[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 9]
[House]
[Pages 13151-13152]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         DOCTOR-OWNED HOSPITALS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Washington (Mr. Hastings) is recognized for 5 minutes.

[[Page 13152]]


  Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, on June 8, the New York 
Times published a story that raised questions about Senators that 
amended legislation to protect home State hospitals from a new move in 
this Congress to ban doctor-owned hospitals. The article labeled these 
actions as ``special interest'' and questioned their appropriateness. 
It cited specific Senators, including a senior Senator from my State of 
Washington.
  Mr. Speaker, I'm not familiar with the circumstances surrounding each 
hospital in the article, but I am very familiar with Wenatchee Valley 
Medical Center and efforts being undertaken by those who represented in 
Congress to protect this institution from the threat of a government-
forced closure or sale.
  The criticism leveled against the Washington State Senator in the New 
York Times article is unjustified and totally without merit. Senator 
Murray's action to protect the Wenatchee Valley Medical Center was 
entirely appropriate. In fact, it's what this Nation's citizens should 
expect from their elected representatives.
  Mr. Speaker, it's troubling that the targets of scrutiny are those 
who are standing up and who are protecting their constituents and not 
those seeking to force the closure or sale of a hometown hospital 
system simply because it is doctor-owned.
  The Wenatchee Valley Medical Center and its seven clinics serve a 
rural population, in my State, of a quarter of a million people in an 
area the size of the State of Maryland. The medical center accepts all 
patients regardless of their ability to pay, and it has a long record 
of providing quality care. Today, it is jointly owned by 150 doctors. 
For this simple reason, it is a target for some who think doctor 
ownership should be banned.
  Twice in this Congress House Democrats have passed bills that would 
outlaw the Wenatchee Valley Medical Center as it exists today, not 
because of any poor care or bad behavior by its doctors but simply 
because it is owned by doctors. I offered amendments to both bills. 
Some of my amendments would have stopped the ban on doctor-owned 
hospitals. Others would have altered the ban to protect the Wenatchee 
Valley Medical Center. Unfortunately, House Democrat leaders blocked 
every one from even being debated and voted on the floor of the House. 
These same House leaders also swept aside the objections and concerns 
of at least eleven Democrats who have spoken out against this proposal 
and the harm it would cause to their local hospitals.
  When I last spoke on the House floor against such legislation, I 
asked the Democrat chairman of the Energy and Commerce Health 
Subcommittee if he would work with me to exempt the few existing 
doctor-owned hospitals that would be impacted in both Democrat and 
Republican districts. He replied, ``The answer is no.''
  The Democrat chairman of the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health 
was quoted by the New York Times as saying, ``He would prefer not to 
exempt any doctor-owned hospitals.''
  When the Federal Government dictates that doctors can't own a 
hospital, Mr. Speaker, this is a step towards a Canadian-style, 
government-run health care system under which the Federal Government 
decides where, when, how, and even if Americans get care. This means 
Americans could be faced with waiting lists and rationing and 
bureaucrats, not doctors, making decisions about their health.
  With those who control the House intent and insistent on banning 
doctor-owned hospitals, at a minimum, protection must be given to allow 
existing facilities like the Wenatchee Valley Medical Center to 
continue serving patients like it has, Mr. Speaker, for 60 years.
  Being 1 out of 100, the powers of an individual Senator are 
considerable. Senator Murray used her committee position to add 
language protecting the Wenatchee Valley Medical Center to legislation 
that included the ban on doctor-owned hospitals.
  Mr. Speaker, she has done the right thing. Despite what may have been 
printed in the New York Times, I will keep working with Senators Murray 
and Cantwell and Congresswoman McMorris Rodgers to fully protect the 
Wenatchee Valley Medical Center. I reject any notion that what Senator 
Murray has done is anything but appropriate and necessary, and I 
commend her for her actions.

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