Shriners may be forced 'out of the hospital business' within 5 years - USATODAY.com Shriners may be forced 'out of the hospital business' within 5 years Updated Enlarge By Mary Ann Chastain, AP Brooklyn Myers, 14, of Greenville, S.C., poses with a bucket that she made to raise money for Shriners Hospital. She and her mother Bridget Myers have collected $92 in the past two days and hope to raise awareness for the need of donations to the Greenville Shriners Hospital fund. DAILY HEALTH BLOG � Watercooler -worthy bits By Katrina A. Goggins, Associated Press GREENVILLE, S.C.  Shriners hospitals, which have provided free care since before the Great Depression, are considering closing a quarter of their facilities as donations stagnate, costs increase and the charity's endowment shrivels. The group's director says it's the only viable option. Officials at the Florida-based organization say it is siphoning $1 million a day from its endowment to balance the budget for 22 hospitals in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

Meanwhile, they say, that fund has fallen to $5 billion from $8 billion in less than a year because of the sputtering stock market and a charitable giving slump that has hurt philanthropies nationwide. The fund has been declining since 2001. The group will vote this summer on the closures. BETTER LIFE: Health news in brief: Shooting psychology, lice zapper, middle-school sex and marital stress "Unless we do something, the clock is ticking and within five to seven years we'll probably be out of the hospital business and not have any hospitals," Ralph Semb, chief executive officer of Shriners Hospitals for Children, told The Associated Press. In cities where hospitals may close, supporters and hospital staff are scheduling fundraisers and posting online messages of support on social networking websites. In Greenville, S.C., Bridget Myers and her daughter are turning to churches and friends, collecting money in a bucket tagged with pictures of X-rays and Shriners patients. "I've collected $92 dollars in two days," said Brooklynn Myers, 14, who received scoliosis treatment at the Shriners' Greenville hospital.

"Me and my mom feel like it's heartbreaking we'd have to drive all the way to Lexington (Kentucky) and we've made special bonds here." Widely known today for burn and orthopedic care for children, the Shriners Hospitals system opened in 1922 with a facility in Shreveport, La., that specialized in treating polio. By the 1960s, the group had hospitals nationwide and expanded its care to include spinal cord injury rehabilitation, cleft lip and palate care and medical research. More than 1 million children have been treated at the hospitals, which were created by the fraternal organization of the same name whose members are known for wearing red fezzes and driving miniature cars in parades. The care is free to all. In 2007, the fraternal group was hit with accusations it used money intended for the hospitals to throw parties — but only a fraction of the hospitals' funds are raised by the group. Most of the money to operate the hospitals has come from interest from the endowment, Semb said. Semb said this year's operating budget for the hospital system is $856 million.

The budget has risen by $100 million each of the past two years while donation levels remained static, he said. Last month, the Shiners' board of trustees voted to close four of the group's eight research centers and lay off about 40 people at its administrative office. At the organization's annual meeting July 6-8 in San Antonio, about 1,200 Shriners will vote whether to close hospitals in Shreveport, La.; Erie, Pa.; Spokane, Wash.; Springfield, Mass., and Greenville. Semb said they were chosen mainly because of too many vacant beds. The system would shed around 225 hospital beds with the closures, according to data from Shriners hospitals websites. Patients would be sent to other Shriners hospitals that specialize in their ailments. The organization also will consider whether a hospital in Galveston, Texas — closed temporarily after damage from Hurricane Ike — will remain shuttered. "The outlook is not good, but we know that we can right it," Semb said.

"And we can within a five-year period of time get our expenses down far enough to equal the income we have coming in and hopefully start building on that endowment fund." Closing these hospitals is the only viable option, Semb said. While members will also consider keeping all 22 facilities open — or a nationwide 30% budget cut — Semb contends doing either would be a death knell to the organization. He said to continue functioning as they do now with all the hospitals open, Shriners would have to grow the endowment to about $12 billion by 2014 — unlikely, given the economy and nationwide trend toward less large-sum charitable giving. Fewer groups and individuals gave gifts of more than $1 million in 2007 compared to 2008, and such donations fell even more in the final two quarters of last year, according to preliminary findings of a study due out this summer from The Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University. Even when giving was more robust — from 1991 to 2005 — gifts to health care groups grew at a much slower rate than those for other entities, like universities, said Melissa Brown, associate director of research for the center.

