My position on our three community hospitals is simple. First, the medical, support and administrative staffs at Lourdes Medical Center, Kadlec Regional Medical Center and Kennewick General Hospital are superb professionals. We are blessed to have them caring for us.
Second, we need all three hospitals to be healthy, vibrant, innovative, effective and growing in order to meet the ever expanding medical needs of our region.
Third, recent actions by executives at Kadlec will stop KGH's Southridge project. KGH was recently issued a certificate of need to relocate 74 of its current 101 licensed beds. KGH needs to be able to develop its Sourthridge project to provide quality medical care for you and me. If Kadlec is opposed to KGH's recent minimal request for 25 beds, then they should fight that through the CON process, not hold the Southridge project hostage.
These executives' actions seem focused not on patient care, but on Kadlec market share. Such actions indicate that they have lost sight of a hospital's mission along with the physician's creed, "First, do no harm."
If you share my views, please call or write these executives and ask them to get back to the basics of providing quality health care for our community.
John Umbarger, Burbank
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Hospital at Southridge a healthy hope for KGH
Hospital at Southridge a healthy hope for KGH
Pardon our skepticism, but the way our two major hospitals are pursuing construction plans invites that reaction.
Kennewick General Hospital has been working on plans for a new hospital in the Southridge area for several years. Now, officials say they may be breaking ground for said hospital before the end of the year.
We're not sure what to make of that piece of information.
KGH says Southridge hospital construction could start this year
KGH says Southridge hospital construction could start this year
After years of delays, the Kennewick Public Hospital District could break ground on a new hospital at Southridge by the end of this year.
Kennewick General Hospital CEO Glen Marshall told the Herald that although a funding source for the $112 million project is yet to be made public, he is confident the project is poised to start construction soon.
"We are not at a point today that we can make any kind of an announcement, but I believe in the very near future the board will be making an important decision and the project will be moving forward," Marshall said. "We are certainly not sitting back and doing nothing on this."
Candidates tout their background in finance, health care for Kennewick hospital district
Candidates tout their background in finance, health care for Kennewick hospital district
Incumbent Katherine Davidson says voters should give her another term on the Kennewick Public Hospital District Board because of her public accounting experience and knowledge of hospital finances.
"Kennewick (General Hospital) is growing; 2011 is very good," Davidson said. "We have no signs right now of slowing down. I think the board and the administration work very well together. I think we need to keep that on track."
In particular, Davidson, 47, says voters shouldn't change board members mid-stream when the district is close to securing financing to build a new hospital in the Southridge area.
Kennewick General Hospital out of Group Health network
Kennewick General Hospital out of Group Health network
KENNEWICK -- Kennewick General Hospital no longer will be part of the Group Health network after the end of October.
The hospital and health insurer disagree about how contract negotiations reached this point, but both said Wednesday that they were disappointed.
Group Health members who use KGH starting in November will have to pay either a higher percentage of their cost of care or all of the cost, depending on their Group Health plan. Emergency room care will continue to be covered, although members will pay a higher percentage of the cost because KGH is out of network.
Some rural Mid-Columbia hospitals at risk from state, federal cuts
Some rural Mid-Columbia hospitals at risk from state, federal cuts
What looks on the surface like relatively small state and federal budget cuts to hospitals could mean the loss of the Tri-Cities' largest mental health services provider.
The cuts specifically affect hospitals with the "Critical Access Hospital" designation, and in the Mid-Columbia include small public hospitals in Prosser, Othello, Sunnyside and Dayton.
Lourdes Medical Center in Pasco also is designated as a Critical Access Hospital, and officials there say the combination of state and federal cuts will drive Lourdes Health Network's operating budget several million dollars into the red, causing the network to re-evaluate its spectrum of services.
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