Submitted by Alexander Woo, Dec 11, 2006 22:38

Closing any hospital can be catostrophic. This plan to close hospitals in NYS will cause a domino effect on other neighboring hospitals. They will be overwelmed, unable to provide appropriate care. I will be focusing on Cabrini Medical Center (CMC) since I am an employee there for 8 years.

The Berger Commission has stated that Beth Israel Medical Center (BIMC) can absorb many of Cabrini's patients. They should see how many times BIMC went on EMS diversion (asking for EMS ambulances to divert to another facility due to insufficient staff/beds/etc in the ED) in 2006, which was a lot (one time is too many). If they were to take over the care for these CMC patients how will they do so? More physicians, nurses, allied health professionals, and support staffs must be hired, this takes time. Reconstruction of BIMC must must break ground now to better service these thousands of patients in 2008 when Cabrini is proposed to close. This cost money, it doesn't save money.

Is this a quick fix by the state to ammend the broken healthcare industry? The root of the problem is the abuse of Medicaid (MK) and its affiliates. MK is a purposeful program if issued, used, and monitored appropriately. Many users are abusers. These few have destroyed our healthcare industry. MK pays flat prices for different services, there is no co-pay, no annual fee, and is accepted everywhere, where healthcare is provided. If we focus our energy on these people, the healthcare industry wouldn't be in the depression it is in. This is how we save money.

Health advertisement, promotion, education, and prevention is foremost. If people lived and ate healthier, engaged in some mild excersise regiment, they wouldn't be as sick and many diseases and illnessess can be prevented. Another is health maintainance and restoration. If people would change there unhealthy lifestyle, keep their doctor's appointments, follow their doctors advise, fill and take their prescription as directed, they can live productively with their illnesses and diseases. This is how you save money.

As a non for profit private hospital, we provide care and services for little to no monetary gain. Breaking even is the ultimate goal, which CMC never reaches. We do not receive the same amount of funding compared to other private hospitals in NYC, NYC and NYS hospitals, we receive less. For over 100 years Cabrini has provide care with compassion to all it has served. The hospital business is unlike any other business. Health services will be provided regardless if the patient can pay, "Es la Ley." If care was provided and it cost thousands of dollars and the person was unable to pay, which happens a lot, the hospital receives no money for the services provided. In the business world, you pay then get. In other words we are a business that isn't profitable and we are not in operation to do such. So we are not a business and shouldn't be looked as one.

Closing Cabrini and other hospitals will not save any money. It will cost more money to keep hospitals operational absorbing the closed hospitals' patient load. Thousands of jobs will be lost. Most will recover but many will not. Unemployment will be up and this does not save money.

Respectfully,

Alexander Woo, EMT-P

Assistant Manager, Pre-hospital Care Dept, Cabrini Medical Center

Adjunct Faculty, Borough of Mahattan Community College, CUNY

Note: Comments are screened, and in some cases edited, before posting. We reserve the right to reject anything we find objectionable.