Here in Calif we have the opposite of under utilization. Our hospitals are so over used (and under funded due to use by non paying illegal aliens) we have lost almost 100 hospitals in the last 10 years.

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=43275

And if you read between the lines in this speech by our Senator Diane Feinstein she is saying basically the same thing just couched in PC lib speak.

http://www.feinstein.senate.gov/speeches00/healthcare.html

And that was 6 years ago. Its become much worse since then.

But then I am often called a racist for not only using the “I” word but I insist on making a distinction between legal and illegal immigrants.

Sorry, I wasnt meaning to hijack this topic, my apologies.

Why did I say that? Because they didnt say they were merging the Catholic run hospitals with the others. They said they were merging them with the Catholic hospitals.

I had assumed that there were only two underutilized hospitals in that area. Are there more that could have been involved in a merger?

Plus my job of over 25 years has had me in and out of most of the hospitals in this end of the state and I can see plain as day that the Catholic hospitals are run in a much more conservative fiscal manner. I would assume it’s the same way in NY.

Fair enough. That’s just an anecdotal observation, but I respect where you’re coming.

Plus my job of over 25 years has had me in and out of most of the hospitals in this end of the state and I can see plain as day that the Catholic hospitals are run in a much more conservative fiscal manner. I would assume it’s the same way in NY.

What I find interesting about them merging with the Catholic run hospitals is that, to me anyway, it says they are run much more efficiently.

I don’t know how you drew that conclusion. This is just a matter of overcapacity. You take the best assets/people from each building and then close one of them.

I know most of you probably don’t consider it a “public health problem” in this case because the relevant medicines and procedures have to do with abortion, but take this logic to its extreme for a minute.

Suppose the only hospital serving your neighborhood happened to be based on a faith which frowned on manufactured medicine. Would you really feel safe living there?

The Weldon Amendment makes a clear distinction between medically necesary treatment and elective or optional treatment, so the argument dosn’t really work.

The real issue here is Abortion, and access to it. Anything that decreases the availability flys in the face of PP and the ACLU.

So the real issue is not about quality of health care, it is simply about the ACLU and PP being blocked by the Weldon Amendment and they are now trying to attack the same argument from a different direction.

Kind of, but not really. Ok, so the Weldon amendment is here to stay. That’s fine.

But when merging two hospitals results in an area that is served solely by a faith-based organization that exercises its right to restrict healthcare options, that does pose a public health problem to those who don’t subscribe that particular organization’s views.

I know most of you probably don’t consider it a “public health problem” in this case because the relevant medicines and procedures have to do with abortion, but take this logic to its extreme for a minute.

Suppose the only hospital serving your neighborhood happened to be based on a faith which frowned on manufactured medicine. Would you really feel safe living there?

Having said all that, it seems like the report addresses this issue. Page 9 says the merger should be “contingent upon Kingston Hospital continuing to provide access to reproductive services in a location proximate to the hospital.”

I’m not sure of the exact meaning of “reproductive services”, but my guess is that means there should be some sort of clinic in the area to serve that population.

If my understanding is correct, it seems like a pretty wise compromise, so I’m sure the ACLU and PP would go along with it once they are assured that something will be done to balance the needs of the whole community.

I do not like the idea of the government shutting down hospitals as it seems like a socialist exercise as well as anti competition.