Letters to the Editor 9-4-14

Thank you Sebastopol
Editor: A huge heap of gratitude to all of you who came out to enjoy the Peacetown Summer Concert Series at Ives Park. Every week it was a wonderful gathering of friends, who came together to enjoy the music and camaraderie at Ives Park. The music was superb and the vibes you created with your presence made my heart sing. Cold beer from Lagunitas and fine wine from Taft Street helped to lubricate the festivities, but mostly it was your loving hearts coming together to just be with each other in harmony. It is the way the whole world should be, and the way we do in Peacetown.
Big thanks go out to the City of Sebastopol that supported these concerts and our Public Works Department who made the park ready every week. All the sponsors that stepped up with generous contributions made it possible to get fabulous local entertainment. And all the entertainers really enjoyed playing for everyone in this intimate setting in the midst of a beautiful redwood grove.
We were all blessed by the experience. Stay tuned for next year for more weeks and lots more fine musical acts. Thanks again for coming out. You made it happen.
In harmony,
Jim Corbett
“Mr. Music”
Unfair comparison
Editor: Regarding Frank Robertson’s column comparing Palm Drive Hospital to the West County Health Centers (“Say ‘ahhh,” Aug. 28):
There is a big difference between Palm Drive Hospital and the WCHC that does not permit a fair comparison. The WCHC is basically a doctor’s office providing many services to patients. The offices can operate normal business hours. The WCHC is reimbursed by insurance providers, but mainly by MediCal. I believe they receive better reimbursement from MediCal for the services provided, and they are supported by grants from government agencies and other entities.
A hospital, on the other hand, does not employ doctors and falls under a completely separate set of rules. To have an emergency room you need to have not only the emergency room, but an Intensive Care Unit, a surgery, a laboratory, radiology, medical surgical beds, a pharmacy, respiratory therapy as well as other requirements. All these services have to be staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week, whether you have no patients, one patient or 15 patients. This staffing results in a very high overhead for the hospital. The hospital depends on insurance providers including Medicare and MediCal. The recent change to the Affordable Care Act radically changed the reimbursement the hospital receives from Medicare. Whereas before Medicare reimbursement covered about 90 percent of the cost of providing the services, this changed on Jan. 1 and Medicare now only covers about 70 percent of the cost of providing the services. Since Medicare is over 50 percent of the hospital’s patients, this leaves a huge deficit that cannot be made up from other insurers that some of are willing to pay for the services.
The Palm Drive Healthcare Foundation has not been able to provide fundraising to fill the gap, witnessed by their claim that they have provided $1.2 million over the last 10 years. Compare that with the Healdsburg Hospital’s Foundation that provided their hospital with $14 million last year alone.
Definitely an unfair comparison.
Frank Mayhew,
Former District Board member
Off the mark
Editor: In last week’s issue, Frank Robertson writes a column that’s so off the mark it’s less than pitiful (“Say ‘ahhhh,’” Aug. 28). The old apples and oranges comparison. PDH was 1) Open all the time; 2) They did real surgeries, replaced hips, etc.; 3) They treated more than just a little scrape; 4) The nursing staff was very talented and helpful; 5) Their diagnostic equipment was excellent; and, 6) They had a real emergency facility — saved one of my acquaintances who’d had a heart attack. I could go on. We need our hospital back. This agricultural, west county area has dangerous jobs lurking on every farm and vineyard. We need a real west side hospital.
Paul Geiger
Sebastopol
Unanswered questions
Editor: The new proposal by the Palm Drive Hospital Foundation to reopen Palm Drive Hospital leaves questions unanswered. Clearly a lot of energy and time went into the proposal and it looks like a possible solution. The strategy involves the marketing of specific services, raising funds from philanthropic sources and rebranding the hospital. Since the proposal does not include the financial analysis (yet to be disclosed), it’s hard to understand how it will become solvent.
I have two specific concerns. First, the Foundation proposes that a new non-profit entity be formed to run the hospital and that a 13-member board be appointed and approved by both the District and the Foundation. In light of the fractious nature of recent relations between the Foundation and District Board, if a genuine healing does not occur, then I fear that this new non-profit board could well perpetuate the rift, and factions will maneuver for control.