She said the aging of once-prominent fraternal organizations might be affecting their ability to grow donations. "It could be that what they are seeing is a generational shift," Brown said. Getting the two-thirds majority needed to close the hospitals will not be easy, Semb said. Patients and their families are vowing to rally at the annual meeting. And some Shiners who have spent years raising money and volunteering say they'll oppose the move. They've done it before: A plan to close hospitals in 2003 was quickly voted down despite warnings of financial problems. In Greenville, letters of support from patients cover the wall of one hallway at the 50-bed hospital. Jason Burbage, who was born with no fingers, has been going to Shriners Hospitals since he was born in 1976 — first as a patient and now as a volunteer to give encouragement to patients. The work has become more difficult because of the financial troubles, he said. "We don't want the patients to focus on it," said Burbage, a 33-year-old Greenville businessman. "It's not a done deal." Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Posted E-mail | Print | To report corrections and clarifications, contact Reader Editor Brent Jones . For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com . Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com . Guidelines: You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. Read more . By Steve Kupferman If the Freemasons really are a secret society bent on world domination, as some conspiracy-minded people suggest, then the Shriners—an offshoot organization that high-level Masons can elect to join—would have to be their most brilliant misdirection ploy. It’s hard to imagine the Masons getting up to much global dominance when their highest-ranking members spend so much time learning to drive tiny cars in formation, and when they single-handedly support a market in stabilizing gear for their goofy hats .

The Shriners (that is, Shriners International ) are a fraternal organization known for their impressive charitable work, through which they fund twenty-two hospitals for children throughout the US, and in Montreal and Mexico City. But they’re perhaps even better known for the distinctive red velvet fezzes they wear to ceremonial functions, and for their love of driving miniature cars in parades. (Nobody knows why Shriners drive little cars. It could be another of the many mysteries occluding the true nature of their ancient order. Or it could be that driving little cars down major urban thoroughfares is just mega sweet.) Yesterday, University Avenue played host to a Shriner parade—but not just any Shriner parade. This particular one was in honour of the organization’s annual Imperial Council Session, which attracts Shriners from all over the organization’s jurisdiction, and takes place in a different city each year.

Transporting bulky equipment from far and wide isn’t easy, and so most of the fez-wearing marchers busy tuning up their xylophones and revving up their tiny engines in Queen’s Park before the parade were from places like Kingston, Sudbury, and Thunder Bay—though many Shriners had traveled from further away (the Philippines had sent a contingent). The Credit Valley chapter was driving what looked like converted riding mowers, painted black, with airbrushed flames on the sides. Another chapter had brought a squadron of green go-karts, with motors that had to be revved up with strings—again, like lawnmowers. The oldest members were having difficulty throwing their backs into the revving. It was a little hard to watch. The Shriners at the parade were generally past middle-age, and most of them were white. It would be fair to say that this age level and racial makeup is pretty consistent throughout most of the organization (and certainly on its executive board ). Despite this, Shriners adapt most of their iconography from a sort of Aladdin-level idea of Middle Eastern culture. The fez is one example, but there are others.

Like, for instance, the Oshawa Shrine Club’s parade float, which consisted of about fifteen Shriners in Lawrence of Arabia–style robes and headdresses, playing minor-key music on recorders while one of them periodically banged a gong. A big banner on the side of the float said: “Oshawa Oriental Band.” The Oriental Band was not the only instance of cultural appropriation on parade. One float was a giant viking boat. Another float was hillbilly themed. Getting nervous about these types of things is almost a reflex for urbanites (no doubt there are some Middle Easterners, Scandinavians and, um, Appalachian-Americans out there who’d take issue with such one-sided representation), but the Shriners carry off their performance with a kind of innocence. It’s hard to get mad at guys who blow off steam by, say, riding pocket motorcycles in figure-eights while wearing tall fezzes with long tassels, which the “Oshawa and District Mini-Bike Unit” did all the way down the parade route.

