HOSPITAL -- 50/50

Hi Forum,

The feasibility study is impressive. A lot of dedicated work has been done by local community leaders on the urgent need for a hospital. Many thanks are deserved from us all.

My read of the facts now on the ground suggests to me that part of the issue in going forward is the hospital stake holders themselves -- whether White River or Baxter or Fulton Hospital.

On my earlier post on the hospital plan, I mentioned that a 24/7 Urgent Care/ER -- a kind of hybrid emergency hospital with urgent care to keep unnecessary ER admissions and overall costs down was an approach now being explored elsewhere. What I didn't mention was that it was an approach undertaken by two otherwise competing hospitals. That's right, rival hospitals! They each put up 50% of the start-up costs and formed a joint venture for this one project, pooling technical and physician resources and cutting down overall costs.

The other thing about this half ER/Urgent Care is that it is totally wired into the larger hospital systems for electronic consultation. These hospitals also share a rota and pool of doctors for the ER/Urgent Care. I'm talking about a substantial facility in quality and ability more than size-- a lean and powerful mini-hospital that can save lives and supply routine urgent care outside of the ER setting.

Competing is not always good in healthcare. I hope the major stake holders will look at a way of pooling resources and sharing start-up cost to make this urgently needed hospital a reality for Sharp County.