Public Hospital Meeting

I attended my first public hospital commissioner's meeting tonight for the Samaritan Healthcare organization. Fascinating event. I attended because I believe my doctor, along with two others, was wrongfully fired. I was hoping to find some answers, but really not expecting any. I was pretty sure I would get the standard nonsense about not confidentiality, liability, and such. I wasn't disappointed. However, they were polite enough to tell me why organizations in general have that policy. It's not so much for liability as it is to keep a mud-slinging, he said/she said public argument from developing. This, of course, could lead to liability issues, but the initial gag-order is for that reason... or, at least that's the statement one gentleman in leadership made. It was obvious that not everybody there believed him.

I got what I expected regarding the commissioners' reasoning for firing the doctors without warning or a transition time to find a new doctor. I did not expect to find the gamut of people there, and their emotional reactions. I should have known better, but I really didn't think about it. I just assumed everybody there would politely let them commission know their opinion of the deal, and I would be the one having to hold my temper in check. Instead, I was one of the calm and polite ones. There was one professional there who was amazingly rude in his approach, threatening even to try and get a recall vote for the commissioners. I thought about explaining to him that people will have forgotten this issue within two weeks, but decided it would be a waste of breath. Another girl was trying to make the commissioners feel guilty about the fact that her doctor was fired by letting them know she would not go to any doctor now, and it is there fault for firing the only dr. she trusts. Ummm... that's your call, but it's only hurting you and your baby, since there are plenty of other doctors around.

So, there were a wide gamut of reactions, but I think the thing the commissioners needed to hear was that a) people disagree with their decision (no surprise there - they were expecting that), b) that people won't stay and just get new doctors - they'll go to the Moses Lake Clinic or another clinic before they go back to Samaritan Physicians (I think they're going to be surprised how many people don't come back, and how much more money they lose because of it), and c) they're going to have an even harder time recruiting physicians for this community because now they're known to fire doctors with little notice (I have no idea what they think of that idea, or how accurate that perception is). Nothing we could have or did say, no matter how professional and polite, would have brought the doctors back, but hopefully it made them rethink their opinions of the populace and how to manage health care in the future. I highly doubt it, but I'm hoping.

I stayed for the financial report afterwards (the only one of the public who stayed after the comment section), and it was very telling. Not only is the hospital struggling financially over the past several years, but part of the reason for that is that patient numbers in all arenas are down - outpatient, dr. visits, all the way to ICU and ER visits. It's made me question why, and what they're doing about it. Of course, I also question if it's all bad, as good health would lead to less hospital visits, too, but I really doubt if that's the reason for even a small percentage of the decline. So I'm wondering if they're being honest with themselves about the problem, and wondering how they can figure it out.

As for my family and I... for now we will endeavor to find a new doctor at the other local clinic until our doctor, Dr. hammering, decides whether he's going to stay, and where he'll set up shop if he does. If he stays, of course, we'll go with him. If not, we'll see. I hate to stay with Samaritan, especially if their goal is more patients, few doctors, and less time spent with patients over all (the general gist of the letter they sent out announcing Cole's departure). So, we'll try and find a doctor elsewhere. However, as for the hospital, that's a more difficult endeavor. Shari and I will be discussing that one. Our friends don't even discuss it any more, unless it's an immediate emergency, they drive all the way to Spokane. They've had nothing but bad experiences at the hospital, including one family member losing a leg because of a poor diagnosis. We've had nothing but good experiences there (except for one rude nurse in the birthing area), but I hate going there when I know their mentality. I understand hospitals have to make money, at least break even, to stay in business, but it can't be at a patient's expense. Now, how does socialized medicine play into all this? I don't know, but I'm betting it does. Anyway, we'll see how things go as time progresses.