Pima County will give up to $40 million to the University of Arizona Medical Center-South Campus over two years.
The Board of Supervisors approved the two-year agreement Tuesday. The agreement is for payments of $1.2 million a month, plus up to $5 million a year for new programs or new equipment.
The payments come with requirements for monthly financial reports and patient counts, twice-monthly oversight committee meetings and annual audited financial statements.
In an earlier two-year agreement, the county's money was leveraged as a local match to win federal grants for training physicians, bringing in $2 or more for every $1 from the county, said County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry. That's a good role for the county, he said.
Huckelberry also said he'd like to sign a longer-term agreement with the hospital, but he said this is a "walk before you run" transition period.
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When the university first leased the buildings and took over management from Pima County, losses were typically more than $30 million annually, as the hospital struggled with a historically high volume of underinsured and uninsured patients. This year's operating loss is about $7 million.
Hospital CEO Karen Mlawsky told the board that adjusted patient days are up 80 percent compared with 2005 and the hospital employs twice as many people. Physician-training programs are growing, and the hospital has opened a new emergency department and behavioral health center.
"The old Kino Community Hospital is dead," Huckelberry told the board, "and we're seeing a vibrant hospital now, called University of Arizona Medical Center-South Campus."
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Contact reporter Becky Pallack at bpallack@azstarnet.com or 573-4346.
