By Bill Forry

Pulling out of Columbia-Savin Hill's Little House Health Center may make good business sense for Beth Israel-Deaconess Medical Center on paper. The Brookline hospital is finding out the hard way, though, that crossing swords with Dorchester politicians can come at a dear price, too.

Mayor Tom Menino says has not yet given up on efforts to convince BI-Deaconess president Paul Levy to reach a compromise short of closing the storefront at 990 Dorchester Ave.

"Paul Levy has not been responsive at all," Menino told the Reporter this week. "But we're still in the ninth inning. There's many more innings, though, and Paul Levy and I can play extra innings."

Menino, who has met twice privately with Levy in an effort to broker a deal to keep the Brookline hospital from shutting down the neighborhood's smallest community health center, is not the only politician actively seeking to halt the closing.

Last week, State Senator Jack Hart lashed out at BI-Deaconess president Paul Levy, noting that the hospital's decision to abandon Little House stands in "stark contrast" with a plan to partner with Milton Hospital. The two hospitals announced an affiliation deal in February, just a month after BI-Deaconess rolled out its decision to shut down the Dorchester Ave. center.

"I continue to be astonished by Beth Israel's choice to walk away from its responsibilities to the Little House Health Center and the residents of its surrounding Dorchester neighborhood," Hart wrote in a letter dated March 6. "While the stated reason for Beth Israel's disinvestment in the Dorchester community is the fiscal loss being suffered at the Little House, BI is now entering into a relationship with an institution that continues to suffer substantially larger losses."

Hart also noted that BI-Deaconess has publicly claimed to want to "expand" its affiliations with clinics and doctor groups, a philosophy that Hart says does not jive with the Little House decision.

"It is quite clear from BI's actions that it is not concerned with either the health or well being of the Dorchester community served by the Little House, or with a continued relationship with these city residents," Hart scolded Levy. "I continue to stand with Mayor Menino and my legislative colleagues in demanding a resolution to this issue that is fair to my Dorchester constituents. Beth Israel Deaconess should leave the Dorchester community gracefully by making a major financial contribution that helps keep these desperately needed services in our neighborhood."

BI-Deaconess spokesperson Judy Glasser said Tuesday that Hart's letter resulted from a "misunderstanding of our relationship with Milton Hospital."

"It's a clinical affiliation, a partnership and sharing of expertise. We're not making any financial investment. We have clinical relationships with lots of hospitals and health centers. That's a very different thing than the Little House. We were supporting their bottom line and running it."

Still, city councillor Maureen Feeney told the Reporter last week that she is similarly outraged by the message sent by BI-Deaconess.

"I know what they're going to say: that there's no financial commitment (with Milton Hospital). The fact is they are leaving a community of need to go to a more affluent community."

"I am personally offended by it," Feeney said. "I think Paul Levy needs to take a good look in the mirror."

Beth Israel-Deaconess took control of the Little House Health Center in 1998, after the community board that founded the center voted to end a 25-year partnership with Dorchester's Caritas Carney Hospital. In January, BI-Deaconess President and CEO Paul Levy confirmed rumors that the hospital planned to shut down the center in April 2003.Levy cited a declining patient load, limited capacity at the facility and "the financial challenges facing Beth Israel-Deaconess" as factors that led to the decision.

But, Levy has come under intense criticism from Mayor Tom Menino, Senator Hart, Rep. Marty Walsh and Councillor Feeney for refusing to negotiate to keep the center open. Two other Dorchester health centers, Codman Square Health Center and Dorchester House, have offered to take over management of the Little House, but have asked BI-Deaconess to pay for the first-year debt they would inherit.

On Feb. 19, BI-Deaconess announced a "clinical affiliation" with Milton Hospital "to enhance services for patients in the local community." Final details of the affiliation are expected at the end of this month.BI-Deaconess spokesperson Judy Glasser said she would not comment on any discussions Paul Levy has had with Mayor Menino, but said the hospital was "proceeding with our comprehensive plan to transition the health center's patients."