Fifteen physician-owned hospitals across the state of Indiana, including the Indiana Orthopaedic Hospital (IOH), could be eliminated causing a ripple effect resulting in thousands of job losses if the healthcare reform bill ready for debate in the U.S. Senate becomes law.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (HR 3590) before Congress contains specific language that bans physician-owned hospitals, strangling currently operating facilities that serve patients in several cities including New Albany, Munster, Fort Wayne, Mishawaka, and Indianapolis. In Indiana, physician hospitals employ more than 4,000 nurses and staff, and 2,610 physicians; which provides the state with a payroll of $180.4 million and $50 million in taxes, according to the 2008-2009 Economic Impact Analysis by the Physician Hospitals of America.

“I feel deeply threatened by the fact there is legislation on the table that has the potential to further damage our already battered economic climate, especially when the nation is struggling to emerge from the current recession and so many families are struggling to make ends meet,” said Jane Keller, Chief Executive Officer at IOH. “Not only would we be eliminating jobs, but we would also lose the ability to offer proven quality of care to patients all across the state.”

Language in the bill under section 6001, Title VI, places caps on growth for existing physician-owned hospitals and prohibits them from receiving critical reimbursements for services rendered under Medicare and Medicaid, eventually phasing them out of existence.

Two other Indiana physician hospitals already in development would also be killed outright by the bill, ending the promise of another 200 jobs.