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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 19, 1988)
Monday, September 19, 1988/The Battalion/Page 11 ihome medical treatment f replaces hospital stays ■HOUSTON (AP) — Until almost the middle of this century, a hospital stay was not a widely accepted health care option. Medical treatment for everything from birth to death gen erally was administered in the home. ■ Today, spurred by soaring hospi tal costs, changes in insurance pro grams that put the squeeze on hospi- §11 s to discharge patients more quickly, and the technology to pro- '■> vide a scaled-down version of the same equipment available in a hospi- ijn, home care is one of the fastest- ^^■owing segments of the health in- J ausn\. Jl^Hlhe National Association for ^■ome Care estimates that 4 million —«l people will he cared for at home this year, with expenditures topping $12 j^Bllion, up from $2 billion in 1980. B' 1990, expenditures for home cave are expected to hit $ 18 billion. ■ New high-tech home health orga nizations are providing the same cave that the patient would get in the f hospital at a greatly reduced rate. “We bring the hospital into the A home; personnel and equipment,” said Steven Fields, president and pj chief executive of Cura flex, a Hous- v ton-based home health care com- jflnny. “We can do it for 30-70 per- i ■Bnt less than institutional costs.” Fields questioned why a patient z^BiouId pay for a room, bed and tele- , ^vision at a hospital when he already li^ns these at home. Besides, health care in familiar surroundings im proves the patient’s spirits and has tens his recovery, he said, and also helps the overall quality of life for the family. “A hospital is no place to live,” Kathy Sudela, a registered nurse and director of home care services for Texas Children’s Hospital, said. “Some of these patients could be in a hospital for a long, long time.” Michael Lumpkin is an 8-year-old leukemia patient who is familiar with long hospital stays. He spent two years of his life in the hospital. Since coming home three months ago with nursing and intravenous therapy provided by Curaflex, he can lead a more normal life, his mother, Liz Lumpkin, said. He can enjoy the things other children take for granted, such as playing baseball, riding his bike or even McDonald’s. “Emotionally (being home) has helped Michael, you don’t know how much,” she said. “And emotionally is how you get through this and any disease.” Having Michael home also has helped the family lead a more nor mal life. Before Liz Lumpkin heard about Curaflex from a friend, she and Michael stayed at M.D. Ander son hospital while her husband was at the family’s home in northwest Houston taking care of his two daughters. “Now Michael is in his own room. and we are like a family again,” Lumpkin said. But why has home care suddenly emerged as an alternative to a hospi tal stay? “I think hospitals are getting pres sure from third-party payers to get patients out faster because the real bulk of the profit dollar is usually made within two or three days of ad mission,” said Dale Ross, president and chief executive of HMSS Inc., a Houston-based home care company that concentrates exclusively on home intravenous therapy. “Once a patient gets into a convalescent stage, it doesn’t provide the same profit margin for the hospital.” Along with pressure from the government and insurance compa nies to keep costs down, the patients also seem to prefer home care, he said. “Patients love it,” he said. “Ima gine three weeks of therapy at home vs. three weeks in a hospital. And you’re not talking about the added expense of baby sitters and travel costs and parking for a hospital. Most of us like to have control over our lives, so we don’t want to be around hospitals with people taking care of us and sticking us and poking us.” Ross said his company chose to specialize in the IV therapy segment of home care because it made more sense from a business standpoint. Hotel owners base business on customer’s necessities >«MSAN ANTONIO (AP) — Sam Bavshop never intended to become a big time hotel manager when he and his brother, Phil, conceptualized La Quinta Inns in 1968. “^■But today the Spanish-style mo tels, which Barshop says offer cus tomers necessities without frills, has expanded to 200 properties in 29 ®l)^Pites. Analysts say that of the na tion’s 2.8 million hotel rooms, 25,000 of them belong to La Quinta. Barshop is confident that the San — Antonio-based company, which had iy $174 million in gross revenues last Ui year, will continue to grow and prosper in a highly competitive in dustry. ■ “Our price-value perception was and still is with the commercial trav eler,” Barshop says. “We hit on something that worked. We don’t know how to run bars and restau- irants and we don’t want to.” imH“We want to give our customers a clean, quality room in prime loca- ir tions without many of the amenities — we have no 24-hour room service and no bell boys with their hands out,” he says. ■ In 1968, San Antonio hosted HemisFair, an international exposi tion that attracted millions of visitors from around the world. Like other developers, Barshop and his brother realized that hotels would be needed, so they teamed up, borrowed $45,000 and built the hal Spanish-style inn across the street rol from the main plaza where the festi vities were held. They built another hotel near the San Antonio International Airport the next year and the idea, Barshop says, became an overnight success because the hotel’s ideology was to serve the guest’s basic needs of sleep ing, showering and shaving without the expense of having a restaurant, bar or large meeting rooms. That ideal still holds true today and Barshop says that is why his company has been successful. Last year, the hotel’s net earnings were $3.1 million on revenues of $174.48 million. He recalled that his venture into the hotel industry was a fluke. “Basically, we were in the real es tate business, but the motel business’ return on investment was so much better than anything else that we de cided to spend more time in it and this is what developed,” Barshop said. Although it does not operate res taurants, La Quinta has property available at each hotel site for an in dependent restaurant to operate. “I’ve always said we are the only hotel company that knows the mini mum of what we are going to make on the restaurant because we have a guaranteed day-rental agreement,’ Barshop says. “That’s the advantage of owning