News Item

PORTLAND GENDER REASSIGNMENT SURGEON PLANS TO MOVE

On February 28, 2002, Symphony Healthcare, a for-profit hospital company in Nashville, Tennessee, bought its first hospitals -- in Portland, Oregon. Symphony, founded in November 2001, purchased Woodland Park Hospital and Eastmoreland Hospital from another Tennessee hospital company, HealthMont, for an undisclosed amount.

In July 2002, Dr. Toby Meltzer, whose gender reassignment and other plastic surgery procedures account for more than 50 percent of the surgical workload at Eastmoreland, received a certified letter from the new owners. The letter advised Dr. Meltzer that he would not be allowed to perform gender reassignment surgery (GRS) or related procedures after July 31, 2002. Although that deadline has been extended to December 31, 2002, the hospital's popular VIP program, wherein patients could remain in a reduced care, reduced rate status while convalescing from surgery, has been cancelled. Patients undergoing male-to-female gender reassignment surgery, for example, must leave the hospital after three days and spend another week elsewhere before being allowed to travel home. Dr. Meltzer has made other arrangements for his patients, according to Linda Takata, Meltzer's Office Manager.

According to the Symphony Healthcare letter sent to Dr. Meltzer, the move to end the association of his thriving practice of gender reassignment and related procedures with Eastmoreland Hospital is due to Symphony's desire to change the focus of the hospital and the desire to diversify it's surgical offerings.

In an earlier letter sent to Modern Healthcare's Daily Dose newsletter, Symphony founder and CEO Kenneth Perry announced plans to buy and develop acute-care hospitals and surgery centers across the country in which physicians take an ownership stake. Physicians also are among the original equity partners in Symphony.

Ms. Takata stated that no surgeries have been cancelled or rescheduled as a result of Symphony's decision. Although surgery and immediate post-surgical care currently remain at Eastmoreland, patients can then be moved by members of Dr. Meltzer's staff to the Temporary Living Center at the nearby Meridian Park Hospital in Tualatin, Oregon, a Portland suburb. Patient assistance representatives as well as Dr. Meltzer and his nursing staff make daily rounds at the TLC. The cost of TLC convalescent care is comparable to that of the defunct Eastmoreland VIP convalescent program.

Local officials have written Symphony letters of strong support for Dr. Meltzer and his work. Takata was not at liberty to divulge details of the letters or their authors. She did remark that Portland (Multnomah County) anti-discrimination laws include gender-identity.

If there is no agreement with Symphony regarding his gender reassignment surgery practice, Dr. Meltzer's last surgical day at Eastmoreland will be December 31. However, negotiations are underway with six or more hospitals interested in associating with Meltzer's program. Takata expects to receive proposals from these hospitals by October 1. She was most emphatic in her assessment that the probable shift from Eastmoreland to a different hospital will have no impact on surgery schedules little impact on patients during the transition period.