QUINCY — Gorge Ampitheatre concertgoers seeking medical help have cost the Quincy Valley Medical Center more than $500,000 in 2013.
The hospital is seeking financial help from Gorge operator Live Nation, but hospital officials say the company has not been responsive.
“After the Paradiso concert, we asked to sit down with them and discuss the situation,” administrator Mehdi Merred said. “It was left that they are not quite responsible for the behaviors, and they were not too interested in what I had to say.”
Concerts at the Gorge have cost the hospital money for several years, but the Paradiso Festival in late June put center officials over the edge, Merred said.
“It triggered not only our scrutiny, financially, but our frustration and our concerns,” he said.
More than 120 people visited the emergency room that weekend, many suffering from drug and alcohol abuse. One person died from a methamphetamine use. The hospital, about 15 miles from the Gorge, usually treats nine to 10 people during a typical weekend.
Officials have determined that they spent about $100,000 in additional hospital staffing because of concerts, but they have had to absorb $400,000 to $500,000 in unpaid bills.
“These people come in with false identification, no addresses, no credit cards, no driver’s licenses, sometimes no vehicle because a friend who saw them in a difficult situation brought them to the hospital,” Merred said. “They are not paying, and we’ve had to send bills to a collection agency.”
Live Nation spokeswoman Jacqueline Peterson declined to comment beyond saying the company is reviewing the hospital’s demands. “We are reviewing the situation and demands of the hospital, and we have no comment at this time,” she said.
Merred said the backlogs at the hospital during concerts are not fair to local taxpayers whose property taxes are supporting the hospital. “I cannot guarantee the same availability of care as usual to taxpayers because we will be bombarded,” he said.
Merred said he worries the situation will get worse in 2014. Live Nation has increased its season to include not one, but two Sasquatch! Festivals, one July 4 through 6.
“We haven’t had a concert there that weekend before, and that is the weekend we are already tied up with Crescent Bar crowds and George festivities,” he said.
But the big worry is the Paradiso Festival, scheduled for June 27 and 28. In 2012, it was a one-day festival, but it grew to two days in 2013.