A pair of teenage girls watching the parade spent close to an hour squealing and waving, like the Shriners were a bunch of adorable, wrinkly puppies, and Queen’s Park South was a shop window. One Shriner, whose embroidered shirt said “Paul,” had become separated from the Kingston contingent he’d arrived with, and was waiting by the side of the parade route, hoping to catch a glimpse of his unit. He explained to us that Shriners buy most of their ceremonial clothing and accessories from the catalogues of a few companies that specialize in Masonic regalia. As for the fezzes: “They’re actually quite expensive, you know,” he said. “Because they’re not mass-produced in China.” Photos by Andrew Louis/Torontoist. Shriners may shut some hospitals - The Boston Globe Shriners may shut some hospitals Organization cites increase in costs Associated Press / April 10, 2009 | Text size – + GREENVILLE, S.C. - Shriners Hospitals for Children, which has provided free care since before the Great Depression, is considering closing one-quarter of its facilities as donations stagnate, costs increase, and the charity's endowment shrivels.

The group's director says it's the only viable option. Officials at the Florida organization say it is siphoning $1 million a day from its endowment to balance the budget for 22 hospitals in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Meanwhile, they say, that fund has fallen to $5 billion from $8 billion in less than a year because of the sputtering stock market and a charitable giving slump that has hurt philanthropies nationwide. The fund has been declining since 2001. The group will vote this summer on the closures. "Unless we do something, the clock is ticking, and within five to seven years we'll probably be out of the hospital business and not have any hospitals," said Ralph Semb, the chief executive of Shriners Hospitals for Children. In cities where hospitals may close, supporters and hospital staff are scheduling fund-raisers and posting online messages of support on social networking websites. In Greenville, Bridget Myers and her daughter are turning to churches and friends, collecting money in a bucket tagged with pictures of X-rays and Shriners' patients.

"I've collected $92 dollars in two days," said Brooklynn Myers, 14, who received scoliosis treatment at the Shriners' Greenville hospital. "Me and my mom feel like it's heartbreaking we'd have to drive all the way to Lexington [Kentucky] and we've made special bonds here." Widely known today for burn and orthopedic care for children, the Shriners Hospitals system opened in 1922 with a facility in Shreveport, La., that specialized in treating polio. By the 1960s, the group had hospitals nationwide and expanded its care to include spinal cord injury rehabilitation, cleft lip and palate care, and medical research. More than 1 million children have been treated at the hospitals, which were created by the fraternal organization of the same name whose members are known for wearing red fezzes and driving miniature cars in parades. The care is free to all. In 2007, the fraternal group was hit with accusations it used money intended for the hospitals to throw parties - but only a fraction of the hospitals' funds are raised by the group.

Semb said this year's operating budget for the hospital system is $856 million. The budget has risen by $100 million each of the past two years while donations remained static, he said. Last month, the Shiners' board of trustees voted to close four of the group's eight research centers and lay off about 40 people at its administrative office. At the organization's annual meeting July 6-8 in San Antonio, about 1,200 Shriners will vote whether to close hospitals in Shreveport, La.; Erie, Pa.; Spokane, Wash.; Springfield, Mass., and Greenville. Semb said they were chosen mainly because of too many vacant beds. © Copyright 2009 Globe Newspaper Company. LOG IN TO COMMENT OR TO SEE OUR NEW FEATURES YOU MUST LOG IN to see all of the features available on our new Personal Pages. Want to automatically create your own Personal Page? Just add a comment and click on your screen name. Sorry, we could not find your e-mail or password. Please try again, or click here to retrieve your password.

Existing users Shriners eye closing 6 hospitals - News - Sarasota Herald-Tribune - Sarasota, FL Shriners eye closing 6 hospitals Wednesday Jul 8, 2009 at 10:50 AM Jul 8, 2009 at 1:39 PM MICHELLE ROBERTSAssociated Press Writer For generations, children with clubbed feet, severe burns and other debilitating injuries have been treated for free at Shriners hospitals. That care could be in jeopardy. As the charity's endowment shrivels, the fraternal group known for wearing red fezzes and driving miniature cars in parades faces a serious decision: whether to close six of its hospitals or alter how the system offers care. About 1,300 Shriners International members who sit on the hospital system's governing body are deciding the hospital system's fate at the group's annual meeting in San Antonio this week. They are considering permanently closing a quarter of the hospital system's facilities, among other changes. In initial votes, the Shriners agreed to keep all 22 of their hospitals open and to begin accepting insurance money for some services.

