NORTH BAY BOHEMIAN | DECEMBER 11–17, 2013 | BOHEMIAN.COM
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BOHEMIAN
Rhapsodies Hospital Fever
Healthcare now based on unknowns BY DEBRA HURST, JOHN FINNIGAN AND ANDREA BAKER
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n anticipation of the Affordable Care Act, hospitals and insurance companies nationwide have begun to cut back services. In California, Kaiser nurses recently reported that “over the last year, Kaiser has been making it harder for patients to be admitted for hospital care when sick or injured, and is sending patients home when they should still be under hospital care” (National Nurses United, Oct. 2013).
Another key local example is Sutter’s new Santa Rosa hospital, which will have reduced inpatient capacity from its current level. Now we learn that our hospital, Palm Drive, is following suit by reducing the number of beds from 37 to 14 (Press Democrat, Nov. 24). As West County nurses, we wish to express concern over these decisions and ask you to question what a hospital is for? Considering our growing population with its aging demographics, it is vital to reflect on the effects of hospital restructuring. Healthcare experts and hospital officials alike cite many factors in this “national trend”: further drops in Medicare and insurer reimbursements, declining inpatient admissions with increasing outpatient services, and “competition.” They also acknowledge “uncertainty” surrounding Obamacare, so it appears restructuring plans are evolving around unknowns. We question whether the restructuring may be precipitous and how it may impact patient safety. With beds and services reduced, where will we bed the acutely ill? Will decisions in hospital stays be guided by sound clinical judgment over profit? What care can properly be managed in outpatient settings? If beds are prescheduled for surgical patients, what criteria will be used for admissions in remaining beds? Who or what will determine who gets admitted vs. transported, possibly great distances? What exactly do insurers mean when they speak of “more choices” and what do hospitals mean when proclaiming “excellent patient care”? Hoping to raise awareness and promote discourse, we encourage all to ask these same questions. Our choice to work at Palm Drive is driven by our commitment to community, and as community nurses, we are first and foremost patient advocates. We believe equal access to health care is the right of every individual. Debra Hurst, John Finnigan and Andrea Baker are RNs at Palm Drive Hospital in Sebastopol. Open Mic is a weekly op/ed feature in the Bohemian. To have your topical essay of 350 words considered for print, write openmic@bohemian.com.
Her Loss Is Ours
Sujey Lopez’ letter is the most poignant expression of grief that I have seen in print in a very long time (“My Son’s Ashes,” Dec. 4). No matter how you feel about what happened to Andy Lopez, this mother’s words of heartbreak are raw and uncensored. It reminds us of the magnitude of the tragic sense of life. It makes it impossible to shy away from a mother’s rage against the horrifying injustice of the world. Her words implore us to feel the depth of the inexplicable loss, instead of numbing out like we are so often encouraged to do in this culture. Ultimately, her loss is ours, and our ability to understand one another’s hearts may just bring us more compassion and love this holiday. Bless you, Sujey Lopez and family.
them sounds admirable, but it looks like Goodwill’s CEO is getting rich off the labors of the very people Goodwill claims to be helping—most of whom are part-time workers paid $8.50 to $9.50 an hour. How is that different from what forprofit businesses like McDonalds and Walmart do?
You might want to keep this in mind when deciding which charities to support this holiday season and in the future. And if you’re looking for a good second-hand store at which to shop, consider the Salvation Army.
CHRIS WENMOTH Santa Rosa
Editor’s note: Goodwill’s CEO is none other than Mark Ihde, who as a former Sonoma County sheriff is also drawing a $69,084 annual pension on top of his current salary.
PAT HAGOPIAN Sebastopol
Exorbitant Salary Your readers might be interested to know that according to their most recent tax return, Goodwill Industries of the Redwood Empire paid its CEO $273,000 in fiscal year 2011–2012. This seems like an exorbitant sum of money for a supposed nonprofit organization to be paying. By comparison, Redwood Empire Food Bank paid its CEO only $137,000—half what Goodwill paid. Worse yet, the Food Bank’s 2011-2012 revenue was twice as much as Goodwill’s—$28 million vs. $15 million. So Goodwill’s CEO made twice as much money for bringing in half as much revenue. Also interesting is that Goodwill’s CEO made only $172,000 in 2010–2011. Why the $100,000 per year pay raise? Goodwill’s mission of providing training and jobs to those who need
Path to Education I attend an academy in Petaluma on the SRJC campus called Gateway to College. Gateway to College is a program to help youth who haven’t graduated high school or who struggle in high school. This program allows you to get your high school diploma and earn college credits at the same time. I would recommend this program to people if they have difficulties in school, or if they’ve dropped out and want to come back and get their diploma. This program has so much to offer; the teachers and staff are nice and down to earth, and they actually want us to succeed and get to know us as human beings, not just as students in a classroom. Being at this school has helped me in many different ways. I used to be absent all the time; now I have perfect attendance. I hated