New plan for kids' hospital emerges

Six weeks after the collapse of talks aimed at building a new children's hospital in San Antonio, a surprising new plan has surfaced involving one of the top children's hospitals in the country.

The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and Vanguard Health Systems, which owns Baptist Health System locally, sent a letter Wednesday to the presidents of the tax-supported University Health System and the University of Texas Health Science Center, formally expressing interest in a new hospital here.

The letter promised to provide a proposal within 60 days for building “a comprehensive pediatric care delivery network anchored by a new, free-standing children's hospital serving San Antonio and South Texas.”

Officials with Christus Santa Rosa Health System, which March 1 ended negotiations with UHS to build a new children's hospital, said they would hold a news conference Friday, hinting about a separate proposal.

“The announcement didn't surprise me, and it won't change our course of action,” said Patrick Carrier, president of Christus, who said he had learned of the Philadelphia-Vanguard plan in recent days.

UHS pulled out of discussions with Christus after failing to reach a deal to build a new children's hospital.

“We are really excited to look at (the proposal),” said Leni Kirkman, spokeswoman for UHS. “As we said when we terminated the memorandum of understanding with Christus, everything is on the table and we want to leave no stone unturned in looking for the best option for the community.”

No details about how the Philadelphia-Vanguard idea originated were contained in Wednesday's letter, but leaders from the four institutions met in San Antonio in recent days to gauge interest in the idea of collaboration.

The letter was signed by Matthew Cook, vice president for strategic planning at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, and by Trip Pilgrim, senior vice president of Vanguard, which is based in Nashville, Tenn.

Methodist Healthcare, the city's fourth large hospital network, informed UHS this month in a letter that it too was interested in renewing talks. Jaime Wesolowski, president of Methodist, said recent meetings were held with medical staff and board members to see how to proceed.

More Information What they said: “We are excited to be involved in a project that is designed to bring CHOP’s 150 years of pediatric excellence to the San Antonio community.” George Bochanski Jr., spokesman for the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia “If this were to work it could be a significant step up for our whole medical community. Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia was ranked No. 1 in the nation last year with respect to pediatric care. They’ve got a great facility, a great history.” Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff “The winners of this really have to be the children of the community who need comprehensive services.” Leni Kirkman, University Health System spokeswoman “We are still open to working with other partners, but I think it would be very difficult to get two rival, for-profit companies to work together on a project like this.” Patrick Carrier, president of the nonprofit Christus Santa Rosa Health System “Over 90 percent of the care delivered to children in this city is outpatient care, and so it’s important to have both components of outpatient care and subspecialty inpatient care at the anchor hospital. This proposes to create both of those entities.” Dr. William Henrich, president of the University of Texas Health Science Center

Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff, who has led the push for a state-of-the-art children's hospital in San Antonio, said he was delighted by the sudden and strong interest from multiple players.

“I'm encouraged by the fact that a hospital as important as Children's Hospital of Philadelphia would be interested in coming to San Antonio,” Wolff said. “That's kind of like attracting a Fortune 500 company. Two years ago when we raised the issue, we didn't have anybody who wanted to do it. Now what's encouraging is, we've got all three (hospital systems) working on something.”

Mayor Julián Castro said he too is encouraged by the progress. “San Antonio children deserve a top-quality, stand-alone children's hospital to meet the needs of this city and South Texas,” he said. “And I'm confident that the evaluative process will be thorough and receive input from the community. We (the city) pledge to work to make this happen.”

Suzanne Towry, a spokeswoman for Vanguard, declined to elaborate on the proposal, saying it was still being developed.

The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, founded in 1855, operates some 50 clinics and outpatient facilities throughout Pennsylvania and New Jersey, anchored by the 516-bed hospital on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania. It was tied for No. 1 children's hospital in the nation on the U.S. News & World annual rankings.

Dr. William Henrich, president of the health science center, said he is pleased with the multiple proposals. Christus Santa Rosa Children's Hospital serves as a pediatric teaching hospital for the medical school, and Henrich said he continues to talk to Christus about its plans.

dfinley@express-news.net

Josh Baugh contributed to this report.