They also voted to replace Ralph Semb, the CEO of Shriners Hospitals for Children, said Rod Brown, chairman of the Greenville, S.C., hospital. None of the decisions, however, is binding until the convention ends Thursday. "People think you can just keep going, but you can't," Semb said earlier this week. "If nothing changes, in seven years, we go through the endowment fund." He didn't immediately return a call Wednesday seeking comment on his reported ouster, though Brown said the group frequently changes leadership at its annual meeting. Using an annual $2 member assessment, the Shriners Hospitals system opened in 1922 with a facility in Shreveport, La., that specialized in treating polio. The modest start has grown into a network of hospitals in the United States, Canada and Mexico that operates on $856 million a year in donations and investment proceeds. Patients are treated free of charge, and the hospitals don't take insurance, which has allowed them to provide care without worrying about insurance coverage, limits or bureaucratic procedures, Semb said.

The Florida-based fraternal organization was hit in 2007 with accusations it used money intended for the hospitals to throw parties and that lax accounting mingled hospital donations and club funds in some locations, claims the Shriners disputed. Only a fraction of the donations raised by members are used to fund the hospitals. Most of the operating fund comes from an endowment that has shrunk to $5 billion from $8 billion in less than a year because of the sputtering economy. Word of the proposed closures upset many patients and caregivers at the hospitals, where numerous treatments for childhood burns and disfiguring conditions have been pioneered over the last 87 years. "I've gotten to know these doctors like they're my best friends," said Andrew Willard, 15. Born with clubbed feet so severe that similar cases have required amputation, Willard has had countless surgeries to reconstruct his feet and ankles since infancy, including one last week, at the Greenville facility. He said his relationship with the staff has eased the burden of the painful surgeries, and the hospital's proximity to his home has allowed his family to see him often during his hospital stays. The Shriners hospitals funding crisis has been building for years, Semb said.

Dividends and interest from the group's endowment began withering even before the recent recession hammered them with investment losses. Donations leveled off a decade ago, and membership has declined to less than half of what it was 30 years ago. The hospital system has been running at a loss since 2001, and the endowment is now hemorrhaging cash at $1 million a day, meaning the entire system could collapse in a matter of years if something isn't done, Semb said. The board of trustees proposed the closure of the hospitals in Shreveport; Greenville; Erie, Pa.; Spokane, Wash.; Springfield, Mass.; and Galveston, Texas, eliminating a total of 225 beds. The hospitals were chosen mainly because of too many vacant beds, Semb said. The Galveston facility has been closed since Hurricane Ike last fall, and the fraternal group put off any plans to reopen it until making a decision about its long-term future. Rather than closing the hospitals, Semb said he'd like to see some sort of compromise, perhaps giving the targeted facilities several months to come up with partnerships or other financial arrangements to slow the financial drain.

Allowing the hospitals to bill insurance providers for whatever treatment normally would be covered is another option that could ease the financial burden for the Shriners. Semb said the group would only bill private insurance or Medicaid if a child's family agreed, and any uncovered treatments prescribed by Shriners doctors would still be done for free. At the meeting this week, staffers and patients from the Galveston hospital handed out pamphlets and lobbied for the hospital's reopening, arguing that Semb and the trustees used Hurricane Ike as an excuse to keep the facility closed. "I know the wonders they can do for kids," said Gordon Pranger, 35, who was treated at the hospital after suffering third-degree burns over his entire body at age 14. "For me, it's all family and home. It's personal." Semb said he understands the emotions over the closure proposal. His wife's son was treated at the Springfield hospital for 19 years. "Every one of us doesn't want to leave a child untouched. We're concerned about children," he said.

