Bad news for emergency medicine in New York
Posted by CEP America on Thu, Feb 11, 2010 @ 11:29 AM
By Marty Ogle, MD
If there were any doubts that our healthcare system is broken, the news from New York City regarding the closure of venerable St. Vincent's hospital should make it clear.
This isn't a community clinic we're talking about. For more than 150 years, St. Vincent's has treated victims of calamities including the cholera epidemic of 1849, the sinking of the Titanic in 1912, the 9/11 attack and, just last year, the Hudson River landing of US Airways flight 1549.
As the article states, a chain of hospitals has offered to take over St Vincent's, shut down its inpatient beds and most of its emergency room services, and convert it into an outpatient center tied to hospitals uptown and on the East Side. A day after the proposal was given, members of the Sisters of Charity, the order of nuns that founded the hospital in 1849, gathered for a noon Mass at St. Vincent's chapel and declared that they would continue to serve the community, including the poor.
Yet it seems this calling is why the hospital has become obsolete. Other hospitals emphasize high-tech care and rush to invest in fancy equipment and celebrity doctors that attract patients with the means to pay. Meanwhile, St. Vincent 's simply sticks to its motto of "compassionate care."
Cash-wise, St. Vincent's has few places left to turn. With low hopes of finding more money, its emergency room is now barely open, and has told the fire department to start rerouting ambulances to other facilities.
It's astounding that a hospital that's served its community for over 150 years -- that continued until the end to provide compassionate care to the most needy -- just doesn't seem to be what the special interests have in mind. And if you're thinking that somehow healthcare reform will save the day, there's a nearby bridge I'd like to sell to you.This is another example of how our healthcare system has let the public down. Instead, the system moves away from those in need and marches lockstep with what the special interests want. As emergency physicians, we have the duty to ensure that we don't forfeit our integrity and control to those who see "healthcare" as nothing more than a revenue stream. Advocacy is the only way our voices will be heard, so don't be afraid to speak out! Before the next St. Vincent's happens.
I look forward to your comments.