," he said.

"There's also a move nationally for doctors to take over management of hospitals because it's been wrenched away from them, and doctors have become actually almost like employees of hospital mangers.

"They (doctors) wanted to turn it around and take control," Canete said.

It would be the biggest number of hospital beds in the nation taken over by physicians, Canete noted. Most physician-run facilities have 50 or 60 beds, he said. St. Francis-West has about 100 beds, and Liliha has more than 200.

The Philippine Medical Association has 120 physicians. Of those, 52 also are members of Hawaii Filipino Healthcare, Canete said. Most are Catholics, he added. "We have no problems with Catholic issues, like no abortions."

They met with Sister Beatrice Tom, St. Francis Healthcare's chief executive, and assured her they want to preserve the Catholic mission, Canete said.

He said their mainland partner, among the nation's top hospital organizations in quality of care, would put up 51 percent of the money, and the local doctors would invest the rest.

"We're actually interested in expanding it to non-Filipinos," said Canete, past president of the Philippine Medical Association of Hawaii and president of the Hawaii Cardiovascular Group, a partner of the outpatient cardiac cath lab at St. Francis.

The organizations met Thursday with about 60 doctors who unanimously supported the proposal to buy the hospitals, Canete said. It will be discussed further at the association's quarterly meeting at 6:30 tonight at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel, he said. Nonmembers are invited and should call 677-5832 for reservations.

Canete was asked how the doctors could continue the Catholic mission with high-cost dialysis and other services yet avoid the financial problems plaguing the St. Francis Healthcare System.

"We think we can code better (for reimbursements), and there's an issue of loyalty," he said.

Physician-owners would be more likely to treat patients at St. Francis, rather than at other hospitals, and keep the costs down with shorter hospital stays, he said.

The next step is to hire an appraiser and get details before submitting a bid, Canete said. If they do not feel they can fix the problems and do better, they will back off, he said.