"But it's going to mean retrofitting the system." ___ Shriners Hospitals, Providers of Free Medical Care, to Close Quarter of Facilities | Fox News Shriners Hospitals, Providers of Free Medical Care, to Close Quarter of Facilities Published April 10, 2009 Shriners hospitals, which have provided free care since before the Great Depression, are considering closing a quarter of their facilities as donations stagnate, costs increase and the charity's endowment shrivels. The group's director says it's the only viable option. Officials at the Florida-based organization say it is siphoning $1 million a day from its endowment to balance the budget for 22 hospitals in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Meanwhile, they say, that fund has fallen to $5 billion from $8 billion in less than a year because of the sputtering stock market and a charitable giving slump that has hurt philanthropies nationwide. The fund has been declining since 2001. The group will vote this summer on the closures.

"Unless we do something, the clock is ticking and within five to seven years we'll probably be out of the hospital business and not have any hospitals," Ralph Semb, chief executive officer of Shriners Hospitals for Children, told The Associated Press. In cities where hospitals may close, supporters and hospital staff are scheduling fundraisers and posting online messages of support on social networking Web sites. In Greenville, S.C., Bridget Myers and her daughter are turning to churches and friends, collecting money in a bucket tagged with pictures of X-rays and Shriners patients. "I've collected $92 dollars in two days," said Brooklynn Myers, 14, who received scoliosis treatment at the Shriners' Greenville hospital. "Me and my mom feel like it's heartbreaking we'd have to drive all the way to Lexington (Kentucky) and we've made special bonds here." Widely known today for burn and orthopedic care for children, the Shriners Hospitals system opened in 1922 with a facility in Shreveport, La., that specialized in treating polio.

By the 1960s, the group had hospitals nationwide and expanded its care to include spinal cord injury rehabilitation, cleft lip and palate care and medical research. More than 1 million children have been treated at the hospitals, which were created by the fraternal organization of the same name whose members are known for wearing red fezzes and driving miniature cars in parades. The care is free to all. In 2007, the fraternal group was hit with accusations it used money intended for the hospitals to throw parties — but only a fraction of the hospitals' funds are raised by the group. Most of the money to operate the hospitals has come from interest from the endowment, Semb said. Semb said this year's operating budget for the hospital system is $856 million. The budget has risen by $100 million each of the past two years while donation levels remained static, he said. Last month, the Shiners' board of trustees voted to close four of the group's eight research centers and lay off about 40 people at its administrative office.

At the organization's annual meeting July 6-8 in San Antonio, about 1,200 Shriners will vote whether to close hospitals in Shreveport, La.; Erie, Pa.; Spokane, Wash.; Springfield, Mass., and Greenville. Semb said they were chosen mainly because of too many vacant beds. The system would shed around 225 hospital beds with the closures, according to data from Shriners hospitals Web sites. Patients would be sent to other Shriners hospitals that specialize in their ailments. The organization also will consider whether a hospital in Galveston, Texas — closed temporarily after damage from Hurricane Ike — will remain shuttered. "The outlook is not good, but we know that we can right it," Semb said. "And we can within a five-year period of time get our expenses down far enough to equal the income we have coming in and hopefully start building on that endowment fund." Closing these hospitals is the only viable option, Semb said. While members will also consider keeping all 22 facilities open — or a nationwide 30 percent budget cut — Semb contends doing either would be a death knell to the organization.

He said to continue functioning as they do now with all the hospitals open, Shriners would have to grow the endowment to about $12 billion by 2014 — unlikely, given the economy and nationwide trend toward less large-sum charitable giving. Fewer groups and individuals gave gifts of more than $1 million in 2007 compared to 2008, and such donations fell even more in the final two quarters of last year, according to preliminary findings of a study due out this summer from The Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University. Even when giving was more robust — from 1991 to 2005 — gifts to health care groups grew at a much slower rate than those for other entities, like universities, said Melissa Brown, associate director of research for the center. She said the aging of once-prominent fraternal organizations might be affecting their ability to grow donations. "It could be that what they are seeing is a generational shift," Brown said. Getting the two-thirds majority needed to close the hospitals will not be easy, Semb said. Patients and their families are vowing to rally at the annual meeting.

