Preserve Our Community Gem
The status and reputation of Pierre is elevated by the presence of Saint Mary’s Hospital. A number of local citizens were born in it and so were their children. There is a certain comfort knowing that if you have a medical need, its treatment is close, competent, and caring.
Saint Mary’s Hospital is and has long been a source of civic pride from the time its doors initially swung open. Local citizens point to its existence as proof that Pierre is no ordinary dust-bitten prairie town. The hospital lends sophistication to any evaluation of our community.
As a non-profit community hospital, Saint Mary’s continues to treat for little or no money many citizens who are not able to afford it themselves. Saint Mary’s also participates in the various State funded programs for those who do not have healthcare coverage.
The Hospital contributes to the economic base of the community, by employing a good number of local citizens and purchasing many items from local businesses.
All this can change quickly, however. In the worst case, St. Mary’s Hospital could be driven to the financial brink and have to discontinue services or even cease operations. It can happen. There are hundreds of small communities all across the nation where this has already occurred.
Think about it. How would you like not having a Pierre-based hospital?
The demise of a small community hospital begins when “outsider” providers of hospital services come to town. These outsiders are usually based in larger metropolitan areas and possess bigger and newer buildings, gee-whiz technology, and compelling marketing gimmicks. Their goal is to direct local citizens to their out of town facilities.
Doctors are not behind this strategy; businessmen are. Insurance companies are.
All doctors have pledged their lives to follow the Hippocratic Oath, which compels them to be a patient advocate. They will do for the patient what is best. If it means treatment at St. Mary’s, then that is what the doctor will do. If this means that it is in the best interest of a patient’s health to have treatment out of town, then the doctor will send that patient to Sioux Falls or the Mayo Clinic. The doctor will do so without hesitation or financial consideration. All Pierre doctors have been doing this for decades and continue doing it today. St. Mary’s hospital board and its CEO have embraced this approach for decades as well.
However, today’s businessmen do not see it that way. Instead, they see each patient who has “good insurance” as a revenue-producing customer. Businessmen are not interested in Medicare patients or welfare patients. These patients don’t help their bottom line. In order to pay huge executive salaries, for the whizz-bang technology, marketing gimmicks and sleek buildings, patient-customers with the highest profit potential are targeted.
OK. Where does this leave the local community hospital? Let’s think it through.
If the average patient census of occupied beds at St. Mary’s is 20, it is very reasonable to assume that only 10 of these patients cover their cost of hospitalization. Therefore, if the out of town hospital systems are successful in their marketing, they will compete for the 10 better paying patients, ignoring the others. Their goal is to direct profitable patients to their own out of town institutions, leaving the local hospital with the debt of treating the others.
Think about it. If the out of towners are able to re-direct just 5 patients, St. Mary’s Hospital will suffer a 50% decrease in its ability to treat the community at large!
As has been the case in many communities across the country where this scenario has played out, and the out of towners were successful with their “cherry picking” strategy, the local hospitals were forced to either curtail services or close permanently.
The purpose of this article is to make you aware that this scenario has begun in Pierre. Now it is up to you whether the long-term viability of St. Mary’s is continued. St. Mary’s is equipped and staffed to treat a wide variety of conditions, using the latest methods and technology. Our community doctors attended and graduated from the same training programs the out of town doctors have.
Think about it. Isn’t it comforting that when you need hospital treatment, it is close to home, and that your friends and neighbors work at the hospital and have a personal interest in your care, and you are receiving top quality care? If you go to an out of town facility, you won’t know any nurses or technicians. Your treatment will be impersonal. Your family will have to travel far to visit you; even incur the expenses of staying in a hotel.
If you choose to go out of town, your personal doctor won’t be visiting you every day. If you choose to stay in town, and your doctor has privileges at St. Mary’s Hospital, he will see you every day.
Don’t be deceived or fall victim to slick marketing. Talk it over with your doctor. Let’s keep our community gem and not let out of towners steal it from us.