EDGEWATER -- Our local hospital is once again considering two proposals it says it needs to maintain the facility now and in the future. One continues the tax-supported situation we currently have and is from Halifax Hospital. The other is from for-profit HMA. Everyone has an opinion about our hospital, which includes me.
I, for one, do not wish to have a for-profit hospital which has twice now been on 60 Minutes with negative reports alleging Medicare fraud and also setting quotas for admissions from the emergency rooms whether the patients need to be admitted or not. These reports included documentation from the hospitals governed by HMA and also interviews with former emergency room physicians who not only gave first hand accounts but also had copies of emails advising them they had not met the quota and other records they had kept showing the abnormalities this group uses for what they call patient care.
Naturally, the representative of HMA interview denied all the allegations. HMA has pledged to continue the indigent care program, but once they have a foothold how long do you think they will continue that?
When they stop helping the indigent, that will affect you if you end up needing care and have no funds for it at the time and no insurance. Many people, even though it will be mandated according to Obamacare to possess insurance, will not be able to afford it and will therefore go untreated. Is this what you want for your community?
Halifax and Bert Fish had a partnership in the past that failed, but I think they need to try to discover why that came about and revisit a partnership with another tax-supported hospital already serving the area.
I am not against new business in our town, but I am against HMA, which has a not so good a track record that our town’s folk will be drawn into or stuck with and the only alternative will be to drive to Daytona to Halifax or the New Ormond hospital.
Personally, if I have an emergency or need surgery I want to be here with my local doctor and not way up in Daytona somewhere with strangers. I also want my hospital to be striving to give the best patient care as well as being as above reproach as is possible in today’s world.
Please check out what is happening and speak out for what you think is best for this community. Let the hospital board know what you as the citizens using the facility desire now and in the future of your health care.
Things are only going to get more complicated with healthcare providers so do we need our hospital to be governed by a questionable authority at this time? I think not.