And some Shiners who have spent years raising money and volunteering say they'll oppose the move. They've done it before: A plan to close hospitals in 2003 was quickly voted down despite warnings of financial problems. In Greenville, letters of support from patients cover the wall of one hallway at the 50-bed hospital. Jason Burbage, who was born with no fingers, has been going to Shriners Hospitals since he was born in 1976 — first as a patient and now as a volunteer to give encouragement to patients. The work has become more difficult because of the financial troubles, he said. "We don't want the patients to focus on it," said Burbage, a 33-year-old Greenville businessman. "It's not a done deal." Advertisement Shriners consider closing some hospitals - USATODAY.com Request information from your favorite franchises and business opportunities. Click here Shriners consider closing some hospitals Posted E-mail | Print | By Michelle Roberts, Associated Press SAN ANTONIO  For generations, children with clubbed feet, severe burns and other debilitating injuries have been treated for free at Shriners hospitals. That care could be in jeopardy in the future.

As the charity's endowment shrivels, the fraternal group known for wearing red fezzes and driving miniature cars in parades faces a serious decision: whether to close six of its hospitals. About 1,300 Shriners International members who sit on the hospital system's governing body are meeting in San Antonio this week. They are considering permanently closing a quarter of the hospital system's facilities, among other changes. In initial votes, the Shriners agreed to keep all 22 of their hospitals open and to begin accepting insurance money for some services. They also voted to replace Ralph Semb, the CEO of Shriners Hospitals for Children , said Rod Brown, chairman of the Greenville, South Carolina, hospital. None of the decisions, however, is binding until the convention ends Thursday. "People think you can just keep going, but you can't," Semb said earlier this week. "If nothing changes, in seven years, we go through the endowment fund." He didn't immediately return a call Wednesday seeking comment on his reported ouster, though Brown said the group frequently changes leadership at its annual meeting.

Using an annual $2 member assessment, the Shriners Hospitals system opened in 1922 with a facility in Shreveport, Louisiana, that specialized in treating polio. The modest start has grown into a network of hospitals in the United States, Canada and Mexico that operates on $856 million a year in donations and investment proceeds. Patients are treated free of charge, and the hospitals don't take insurance, Semb said. The Florida-based fraternal organization was hit in 2007 with accusations it used money intended for the hospitals to throw parties and that lax accounting mingled hospital donations and club funds in some locations. The Shriners disputed the claims. Only a fraction of the donations raised by members are used to fund the hospitals. Most of the operating fund comes from an endowment that has shrunk to $5 billion from $8 billion in less than a year because of the sputtering economy. Word of the proposed closures upset many patients and caregivers at the hospitals, where numerous treatments for childhood burns and disfiguring conditions have been pioneered over the last 87 years. "I've gotten to know these doctors like they're my best friends," said Andrew Willard, 15.

Born with clubbed feet so severe that similar cases have required amputation, Willard has had countless surgeries to reconstruct his feet and ankles since infancy, including one last week, at the facility in Greenville. The Shriners hospitals funding crisis has been building for years, Semb said. Dividends and interest from the group's endowment began withering even before the recent recession hammered them with investment losses. Donations leveled off a decade ago, and membership has declined to less than half of what it was 30 years ago. The hospital system has been running at a loss since 2001, and the endowment is now hemorrhaging cash at $1 million a day, meaning the entire system could collapse in a matter of years if something isn't done, Semb said. The board of trustees proposed closing hospitals in Shreveport; Greenville; Erie, Pa.; Spokane, Wash.; Springfield, Mass.; and Galveston, Texas, eliminating a total of 225 beds. The hospitals were chosen mainly because of too many vacant beds, Semb said. The Galveston facility has been closed since Hurricane Ike last year.

