MHA Media Advisory: Letter to Governor Opposing MaHEFA/MDFA Merger

Attached is a letter that Massachusetts Hospital Association President & CEO Lynn Nicholas, FACHE, sent today to Governor Deval Patrick on our hospitals' and health systems' collective behalf. The letter outlines MHA's opposition to the merger of the Massachusetts Health and Education Facilities Authority (MaHEFA) with the Massachusetts Development Finance Agency (MDFA). This letter was also sent to the Bay State's legislative leaders and the executive director of MaHEFA.

MHA's member hospitals are very concerned about the possible merger, and the Association believes that if such a merger takes place, capital financing for hospitals will be both more difficult and more expensive. The HEFA Board is scheduled to discuss the merger at a meeting tomorrow.

Overall points from the letter included:

• Historically, MaHEFA has been a responsive and effective partner for MA hospitals in their efforts to access capital. Now more than ever we need to maintain that access point.
• Massachusetts hospitals were identified by HFMA as one of the top 15 states in which hospitals were not keeping up with depreciation and had one of the highest percentage of hospitals with limited access to capital.
• The fact that Massachusetts is one of the top 20 metropolitan areas for which health care is an important part of the economy, indicates the potential for significant adverse effects on local economies should the area's healthcare organizations not adequately invest in capital in the future.
• There are critical differences between the mission and experience of MaHEFA and MDFA. Blending the two could have adverse results for organizations who rely on these agencies - particularly hospitals.
• Many of our state's hospitals are aging and need to be upgraded to meet patient needs and to satisfy current safety and efficiency requirements.
• Any increase in the fee structure as a result of the merger could be a further disadvantage to our hospitals in this critical time.
• A merger may also jeopardize the funds in the charitable institutional trust from getting to its intended recipients - which include non-profit hospitals.

Catherine S. Bromberg

Director of External Communications

Massachusetts Hospital Association

5 New England Executive Park

Burlington, MA 01083

cbromberg@mhalink.org

Phone: 781-262-6027

Fax: 781-270-3521

Web: www.mhalink.org