$2,000 physicals for busy execs

Tom Gilmore arrived at L.A.'s Good Samaritan Hospital on a bright Friday morning, sporting a dark blue Nike warmup suit the hospital had sent. Priscilla Castillo, VIP patient service manager, was waiting at valet parking to escort him to a waiting room, where coffee, tea, juices, fresh fruit and yogurt were continually replenished.

But he didn't have to wait long. Soon he was being escorted to an exam room, where the bathrobe he changed into was so plush and soft that he couldn't resist holding out an elbow for Castillo to touch, saying, "Wow, feel this. What do you think? Some sort of microfiber?" The slippers were just as snuggly, and they, along with the bathrobe and warmup suit, were his to keep. "For $2,000, it better be mine," he says.

That's the cost, not covered by insurance, of the most extensive physical examination he's ever had.

It's not your usual checkup. It's called an executive physical, and Gilmore, downtown real estate developer, was patient No. 1 at Good Samaritan Hospital's new program, which aims to market its preventive health services to busy downtown corporate types.

Such programs for years have quietly attracted those who can pay and want fast, excellent and comprehensive medical service. "They cast a halo over the public image of the hospital and might attract more admissions from well-insured patients," says Alan Sager, professor of health policy and management at Boston University School of Public Health.

Now, with a rich lode of high-income earners starting to occupy newly renovated lofts, marketers for the downtown hospital figured new residents need more than a place to walk their dogs and buy their groceries. They need a medical home, says Andy Leeka, chief executive of Good Samaritan Hospital. Similar programs are available in other area hospitals, including Scripps Center for Executive Health in La Jolla, Cedars-Sinai Executive Medical Services and UCLA’s Comprehensive Health Program.

Some so-called boutique medical practices offer equally comprehensive physicals. Such practices charge a flat annual fee, do not accept insurance and promise their patients quick appointments and plenty of time with the doctor. But the full complement of state-of-the-art testing and laboratory technology available at large hospitals isn't available under one roof at a boutique, or concierge, practice.