PRINCETON — As the Princeton Community Hospital administration pledged transparency in any sales or merger negotiations, calls for clarity expanded and intensified throughout the city and county this week.

In a PCH letter addressed to the “citizens of the communities we serve” and published in both the Princeton Times and Bluefield Daily Telegraph, PCH CEO Wayne Griffith and Board of Directors Chairman W. Fred St. John wrote that they wished to “respond to questions, misperceptions and concerns expressed by citizens in our community about the strategic planning process we have undertaken.”

Over the last six months, concerns over potential sales negotiations have simmered throughout the community, since the PCH board introduced a motion to sign a letter of intent and begin collaboration between the non-profit PCH and the for-profit LifePoint Hospitals headquartered in Brentwood, Tenn.

The motion failed in an 8-5 vote last spring, but news that LifePoint was back in town surfaced after a closed-door, strategic planning session at PCH in December. This time, the negotiations allegedly include PCH, Bluefield Regional Medical Center, LifePoint and West Virginia United Health System.

Community fears reached a boiling point recently, when executive sessions were called and canceled at both PCH and BRMC and administrations in both places declined to comment on those sessions, with the exception of citing strategic planning as their purpose.

In last Friday’s Princeton Times, Griffith and St. John wrote that they understood the community had a vested interested in the future success of PCH and valued the community’s involvement.

“You can rest assured that no significant decision has been or will be made affecting the future of the hospital without full disclosure, transparency and opportunity for public input,” the letter read.

Just days later, however, the Times received a packet of information addressed to members of the Princeton-Mercer County Chamber of Commerce from the PCH medical staff indicating, “A vote on a letter of intent will be made by the members of the Princeton Community Hospital Board on Jan. 26, 2010. It is open to the public and starts at 5:30 p.m. Please come and bring up your concerns.”

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Despite the PCH administration’s pledge to keep community interest in mind during any sales or merger talks, many of the citizens they sought to soothe remained concerned and frustrated at the lack of information available for the people who gave their paychecks and portions of their savings to build the facility they believed would care for them as a non-profit entity.

“We are a group of concerned citizens working to save Princeton Community Hospital, which is now a non-profit hospital, from being sold to a for-profit group. We are polling our Chamber members to see how you feel about this move,” an informal online poll received this week at the Times read. “This hospital was built mainly by the people of Princeton and surrounding area who made pledges and donations to build it, and raised money on the promise that we would always have a community hospital.”

In addition, discussion at the most recent board meeting of the Princeton-Mercer County Chamber of Commerce centered on seeking more information on any potential sale, merger or collaboration.

Lee Ross, a member of the PMCCC Board of Directors, reported that he introduced a motion requesting that no official action be taken by the PCH Board until more direct, detailed information is made available to the public. PMCCC Vice Chair Rick Allen reportedly seconded the motion, which was approved with no voiced objections, Ross said.

As of press time, members of the media had not received a copy of that correspondence.

In a conversation with the Times, Ross also indicated he feared for the future of many PCH employees, if PCH becomes part of a larger health-care conglomerate.

“The first thing a for-profit company is going to do is come in here and cut costs and cut jobs, and then, they’re gone,” Ross said.

The quality of care available through LifePoint has also been called into question throughout the process.

A petition circulating throughout the region this week read, “The undersigned healthcare providers and persons interested in the delivery of good healthcare for the citizens of the Princeton area respectfully petition and request that Princeton Community Hospital not be sold or contracted out to LifePoint or any other company or agency.”

An attached document also encouraged PCH board members and citizens to investigate the situation independently.

“We would invite any PCH Board member who entertains a positive opinion of the quality of care delivered at LifePoint to review their own LifePoint Hospitals Forum, which is available in total to the public online at: http://topix.net/forum/com/lpnt,” the document read.

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Physicians at PCH have been especially outspoken in their concerns, and new Chief of Medical Staff Dr. Philip Branson, along with several other doctors, have worked on an exhaustive examination of LifePoint and its practices. Unlike some physicians, who are completely opposed to any sale at PCH, Branson has repeatedly said he understands there are variables in the economy, government reimbursement programs and the healthcare needs of the region that could require a change in the PCH landscape at some point.

He’s also been skeptical of LifePoint’s motives and practices. Within 48 hours of being elected chief of the medical staff, Branson and a PCH delegation made a trip to Charleston to discuss concerns with Gov. Joe Manchin, face to face.

There, the group reportedly discussed the potential hazards and benefits of collaboration between a non-profit hospital and a for-profit entity, particularly LifePoint. Other issues, such as electronic record-keeping and ways to improve the overall health of the region and the care industry were on the agenda.

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Despite all the differences of opinion between administration and physicians, citizens’ anger at the appearances that they’ve been left out of the negotiations, and the fear of retaliation and lost jobs some PCH employees have confidentially said keeps them quiet, all parties involved say they’re working toward the same goal: preserving PCH.

“The Board takes very seriously its responsibility to meet the healthcare needs of the community now and into the future. We must be proactive in our response to the dramatic changes related to health reform and decreasing government funding. First and foremost, for the sake of our patients and the economic health of our community, we must consider how best to ensure PCHA’s long-term stability and success,” Griffith and St. John wrote last week.

More recently, the concerned citizens countered that they hoped the board wasn’t being so proactive that it missed the most important questions. They circulated more than three pages of questions they deemed pertinent to any negotiations regarding LifePoint’s potential acquisition of PCH, PCH’s future with or without LifePoint and potential collaboration between a non-profit PCH and any for-profit business.

Those questions included:

• Why is PCH interested in partnering with LifePoint?

• If PCH is such an attractive acquisition, then why have leaders not looked into other successful organizations with whom to partner?

• What is the rush to sell?

• Why should PCH be interested in partnering with LifePoint, given their “dismal/disappointing performance in recent years with some of their acquisitions?”

• What are the goals and vision for PCH’s future?

• Is PCH looking to be a major medical center for the region or not?

• Is PCH solvent?

• What is PCH’s financial impact on the local economy? And, what does PCH’s assistance mean to the working poor?

• Are costs typically higher at for-profit hospitals than for not-for-profit hospitals?

• How would LifePoint treat existing contracts?

• What happens if LifePoint decides to cut services?

• How does LifePoint propose to treat the poor and indigent?

And, of course, there’s the question that was asked last spring and persists. The “concerned citizens” who purchased another full-page ad in today’s Princeton Times asked it again: If the citizens, doctors and hospital employees are opposed to a sale, who is for it?

The PCH Board members, limited in what they may say publicly by confidentiality agreements, have not answered that question, saying only that they are constantly involved in strategic planning in an effort to best serve the hospital.

They have invited members of the community seeking a voice to speak during Tuesday’s PCH Board meeting. The business meeting is slated to start at 5:30 p.m. in the PCH boardroom at the hospital.

“Our highest priority is providing the quality, accessible healthcare that the citizens of our community need and deserve,” Griffith and St. John wrote.

— Contact Tammie Toler at ttoler@ptonline.net.