Thread: VA-Hospitals note birth changes

Hospitals note birth changes


By Cheryl Chumley

Published: September 25, 2008

One before-after snapshot of Prince William County's implementation of its illegal immigration policy looks like this:


The number of uninsured births at the county's two hospitals has decreased, the number of combined emergency room visits has increased, and the number of visits to obstetricians at the county Health Department initially dropped, but then rebounded.


The findings were presented to supervisors at a recent board meeting to show the statistical impacts of an illegal immigration enforcement effort that began in July 2007 via Resolution 07-609, tasking police to "inquire into the citizenship or immigration status of … detained person[s] if there is probable cause to believe such person is in violation of federal immigration law."


That resolution further requested staff to research which county services must be provided to residents regardless of immigration status, versus which might be legally cut for those in the country unlawfully.


An Oct. 16, 2007, resolution led to the county's restriction of certain programs to illegal immigrants—rental and mortgage assistance, and tax relief for the elderly and disabled, to name a couple—as well as its recognition that some services had to be provided, regardless of legal status. Emergency room visits fall into the latter category.


In the past months, staff had been tasked with tracking and compiling these figures to present to the board.


"For the hospitals, there are two issues we looked at," said Melissa Peacor, assistant county executive, to board members earlier this month. "We have seen a significant reduction in the numbers of uninsured births at the two hospitals … and we've seen an increase in emergency room visits for those two hospitals."


At Prince William Hospital, roughly 20 percent of all births between 2006 and 2007 were to uninsured mothers. Between 2007 and 2008, that percentage had dropped to 15—and in terms of numbers, the county saw 167 "fewer uninsured births at Prince William Hospital" in between those time frames, Peacor said.


At the same time, the number of emergency room visits to this hospital decreased by 189 between the 2006-07 and 2007-08 years, from 56,959 to 56,770. Those without insurance visiting the emergency stayed the same throughout these time frames, at about 11 percent of those served, the statistics show.


Emergency room visits to Potomac Hospital, meanwhile, jumped from 56,485 to 56,539 between 2006 and 2007, with projections for the full 2008 year coming in at 58,688. If that number stays on target, emergency room visits to the Woodbridge facility will have increased by 2,149 in that three-year period, the figures show.


Still, fewer patients without insurance are using this hospital's emergency services: In 2006, about 26 percent were uninsured, compared to 25 percent in 2007 and 22 percent for 2008.


The big news from Potomac comes in the category of uninsured births.


"Potomac Hospital has seen an even more dramatic reduction in the number of uninsured deliveries [than Prince William Hospital]," Peacor said, referring to a drop of 353 in the past couple years. "When you take that 353 and add it to [Prince William's 167], there are 520 fewer uninsured births in the county."


The county's Health Department, meanwhile, reported a decrease in obstetrician services in the beginning months of policy enforcement. From January through June 2007, the number of admissions for this category of health care stood at 242; from July to December 2007, that number dropped to 173.


"Then they rebounded," Peacor said, speaking of the January through June 2008 figure of 245. "And they're actually at a higher growth rate now in July and August, at 92. [In this two month period], that's a third of what they got in the whole six months before. So you did see an initial decrease but now, it's back up."


At the same time, the Health Department reports "220 fewer patients at the family planning clinic and they are seeing 430 fewer children immunized in the immunization clinic," Peacor said.


The actual numbers are these: In fiscal year 2007, the Health Department reported 2,096 clients in its family planning clinic. In fiscal 2008, that figure fell to 1,876. And in fiscal 2007, the department reported 7,478 patients for immunizations. A year later, that number was 7,048.


Staff writer Cheryl Chumley can be reached at 703-670-1907.

http://www.insidenova.com/isn/news/loca ... ges/21738/

"One before-after snapshot of Prince William County's implementation of its illegal immigration policy looks like this:"


A small part of the savings, I would like to see school enrollment, welfare and other taxpayer supported service statistics. County jails any better?
Has crime gone down? Has the local economy come to a halt do to the
lack of illegal Alien workers "doing jobs Americans will not do?

Yes, why didn't they give a more complete reporting.

I have heard costs for having a baby without insurance are around 20k.

Quick math: 520x20k = savings of over a million dollars