The second concern is in regard to the cost of services and billing. Anyone who has read the Time Magazine article  “Bitter Pill, Why Medical Bills are Killing Us” (April 4, 2013), realizes that not for profit medical centers don’t necessarily translate into lower cost for consumers. As the article points out, routine services can be marked up hugely using an electronic pricing system called Chargemaster. The article documents many examples of overcharging such as $1.49 for a pill that cost retail $1.49 for 100 pills, and $77 for a box of gauze pads that cost very little retail. One hospital charged $199.50 for a troponin test (blood) on a non-Medicare patient whereas Medicare would have paid $13.94 to the institution for the same test.
So the question is: will this new entity charge fairly for products and services? Can we depend on this public institution to care more about care of patients and less about big paychecks? In many medical institutions, administrator paychecks are huge. It seems that the framers of the proposal to reopen have the public interest at heart. Now they need to prove it.
For the record, I’m a lifelong Kaiser client but would appreciate an emergency room close by.
Richard Nichols
Sebastopol
Self-serving Council
Editor: I believe our City Council continues to serve itself, and is not really based on what is important for the city or what the citizens want.
I think the Council wanted former council member Michael Keyes’ wife in the empty council seat because they thought she would follow their agendas.
Maybe instead of raising more tax money, they might focus on our children and the drug issues and learn to operate on a given budget like every one else.
We have had to add to our budgets the 18 percent water and sewer raise this year and am told by the City there will be another raise next year, plus our property taxes are going up since the rise in property values has occurred.
The Council now wants to add a tax on our landlines, cell phones, garbage, as well as gas and electric. Businesses, families and seniors are being priced right out of Sebastopol.
Sarah Gurney has been on the City Council for 12 years now and is running for another term, Isn’t time for a change?
Another ongoing expense for the city is the CVS lawsuit which surpassed $400,000 last year, according to the Sebastopol newsletter and is still unresolved.
The only one who tried to work with CVS was Kathleen Shaffer, who also came up for reelection at that time and a very, very nasty campaign was run against her. A correction also needs to be made regarding who implemented the Christmas lights on main street, it was Kathleen Shaffer.
The new hotel the Council approves of is being run by the Palasades group who has 25 other facilities, isn’t that considered a chain?
Main street will lose even more business, an occupancy projection cannot be made on a hotel with no guarantee of patrons. Traffic will increase with vendors and employees coming and going, and who can say what time people come and go in a hotel?
Linda Rouse
Sebastopol
El Molino’s next 50 years
Editor: This is an exciting time at El Molino as we enter the next 50 years of excellence.
Last year we celebrated the 50th Anniversary of El Molino and said goodbye to a school leader whose dedication and commitment to the students, faculty, staff and community of El Molino were unwavering, Ms. Doria Trombetta. Having the good fortune of three years of Ms. Trombetta’s mentorship has afforded me the understanding and ability to guide El Molino into these next 50 years.
This year has not only begun with a change of leadership with my succession to principal, but with Ms. Dani Barese, an outstanding English teacher at El Molino, becoming the vice principal.
Changes are also occurring in our classrooms. Seven new teachers have joined an already inspiring cadre of El Molino teachers and our new teachers all bring the passion and skills necessary to make our students college and career ready upon graduation.
Having a strong faculty and staff helps effectively implement the existing and new classes offered this year at El Molino. We are continuing to offer classes that will prepare students to graduate college and be career-ready such as Project MAKE, physics, AP Spanish, music, AP calculus and viticulture along with new classes such as 9th grade AP geography, Ag mechanics, floral design and Farm to Table. Engaging students with 21st century learning strategies will only better prepare our students for their futures.
Supplementing our strong and robust academic offerings, El Molino offers a variety of extracurricular activities for students. These range from participating in one of our many sports as part of our Integrated Athletics program, to being involved in one of our theatrical productions. To help students further their involvement in one of these activities, an activity bus will run from El Molino to Guerneville and Monte Rio, Monday through Thursday. The bus departs promptly from the bus circle at 5:45 p.m. Having students engage in structured, school-based extracurricular activities helps students organize their time so that they can maintain focus on their academic work.
We are looking forward to a great year and an excellent next 50 years of El Molino success. Our confidence in the future stems from our lion pride and because together, We Are El Molino,
Matt Dunkle
Principal, El Molino High School