The first two Shriners’ patients are currently being treated at the University of Texas Medical Branch’s Burn Blocker Unit, which has agreed to give Shriners two beds in the unit, according to the report.
Shriners will perform only reconstructive surgery when the facility opens and won’t begin treating burn patients at the hospital until December, according to the report. The re-opened hospital will also be leaner and smaller, employing 200 workers as opposed to the 333 employees it had prior to Hurricane Ike.
Shriners will also begin to accept Medicaid and insurance payments rather than relaying solely on its trust fund as it had done in the past. However, officials from the hospital said Shriners will continue to accept any child regardless of his or her ability to pay, according to the report.
Read the Chronicle’s report about the Shriners Hospital for Children re-opening.
