Questions on hospital ER move (4/22/03)

To the editor:

Residents of Jay County, I urge you to please stand up and voice your opinion. Please do not sit idly by and let the Jay County Hospital Board get by with what they are trying to do.

I personally do not agree with the board’s decision on going with ECI for the ER provider and I have been trying to check on this situation. Although I am sure I still don’t have all the details, I am sure that there is some kind of, shall we say “monkey business,” going on.

Whether it is politics of the hospital management, a conflict of personalities, someone trying to get the upper hand, or jealousies, things aren’t as they appear.

Here are questions that I have asked to the administrators of both the hospital and Preferred Medical Management Inc.:

•Was price an issue that weighed in on the board decision?

•Were there complaints made against PMMI?

•Are the doctors under PMMI quality doctors?

•Why does the board want to go with another provider?

•What do they mean more depth?

•Was PMMI asked to provide paramedic services?

•Were the bidders given a list of services to bid on?

•Why doesn’t PMMI have enough depth? They provide paramedic services to Huntington Hospital. Is the board trying to tell us that a small rural hospital needs more services than Huntington Hospital?

•Why has PMMI went through so many directors in ER services? Could the reason be disgruntled health care workers are trying hard to make PMMI look bad?

•When complaints were lodged against the ER directors for not having leadership quality and Dr. Myron took over as the director, why was he told he could not be in the director position?

•Do you know who picks the ER director? Is the director picked by provider or the administrator and medical staff?

•Is it true that if ECI gets the contract that they will try to hire back the doctors employed by PMMI?

•Will ECI’s director be a local, a regional, a district director or someone even farther away that is sitting an office out-of-state making decisions that affect our hospital?

•Is it true that ECI wants the current director in their leadership role? If this is true, then when did this director suddenly gain leadership qualities?

•We have been told that ECI will require all doctors to live in Jay County so they can support the county. Will ECI support the county by donating to the 4-H, FFA, churches and other organizations?

•Did the board check references? If references were checked they were given just a few hospitals to check on. Was there a list of hospitals past and present that have contracted with ECI provided so the board could check hospitals on a random basis?

•Has the chamber or JCDC spoken with the board or administrators asking why the decision is being made to not recruit locally when we are constantly told to shop local?

Like I said these were just a few of the questions I asked. You need to contact the administration, PMMI, ECI, the county commissioners and most certainly the hospital board and get your issues.

I was told that cost wasn’t an issue and no complaints were lodged against PMMI.

I truly wish there was more time to check out things, but a vote will be taken Wednesday, April 23 on the provider. I believe even without all the facts in that the board is doing a grave injustice to our community if they go with a firm that is out of county and worse, out of state.

The board members who voted to change providers should be ashamed of their decision changing providers without clear and obvious reasons. I am glad that Mr. Davis and Mrs. Kummer had the willpower to vote their conscience and what is best for the community.

I ask the board members to delay the vote this Wednesday and have an advertised public meeting on the issues, where the board members who are against the current provider state their reasons and residents have the chance to ask questions. You were appointed by our county commissioners to oversee the hospital. If you intend on staying with your previous decision, maybe it is time to do more than change the ER provider — maybe a clean sweep of the hospital administrators, medical staff or anyone else who would rather play childish games than what they were hired for. And maybe you, as a board member, should resign for taking part in such games.

Please contact our county commissioners Mike Leonhard at (260) 726-6510, Milo Miller Jr. at (260) 726-4721 and Gary Theurer at (260) 335-2779 and let them know how you feel since they pick the board.

If you want to voice your opinion to one of the board members they are as follows: John Young (260) 726-2565; Dean Jetter (260) 726-2203; Randy Heston (260) 726-9666; Ken Walters (260) 726-4756; Dr. David Vormohr (260) 726-6224; Bill Davis (260) 726-4727; and Debbie Kummer (765) 369-2644.

Please take a few minutes and speak to the people listed above. There isn’t much time.

Sincerely,

Sue Ann McLaughlin

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