As WakeMed’s proposal to purchase Rex Healthcare from UNC Health Care has gained publicity, several newspapers from around the state have weighed in with their views – largely that a one-time cash infusion to the state is not a good reason to sell a high-performing asset that brings great benefits to the people of North Carolina.
Below are some excerpts from editorials that ran in various newspapers. To share your view, click here to visit the UNC/Rex Partnership online portal.
On October 7, a Southern Pines Pilot editorial said:
“Accordingly, a special committee of the N.C. House of Representatives has been tasked with the job of examining state-owned assets and recommending which ones might be put on the block. Those properties could range from a vacant lot here to an underutilized building there to the state-owned Rex Hospital in Raleigh, for which crosstown rival WakeMed has offered $750 million.
“On the hospital offer, the one-time boost to the revenue side of the state budget would hardly be worth the long-term damage inflicted by accepting the Rex offer, which appeared to be little more than a publicity stunt anyway.
“The same principle should apply across the board as properties large and small come under scrutiny. In general, the idea of selling off property and getting it back on the tax rolls — with the possible creation of new jobs in the private sector — is an attractive one at the moment. But it is important to keep things in long-term perspective. If mistakes were made, property sold under present market conditions would likely be much more costly to buy back or replace in the future.”
The Winston-Salem Journal wrote on October 6 that:
“If there is any area where legislators need to exhibit perspective, however, it is on this topic. An asset sold today, in the current down market, will cost a lot more to buy back when the economy improves. Therefore, legislators must be aware of long-term needs for these assets.
“Such decisions can be based only on practical considerations. We fear that the committee will be consumed by political ideology, conservatives arguing to sell the Capitol and liberals for preserving every acre in which bluebirds ever nested.
“The central question must be asked: Is this sale good in the long-term for the people of North Carolina?
“A prime example is the debate over Raleigh’s Rex Hospital, a part of UNC Hospitals. In that case, there is a $750 million offer from a private hospital company to buy it. Legislators must weigh the role that $750 million could have in restoring the state’s reserves against UNC’s needs for Rex in its teaching and research hospital system.”
UNC’s The Daily Tar Heel opined on October 4:
“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.”
“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.”
On September 30, the Fayetteville Observer editorial board wrote:
“One property that will get a close look is Rex Healthcare, owned by the UNC Health Care System. The system’s board last month turned down an unsolicited $750 million cash bid for Rex by WakeMed Health & Hospitals.
“UNC officials told the House committee that Rex is an integral part of its physician-training program. It’s hard to depend on the good will of private hospitals to get those training opportunities,” UNC Health Care CEO Dr. Bill Roper said.
“It’s also hard to ignore a one-time $750 million cash infusion for a state facing continuing financial problems.
“But in all these possibilities, the committee needs to keep its eye on the horizon. One big paycheck doesn’t mean much in a plan that needs to look ahead for decades. That’s the big question for the committee: How would a property sale fit with the state’s needs over the next two or three decades?
“We know the trend: We are growing and it’s likely to be that way for years to come. The state’s popularity means we need more roads, better access to recreation and the coast, more hospitals and doctors, and so on. It also means we’ll need more government employees – police, highway maintenance, park workers, social services workers, and others.
“Are we going to sell the places where they might work, then buy new property to house them later? Let’s be penny-wise in this review of state property. Let’s sell the truly unneeded land and buildings (we’ll bet there’s plenty of it) and hang on to those that fit our future needs. Let’s get leaner, but let’s be smart about it, too.”