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Crow anyone?  I heard from day one how this for profit operation would be the "savior" of healthcare in the Shoals area, they were not ONLY interested in profit, they would be a good employer, they would build a wonderful NEW replacement hospital for ECM and all that questioned the motives and actions of this shady organization were either too skeptical or just plain old crazy. 

Well, what sides would you like with your meal of crow now that these medical carpetbaggers are showing their true colors?

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They aren't going to build it in Colbert County.  Colbert Co doesn't want that, Lauderdale Co doesn't want that, and more importantly, they aren't going to shell out $25mil in additional costs for not building in Lauderdale Co.

 

He's playing everybody so that when the site is announced - and they've known what the site will be for at least a year - they won't get any flak.

Originally Posted by FirenzeVeritas:

Crusty, you maybe right. You often are.

 

Three Locations?

 

I wonder if this is how Joe Roach always plays?

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You have to remember he came here and thought the (political) people in Colbert Co and at Helen Keller would be rational, and tried to work with them on some health care initiatives that would have been good for everyone.  They aren't rational over there, and he quickly found that out.  He's been playing it closer to the vest since then, and I don't blame him.

 

Our area hasn't heard a good idea in the 20+ years I've been here (except for Red Lobster).

Last edited by CrustyMac
Originally Posted by earthmomma:

As for me and my house, we shall continue to go to HKH!

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That's all well and good until you have something they can't handle - and as time goes on they will be able to handle less and less - then you are trucking it to Huntsville. 

 

He is right when he talks about regional health care facilities.  That is the new model that is becoming prevalent.  There is a large hospital in a region, then smaller community hospitals that handle basic care and feed everything else to the regional one.

 

Our area is large enough for a regional hospital, and Helen Keller has already sold out to the idea of being a local feeder.   

Originally Posted by uandurine:

Why not build the new hospital on the old Florence Country Club property, the city seems to have no use for it.


Great idea and while they are at it, sell the campus of the present ECM to UNA.  It is close enough to make excellent housing options and with ample parking for a variety of uses.

 

Of course this is a solution that makes WAY too much sense and avoids drama.  Not something that officials in the City of Florence, the trustees of UNA or the CEO of regional care will consider.

Originally Posted by uandurine:
Cox Creek Parkway (4 lane) and the part of Savannah highway (4 lane) are both pretty close to the old Florence Country Club property. I think arrangements could probably be made.

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As an added benefit, patients in the upper floors on the east side of the hospital could do some bird-watching.  They  could observe the activity of the numerous vultures that habituate the city's nearby landfill, feeding on scraps of putrescible (that's rotten, for those of you who have difficulty with words over two syllables) waste!  

Originally Posted by SuperWoman:

I have heard recently where some of the Dr's sold their practice to RHC, are now "salaried" employees of RHC and that their employees were immediately made part time, losing health and retirement benefits

I don't know about that, but I can tell you this.  If you are at ECM, you will have a daily doctor visit form a "hospitalist," a physician who is not an ECM employee, but who works for some doctors-for-hire firm under contract to ECM.  ECM apparently maintains only a skeleton crew of such hospitalists.  A patient's diet, IV's and other features of his/her treatment can not be adjusted until the hospitalist gives his/her OK. Since these physicians each have such a large case load, they inevitably will visit numerous patients late in the day.  Thus, it might be appropriate in the morning for a patient to have a needed change in diet, IV, or other factors, those changes can will not be made until late afternoon.  That can be a real inconvenience for a patient who has been on IV for several days and is hugely hungry for real food.  Some patients who could have been dismissed at 8 in the morning must nevertheless wait for the hospitalist's OK, which may not come until 5 or 6 in the evening.

Hospitalists are not a new thing, and certainly not new to ECM and north Alabama.  Both local hospitals use hospitalists since it is almost impossible to find a primary care physician who also admits and takes care of you while you are in the hospital.  Welcome to 21st century medicine, which certainly is not better nor have any advantage for the patient than the previous type. 

Originally Posted by teyates:

Hospitalists are not a new thing, and certainly not new to ECM and north Alabama.  Both local hospitals use hospitalists since it is almost impossible to find a primary care physician who also admits and takes care of you while you are in the hospital.  Welcome to 21st century medicine, which certainly is not better nor have any advantage for the patient than the previous type. 

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I know that hospitalists are not a new thing.  My complaint is that ECM appears to use such a small number of them that services to patients are sometimes unnecessarily delayed while awaiting approval from a hospitalist.  I agree that it would be better for  primary care physicians to do this kind of work, but considering the large patient loads they have and the need to maintain office hours, it would be near impossible for them to do so and to have any time available to eat and sleep.

Again, the law of supply and demand.  There is no supply, but a huge demand for hospitalists, at least ones that are capable of taking care of patient and being able to speak English, which is the most common language of the patient in this region.  If you cannot find them, you cannot hire them.  I am sure the administration of all of the local hospitals not only share your desire for more hospitalists, but also are forced to wallow in the misery that there are none willing to work in the current system and climate we find outselves.  If you have some knowledge of a large bank of competent hospitalists who are looking for work, please feel free to communicate those findings to local administrators.  There might even be a finder's fee for you.

Originally Posted by CrustyMac:

Well, most businesses consider 35 hour work weeks to be part time.   They have offered one solution to the problem, and I believe are still discussing solutions.

You are missing the big picture here......watch and see, this is just the beginning.  They have to cut costs in order to pay for the "New Hospital"......nothing personal though, it's just business.  After all, it is a FOR PROFIT facility.    Me....I want my healthcare to be personal.

 

I have no real idea.  Speculation on my part only would be that it was becoming too personal and was more about personalities than what is trying to be accomplished.  I am certainly not in the loop, and other than the information I was given, I don't know anything.  I know it was sudden, and effective immediately.  Practicing medicine and running a hospital here in the Shoals is really like no where else in the country.  That river is wide and deep.

Again, just my opinion, which does not count for much, but you can bet they knew what they were up against (though they may have underappreciated the task), but sometimes you need a scalpel to do surgery instead of a butcher knife.  I really liked Mr. Roach in my dealings with him and thought he was a good guy.  However every time you picked up the paper, or opened a forum around here, sooner or later he would be villified in it, whether it was warranted or not.  When it starts becoming a personality issue instead of a focus on the goal at hand, I am sure it becomes detrimental to the corporation.  I wish him well, but the people who are taking over his position are quite capable.

 

Quick resignations are usually either the result of being fired, or taking a new job.  If taking a new job, one usually stays around long enough to find a replacement - but, not always. 

 

One story I heard many years ago was about a local bank president who walked in one day, said his wife hated it here, resigned, and walked out never to come back.  ©

Last edited by CrustyMac

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