I JUST CAN'T "LET IT BE"

I think the local hospital has let down the citizens of Henry County. The administration and board of directors has chosen to transfer our hospital bit by bit to St. Vincent’s.

For years the hospital’s board of directors and administration has promised that this hospital will remain loyal to Henry County citizens and under local control. The recent facts paint quite a different picture.

First the administration took over the practices of primary care doctors. The FPs fell first, then the pediatricians and finally the internists at the Clinic. The few primary care physicians that remained independent were pushed out of hospital practice. All save yours truly (so far).

Next, the administration replaced these local doctors with hospitalists from St. Vincent’s. This decision prevents you from being cared for by your own doctor when you’re in the hospital. Instead your life is in the hands of nurse practitioners and doctors you have never met before.

Then, the administration contracted with St. Vincent’s to supply the emergency room doctors. This decision marginalized our local and longstanding ER physicians.

Most recently, the administration announced a “partnership” with St. Vincent’s to start a heart cath lab. It should come as no surprise now hat our hometown cardiologist is being replaced by cardiologists from our “partner”.

You don’t have to be a brain surgeon to know that it is just a matter of time before a statue of Mary is out front, welcoming patients to the latest hospital being incorporated into the St. Vincent’s network.