property, but not operat ing a restaurant.” Because it owns and manages all its properties, Barshop says La Quinta, with more than 6,000 em ployees, is able to implement new programs and projects virtually overnight. “If we don’t like something we can change it and we don’t have anybody else to blame but ourselves if things don’t work,” the balding, 60-year- old Barshop says. Mike Mueller, an analyst who fol lows La Quinta for San Francisco- based Montgomery Securities, agrees. “Because they own or manage all of their hotel properties they are able to be Very consistent in their op eration and in the physical appear ance of their properties,” Mueller said. “They invest very much in re furbishing and redecorating the rooms.” According to Mueller, “In some other franchise properities the qual- ites tend to be vry uneven and that’s something that’s worked to La Quin ta’s advantage.” In 1986, Consumer Reports rated La Quinta first among hotels with rates of $40 and under and eighth among hotels in the $40-$79 range, the analyst said. “I think from the standpoint of operations it is one of the best run chains in the economy segment of the country,” Mueller said. Another successful La Quinta management technique is the use of husband-wife management teams at each of its motels. “We think it works well,” Barshop says. Plano woman raises money for Mexican worker’s burial oil'™ PLANO (AP) — Carlos Saldana and;, died before he had a chance to meet :ll 1 Maria Posada, so he never knew the 0] kind gestures she has extended to him and his family. fliflL And ironically, it was not until Sal- r) dana was struck by a car and killed as [ while walking on Central Express- wf way that Posada had ever heard of him. K Since then, the Plano woman his red spearheaded efforts to raise money id 1 and made arrangements for his lOft body to be taken back to his home in Mexico so he can be laid to rest there ^ and so he would not be buried as a pauper in the unfamiliar surround- ings of Collin County. All of Saldana’s family is in Ta- ■haulipas, Mexico, which is more |han 12 hours from here. 1| Posada said the family is very poor and could not afford the almost $1,000 it would take to have his body shipped home. | “When we called them to let them know what the expense would be, they said they didn’t know what they yjvould do,” she said. I Thursday, Posada, 22, her 3-year- pld son and two members of a church, began the 12-hour drive to ( Mexico in a van carrying Saldana’s body. R “I just couldn’t leave it here with po one taking over it,” she said. “He has no family here whatsoever.” ft The 24-year-old Saldana, who Worked as a laborer in Plano, was killed Aug. 20 after he walked onto the northbound lanes of Central Ex pressway and was struck by a car, po- ■ce said. 1 1 he Collin County Medical Exam iner’s office ruled Saldana died of multiple injuries and acute alcohol “When we called them to let them know what the ex pense would he, they said they didn’t know what they would do (about the expense of transporting him). ” — Maria Posada, fundraiser for Saldana family intoxication at a local hospital in Dal las. Police had been called shortly af ter 10 p.m. that Saturday and told that an intoxicated Latin male had left a service station and was walking toward the highway. Before ofFtcers arrived, Saldana, wearing blue work pants and no shirt, had climbed over the concrete construction barriers, which crowd the road, and onto Central Express way, police said. He died an hour and 40 minutes after he was struck by a 1985 Cadil lac driven by an Allen man. Posada said she doesn’t know why Saldana was on the highway, but that he must have been disoriented. For a time, police weren’t sure of Saldana’s identity and had a difficult time finding any family members here or in Mexico. He had no identification except an Immigration and Naturalization work visa. Saldana had applied for amnesty, Posada said. Posada learned of Saldana when his family telephoned Posada’s boyf riend in Plano, whose aunt in Mex ico had, at one time, employed a member of Saldana’s family. Posada, who lost her job as a meat packer Aug. 4, got two Plano busi nesses, Plano Tortilla Factory, 1009 E. 18th, and Cantu’s Video and Gift Shop, 1832B Ave. K, to put con tainers on their counters to collect money to send Saldana’s body to Mexico. “And I had a bake sale (in front of Cantu’s)” she said. “I raised about $30 to $40. At the tortilla factory, we raised about $50.” Lorina Espinoza, owner of Plano Tortilla Factory, said, “She told me (about the situation). It just sounded real sad, so I helped her out.” Another $600 was raised from do nations solicited by Saldana’s friends and roommates. A church donated $160 toward the funeral expenses and another church lent Posada the use of a 1983 Chevrolet van to take Saldana’s body to Mexico. Gonzalez Funeral Home in Dallas, which prepared the body for burial, made legal arrangements for Posada to transport the body to Mexico. Posada said although it was rough raising the money, she kept believ es- . .. She said Saldana’s family has been really appreciative of her efforts. And, she added, she feels good about being able to help, even though she never knew Saldana. TAMU BICYCLING CLUB Organizational meeting Monday, Sept. 19 8:30 pm 404 Rudder for more information call Gordon Powell 696-6599 509 University Across From The Parking Garage 50c Refills 14 oz mugs of Miller High Life Prepared for the future. Yours and ours. ARCO is meeting the challenges of today’s petroleum industry through creative engineering and a drive for excellence. Coupled with the largest domestic liquid reserve base of the U.S. majors, our quest to be the best has prepared us for a bright future. FVe invite you to investigate making our future yours when our representatives are on campus. Please contact your placement office for details. ARCO Oil and Gas Company ARCO Alaska, Inc. Divisions of AtlanticRichfieldCompany An Equal Opportunity Employer M/F GET SHOT Freshmen and Sophomores September 12—30 Juniors and Seniors OctoberS—28 Vets, Meds and Grads October 17—21 1989 Aggieland Yearbook Associates 401C University Above Campus Photo 846-8856 8:30 a.m. — 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday Contracts for recognized student organizations are available in the club mail boxes in the Student Finance Center and in 230 Reed McDonald. Contracts are due Sept. 16. Plant your ad in The Battalion Classified and harvest the RESULTS! Phone 845-2611 for help in placing your ad.