Letters to the Editor 7-21-16

SWMC woes
EDITOR: I have been following the news about Palm Drive Hospital for several years, (calling it Sonoma West Medical Center is “putting lipstick on a pig” as my Gramma used to say). I remember attending a meeting many years ago when selling property near the hospital was discussed. When asked for public comment I suggested that they wait until the vote on the parcel tax (which was due in a few months) before the hospital sold assets. I felt then, and feel now, that many decisions re: hospital management were being made in a state of panic and that does not make for good decisions. Ever.
Here’s my advice, for free. Save a few million dollars on consultants and simply get rid of the Emergency Room and the ancillary services that support it. Without an ER you would not have to pay for 24/7 hour nursing and physician care, ICU beds, and inpatient beds. Become a stand-alone urgent care center and outpatient surgery center. Stay open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., triage urgent care patients, stabilize them, and transport (for a fee) to other medical centers located within a short distance of Sebastopol.
To say that “we need more ER patients” in order to “break even” as I have read is beyond ridiculous. Perhaps you could hire someone with a hammer to “knee cap” innocent bystanders and then rush them to the ER? I mean, how else are you going to increase ER visits?
Focus on surgery that can be done quickly and on the same day. That would be helpful to the legions of patients who need new hips and knees (I’m thinking meniscal tears) and ankles, etc. Patients would be grateful and you might become solvent.
But watching well-intended people continue to re-invent the wheel is frustrating.  Enough, already!
Connie Kellogg
Sebastopol