WakeMed has spun its unsolicited $750 million offer for Rex Healthcare not for what it is — a hostile takeover — but as a quick fix to inject funds into the financially troubled UNC system. That offer was rejected by UNC Health Care, but now, a state committee on state-owned assets is assessing whether Rex Hospital should be put up for sale. Representatives on that committee must look past the spin and see WakeMed’s interest as short-term support that would create long-term hardship for the health system that does more for North Carolina.
UNC Health Care maintains that its role as a public hospital system would not be possible without Rex. Karen McCall, vice president of public affairs and marketing for UNC Health Care, said that losing Rex could be a severe blow to revenue for the system. With the possibility of more budget cuts to come, detaching Rex would detract from UNC Health Care’s training of physicians and its ability to provide $300 million a year in uncompensated care. The sale would require UNC Health Care to ask more of the beleaguered state budget. As Bill Roper, CEO of UNC Health Care, told the House select committee on state-owned assets, “If, God forbid, you force us to sell Rex, we would definitely be back here next year asking for a whole lot more money from the state.”
But WakeMed argues that Rex would serve a greater purpose in its system. Heather Monackey, spokeswoman for WakeMed, said that since Rex is in Raleigh, the hospital could keep its resources local while helping WakeMed better address a wider patient demographic, especially those who rely on state programs like Medicare and Medicaid. Monackey added that WakeMed provides a cardiovascular program similar to a cardiovascular-focused patient tower that Rex proposed to build.
The House committee is just beginning its deliberations about Rex, but it could ultimately recommend to the General Assembly that the hospital be sold. The committee must realize exactly what stakes are involved in its decision.
Selling Rex may be a tempting one-time injection of funds, but it will cause irreversible damage to the future of health care and education in North Carolina.
