Doctors rise to prominence, continued from page 1 -
"We intend to serve every patient, operate an emergency room and accept Medicare and Medicaid patients and even the uninsured," he vowed. "We are working with financial institutions so patients who cannot afford to pay their bills all at once can arrange payment plans."
He said the hospital will include an intensive care unit, six operating rooms, a dialysis center and an ER, but not birth deliveries or pediatrics.
Patel said his investment group of 94 physicians includes practitioners of many diverse ethnic groups, but conceded Indian-American physicians have been successful in Northwest Indiana.
"It's one more chapter in the American success story," he said. "They have learned how to do business the American way. They are no different than anyone else. They have learned to hobnob with politicians, to organize groups of doctors and pursue economic opportunities."
He said 90 percent of the physician staff for the 60-bed, $70 million hospital are licensed in both Indiana and Illinois and believes his Illinois patients will follow their physicians to Indiana and patients from Whiting and Hammond will embrace the new hospital, slated for a late 2008 opening.
"They come to the casinos, don't they?" he joked.
Patel said one reason Indiana has drawn so many physician-owned hospitals is the state does not have a certificate of need (CON) law, which regulates the construction of new hospitals. Indiana scrapped its CON law in the mid-'80s and lets the market determine competition. Illinois has a CON law, but few new physician-owned hospitals.
American-Indian heritage
Dr. Kirnjot Singh is the only Indian-American-born of the physician-hospital leaders and its youngest. Singh, president of Crown Point-based Pinnacle Healthcare, is a second-generation Indian-American born in Louisiana, raised in Texas and still speaks with a trace of that drawl.
But the orthopedic surgeon is no less proud of his Indian heritage. He moved to Northwest Indiana several years ago and worked with a Porter County surgical group, but now practices solo after a falling out with his former partners.
He said it's characteristic of entrepreneurs to challenge the status quo.
He said 18-bed Pinnacle, which opened in July, has won Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services certification to treat Medicare patients and plans to contribute 5 percent of its profits to charity. While it does not now operate an emergency room, it does offer 24-hour urgent care services.
"We are looking to change the culture in health care in our region. It's about service and removing bureaucracy," Singh said.
He said there are more than 100 physicians on staff at his "tax-paying" hospital.
"In Northwest Indiana we have some real problems with high property taxes and for-profit hospitals are paying their fair share," he said. "We're contributing to the communities. The not-for-profit hospitals don't pay property, sales or income taxes."
Earlier this fall, the Indiana Medical Licensing Board placed Singh's medical license on indefinite probation after he was accused of fondling a patient. Singh said the incident was consensual. He now must comply with several board stipulations, including always having a chaperone when alone with a female patient, for at least a year.
"Being a high-profile physician and entrepreneur comes with its own liabilities," he said.
A lightning rod
Among the more controversial of the Indian physician hospital owners is gastroenterologist Dr. Navin Barot, president of 27-bed Hind General Hospital, which he co-owns with Chicago pharmacist Raghu Nayak.
Barot, who has practiced medicine in the United States for 10 years and opened Hind 18 months ago, said the hospital name reflects his Indian Hindi heritage. He said Hind has 80 physicians of multiple specialties on staff, but does not offer emergency services or deliver babies.
Barot has come under fire from local not-for-profit hospital leaders because his hospital does not accept Medicare or Medicaid patients and thus does not have to deal with the complex and costly federal regulations facing other tax-exempt hospitals.
Barot denied that his hospital adversely impacts his not-for-profit competitors, saying they complement one another.
That surprised retiring St. Mary Medical Center Administrator Milton Triana, who disputed Barot's contention.
"Not when those hospitals do not accept Medicare or Medicaid patients. They don't have an ER. We do. They are not covered by CMS regulations. We are. They only take commercial payers, which usually reimburse at higher rates, making it harder for us," Triana said.
Triana said that St. Mary's has lost some business to Hind Hospital, but added that it's too early to assess any impact from the newly opened Pinnacle Healthcare.
The original
Dr. Vijay Gupta, an anesthesiologist and pain management specialist, launched his Illiana Surgery Center in 1994 and almost immediately drew both business and the wrath of officials from Munster's Community Hospital, only a mile away.
But in 2002 when he converted the surgery center into a small specialty hospital named Heartland Memorial Hospital, local health care observers pondered how long the hospital would last.
The Sisters of Saint Francis Health Services bought Heartland out of bankruptcy last year. Gupta blamed unidentified "cyber terrorists" for the hospital's swift decline.
"It was a catastrophe," he said. "Someone erased the hospital's patient records and billing system making it impossible to bill patients, collect bills, pay off debts or make accurate financial predictions."
Its annual revenues dropped from $50 million to $16 million within three years, according to hospital sources.
"Take nearly any local hospital and you'll find a higher percentage of Indian doctors there than any other ethnic group," Gupta said. "The first generation comes with a good education, experience, guts and a willingness to take a risk. Risk is essential to succeeding in business. People who are well settled, the second and third generations, usually are unwilling to take such risks."
Gupta said many Indian physicians were recruited to the United States through teaching hospitals in Chicago and joined medical staffs there or completed advanced residencies or specialty training. When the competition grew in Chicago, many saw opportunities in nearby Northwest Indiana.
The growing economic clout and entrepreneurial strength of Indian physicians isn't confined to Northwest Indiana.
Indian doctors are also buying hospitals in Texas, California and other states.
Gupta said he thinks it's part of a broader trend.
"For years you saw Americans buying businesses in India. Now you are seeing Indians buying businesses in America. Indians are a very business-minded people," Gupta said.
Health-care correspondent Mark Taylor can be reached through markic46321@yahoo.com
Midwest Interventional Spine Specialists will participate in a clinical study (continued)
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Midwest Interventional Spine Specialists, one of three selected sites, is now accepting candidates for the EGL Scan Study. Approximately 40 subjects will be enrolled nationwide. Qualifying candidates must be 18 years of age or older and must have a condition currently requiring a spinal cord stimulator. Conditions may include Failed Back Surgery Syndrome, Sciatica pain, Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) and low back pain. The study will take place over the course of one year. Interested patients should contact the research coordinator, Lori Anne Maki, at (219) 836 – 7246, for more study information.
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If you’d like more information or to request an interview, please call Aleks Pantelic at 219-836-7246 or email at apantelic@mwiss.com.