Semb said he would like to see a compromise, perhaps giving the six facilities several months to find partnerships or other financial arrangements. He said the Shriners are also considering allowing their hospitals to accept medical insurance payments and bill insurance providers for whatever treatment would normally be covered if a child's family agrees, but any additional treatments prescribed by Shriners doctors would still be done for free. A group of staffers and patients from the Galveston hospital handed out pamphlets at the Shriners meeting, arguing that Semb and the trustees used Hurricane Ike as an excuse to keep the facility closed. "I know the wonders they can do for kids," said Gordon Pranger, 35, who was treated at the hospital after suffering third-degree burns over his entire body at age 14. "For me, it's all family and home. It's personal." Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Posted E-mail | Print | To report corrections and clarifications, contact Reader Editor Brent Jones . For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com . Include name, phone number, city and state for verification.

To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com . Guidelines: You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. Read more . Shriners may close 6 hospitals - Health - Health care | NBC News Advertise Free care for all Widely known today for burn and orthopedic care for children, the Shriners Hospitals system opened in 1922 with a facility in Shreveport, La., that specialized in treating polio. By the 1960s, the group had hospitals nationwide and expanded its care to include spinal cord injury rehabilitation, cleft lip and palate care and medical research. More than 1 million children have been treated at the hospitals, which were created by the fraternal organization of the same name whose members are known for wearing red fezzes and driving miniature cars in parades. The care is free to all. In 2007, the fraternal group was hit with accusations it used money intended for the hospitals to throw parties — but only a fraction of the hospitals' funds are raised by the group.

Most of the money to operate the hospitals has come from interest from the endowment, Semb said. Semb said this year's operating budget for the hospital system is $856 million. The budget has risen by $100 million each of the past two years while donation levels remained static, he said. Don't miss these Health stories Splash News What stresses moms most? Themselves, survey says Last month, the Shriners' board of trustees voted to close four of the group's eight research centers and lay off about 40 people at its administrative office. At the organization's annual meeting July 6-8 in San Antonio, about 1,200 Shriners will vote whether to close hospitals in Shreveport, La.; Erie, Pa.; Spokane, Wash.; Springfield, Mass., and Greenville. Semb said they were chosen mainly because of too many vacant beds. Patients would be sent to other Shriners hospitals that specialize in their ailments. The organization also will consider whether a hospital in Galveston, Texas — closed temporarily after damage from Hurricane Ike — will remain shuttered. "The outlook is not good, but we know that we can right it," Semb said.

"And we can within a five-year period of time get our expenses down far enough to equal the income we have coming in and hopefully start building on that endowment fund." Fewer large donations Closing these hospitals is the only viable option, Semb said. While members will also consider keeping all 22 facilities open — or a nationwide 30 percent budget cut — Semb contends doing either would be a death knell to the organization. He said to continue functioning as they do now with all the hospitals open, Shriners would have to grow the endowment to about $12 billion by 2014 — unlikely, given the economy and nationwide trend toward less large-sum charitable giving. Fewer groups and individuals gave gifts of more than $1 million in 2007 compared to 2008, and such donations fell even more in the final two quarters of last year, according to preliminary findings of a study due out this summer from The Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University.

Even when giving was more robust — from 1991 to 2005 — gifts to health care groups grew at a much slower rate than those for other entities, like universities, said Melissa Brown, associate director of research for the center. She said the aging of once-prominent fraternal organizations might be affecting their ability to grow donations. "It could be that what they are seeing is a generational shift," Brown said. Getting the two-thirds majority needed to close the hospitals will not be easy, Semb said. Advertise Patients and their families are vowing to rally at the annual meeting. And some Shriners who have spent years raising money and volunteering say they'll oppose the move. They've done it before: A plan to close hospitals in 2003 was quickly voted down despite warnings of financial problems. In Greenville, letters of support from patients cover the wall of one hallway at the 50-bed hospital. Jason Burbage, who was born with no fingers, has been going to Shriners Hospitals since he was born in 1976 — first as a patient and now as a volunteer to give encouragement to patients. The work has become more difficult because of the financial troubles, he said.

"We don't want the patients to focus on it," said Burbage, a 33-year-old Greenville businessman. "It's not a done deal." Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Shriners To Decide Fate Of 6 Children's Hospitals Shriners To Decide Fate Of 6 Children's Hospitals Posted: Wed 5:06 AM, Jul 08, 2009 For generations, children with clubbed feet, severe burns and other debilitating injuries have been treated for free at Shriners hospitals. That care could in jeopardy for the future. As the charity's endowment shrivels, the fraternal group known for wearing red fezzes and driving miniature cars in parades faces a serious decision: whether to close six of its hospitals. About 1,300 Shriners International members who sit on the hospital system's governing body are meeting in San Antonio this week. They are considering permanently closing a quarter of the hospital system's facilities, among other changes.

