Commentary:
Memorial Medical Center appears to be upping its game.
Wednesday MMC held a public board meeting that was mostly comments and criticism from the public. Several folks started with a litany of bad experiences and criticism; Earl Nissen asked about the poor folks with cancer MMC turned away; but MMC gave good answers to many questions (though not Earl’s). When I suggested they hire an ombudsperson, they produced on the spot someone they’d already hired.
I still view with skepticism and concern Apollo Global, the private equity firm that owns Lifepoint, which owns and operates MMC. There’s significant tension between maximizing profits and maximizing patients’ care. Private equity firms sometimes wring hospitals dry. They’re under investigation, and bear watching – by feds, states, cities, and journalists. They’re part of a U.S. health care system that keeps our costs high and our care minimal. Elsewhere, health care is too essential not to be public. Only in the U.S. do medical bills cause 530,000 bankruptcies annually. That’s two-thirds of all U.S. bankruptcies.
Most providers at Memorial are competent and caring. We’ve had consistently good experiences, although some friends haven’t. Two surgeons operated on me this year, Dr. McGuire at Mountainview and Dr. Pinheiro at MMC. Both doctors came highly recommended, impressed me, and did great jobs.
MMC has an unusual situation. Because its predecessor, Memorial General, was a Hill-Burton public hospital, jointly owned by City and County, which still own the land, MMC’s lease and the purchase contract obligate MMC to keep operating certain departments open and fulfill other promises, including reporting requirements. MMC appeared in breach, notably of obligations to treat indigent patients with serious conditions such as cancer.
A public outcry and a national news story helped awaken the City to its oversight responsibilities. The City investigated. The City wrote MMC demanding compliance. The County joined in the demand.
The good news is that MMC is providing requisite information, if perhaps a little more slowly than the City might like, and negotiating issues. Sources at both City and MMC seem optimistic that the negotiations will lead to improvements, without costly litigation. Trusting no one completely, I’ll be interested to see what actually develops.
It’s good news that MMC has switched CEO’s. So the apparent good news comes after a lot of good people got punished and left, or got fired. The AG and others are still investigating possible medicare fraud and other alleged problems.
Dennis Knox, the new CEO, appears a breath of fresh air. He is more responsive to questions and concerns. He speaks of increased transparency. The other guy clammed up and wouldn’t even answer my calls when I investigated MMC for columns. He held Wednesday’s public board-meeting; MMC says it’ll do that once a year, henceforth. (I’d respectfully suggest every six months.) Yeah, the meeting was MMC trying to put on its best face; but no reasonable observer could fail to conclude that that Board includes at least a majority who seriously care about patients and community.
MMC has a lot of caring, competent providers, but it took those news stories, Yoli Diaz’s complaints, and the official investigations to prod Lifepoint into upping MMC’s game. The ultimate owner remains Apollo Global, which has given us reason to stay alert. Thanks, Yoli, Raul, Gretchen Morgenson, and local officials.
Peter Goodman's opinions are his own and do not necessarily reflect the views of KRWG Public Media or NMSU.