Wednesday forum part of larger effort to preserve essential
health care provider
By Will Collette
Later today, a new group called the Westerly Hospital
Area Residents Committee will hold an informational session at the hospital for
interested citizens to hear more about the challenges Westerly Hospital
faces to its survival.
The Hospital is currently under the supervision of a Special
Master and is, for all practical purposes, insolvent. Without either a miracle
or a buyer such as Lawrence & Memorial Hospital of New London, the future
of the hospital is in doubt.
For many Charlestown
residents, Westerly
Hospital is the nearest
facility for emergency and other hospital-based services. Many of our area’s
doctors, specialists and medical services are clustered in and around the
Hospital.
Westerly Hospital, like South County Hospital, suffers from
being paid a different, lower rate for its services than facilities in the
metro area, even though, quite arguably, it’s as expensive, if not more so, to
maintain services in a lower population area.
Some health care planners are fine with the idea of
concentrating services where population is concentrated. Without denying the
need for more services where there are more people, there is more to the
equation. Like the mortality rate for heart attack, accident or stroke victims
when it takes an hour to transport them to Rhode Island Hospital, rather than
10 minutes to Westerly.
Our state legislators – Reps. Donna Walsh and Sam Azzinaro
and Sen. Dennis Algiere have fought for fairer reimbursement rates with some
success, but not enough to stave off Westerly
Hospital’s financial
emergency.
If you support Westerly
Hospital’s survival, or
simply want to find out more about the problems the Hospital faces, you should
plan to attend Wednesday’s session.
Please see the details, below.