In an initial vote Monday, the Shriners agreed to keep all 22 of their hospitals open, but no decision is final until the convention ends Thursday. "People think you can just keep going, but you can't," said Ralph Semb, CEO of Shriners Hospitals for Children. "If nothing changes, in seven years, we go through the endowment fund." Using an annual $2 member assessment, the Shriners Hospitals system opened in 1922 with a facility in Shreveport, La., that specialized in treating polio. The modest start has grown into a network of hospitals in the United States, Canada and Mexico that operates on $856 million a year in donations and investment proceeds. Patients are treated free of charge, and the hospitals don't take insurance, which has allowed them to provide care without worrying about insurance coverage, limits or bureaucratic procedures, Semb said. The Florida-based fraternal organization was hit in 2007 with accusations it used money intended for the hospitals to throw parties and that lax accounting mingled hospital donations and club funds in some locations, claims the Shriners disputed. Only a fraction of the donations raised by members are used to fund the hospitals.

Most of the operating fund comes from an endowment that has shrunk to $5 billion from $8 billion in less than a year because of the sputtering economy. Word of the proposed closures upset many patients and caregivers at the hospitals, where numerous treatments for childhood burns and disfiguring conditions have been pioneered over the last 87 years. "I've gotten to know these doctors like they're my best friends," said Andrew Willard, 15. Born with clubbed feet so severe that similar cases have required amputation, Willard has had countless surgeries to reconstruct his feet and ankles since infancy, including one last week, at the Greenville, S.C., facility. He said his relationship with the staff has eased the burden of the painful surgeries, and the hospital's proximity to his home has allowed his family to see him often during his hospital stays. The Shriners hospitals funding crisis has been building for years, Semb said. Dividends and interest from the group's endowment began withering even before the recent recession hammered them with investment losses. Donations leveled off a decade ago, and membership has declined to less than half of what it was 30 years ago.

The hospital system has been running at a loss since 2001, and the endowment is now hemorrhaging cash at $1 million a day, meaning the entire system could collapse in a matter of years if something isn't done, Semb said. The board of trustees proposed the closure of the hospitals in Shreveport; Greenville; Erie, Pa.; Spokane, Wash.; Springfield, Mass.; and Galveston, Texas, eliminating a total of 225 beds. The hospitals were chosen mainly because of too many vacant beds, Semb said. The Galveston facility has been closed since Hurricane Ike last fall, and the fraternal group put off any plans to reopen it until making a decision about its long-term future. Rather than closing all six hospitals, Semb said he'd like to see some sort of compromise, perhaps giving the targeted facilities several months to come up with partnerships or other financial arrangements to slow the financial drain. He said the Shriners also are considering allowing their hospitals to accept medical insurance payments for the first time.

Semb said the group may allow hospitals to bill insurance providers for whatever treatment would normally be covered if a child's family agrees, but any additional treatments prescribed by Shriners doctors would still be done for free. A group of staffers and patients from the Galveston hospital handed out pamphlets at the Shriners meeting, arguing that Semb and the trustees used Hurricane Ike as an excuse to keep the facility closed. "I know the wonders they can do for kids," said Gordon Pranger, 35, who was treated at the hospital after suffering third-degree burns over his entire body at age 14. "For me, it's all family and home. It's personal." Semb said he understands the emotions over the closure proposal. His wife's son was treated at the Springfield hospital for 19 years. "Every one of us doesn't want to leave a child untouched. We're concerned about children," he said. "But it's going to mean retrofitting the system." Windsor man killed in Sunday crash, woman critically injured We encourage commenting on our stories to give you a chance to express your opinion. We rely upon the online community to report abuse. Repeat violators may be banned from posting comments.

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Question: What fraternal organization is known for wearing fezzes and driving miniature cars?
Answer: Shriners