Hospital debate...again!

Here we go again...

It appears that this issue is getting white hot again. I had hoped that Williamson and Maury counties would do something new for a change...like tell the truth. To be quite honest, I don't really enjoy fighting a battle that is this clear cut. It annoys me more and more each day to consider that our counties are going to continue spend our cash (with SIX zeroes behind it) to fight against their own citizens.

Read the articles listed below, then let's talk about "truths" and "facts".

Enjoy!

Columbia Daily Herald hospital article

PR battle over hospital heats up

By SKYLER SWISHER/Staff Writer
A group that supports building a $104-million HCA hospital in Spring Hill plans to undertake an extensive letter-writing and advertising campaign in an effort to force competing hospital officials to drop their opposition, according to an e-mail circulated to members.

But a Williamson Medical Center spokeswoman said the group is little more than a front for the nation’s largest for-profit hospital chain, HCA Inc.
The Citizens for Spring Hill Hospital meet last week to discuss ways to pressure Williamson Medical Center and Maury Regional Hospital into dropping their opposition to a $104-million competing hospital planned by HCA Inc. (Staff photo by Melissa Webb)

“The Citizens for Spring Hill Hospital was created by, has been led by and continues to be guided by HCA,” said Laura Bustetter, director of marketing and public relations for Williamson Medical Center.

The e-mail, which was written by Spring Hill hospital supporter Cindy Jobe, advises members to send letters to the editor, call Maury and Williamson county commissioners and begin formulating a newspaper ad campaign.

“Let’s get it stirred up so much over December that these (county) commissions are forced to address this issue at their January ... meetings,” wrote Jobe, one of the initial organizers of Citizens for Spring Hill Hospital and the wife of a physician employed by HCA.

In July, the Tennessee Health Services and Development Agency voted 7-1 to approve HCA Inc.’s TriStar proposal to build a new hospital in Spring Hill. The decision was appealed by Williamson Medical Center and Maury Regional, both county-owned hospitals, and a hearing before an administrative law judge is scheduled to begin April 11.

The Maury County Commission and several neighboring legislative bodies have passed resolutions in support of Maury Regional.

Bustetter said it is her understanding that HCA and its public relations firms have ghostwritten letters to the editor and hired a blogger to drum up support for the hospital.

“When they are trying to project that we have a groundswell of citizens involved, quite a bit of that is driven by HCA,” she said.

Members of the organization denied Bustetter’s accusations, saying they received absolutely no support, clerical or otherwise, from HCA.

“People are passionate about this issue, and we are not short of volunteers,” Jobe said. “We have got a whole community behind us. We don’t need a corporation driving us.”

Rita Williams, a spokeswoman for Maury Regional Hospital, said she had no knowledge of letters to the editor written by PR specialists or a blogger being hired by HCA.

“My understanding is that there is definitely a strong connection,” she said about HCA’s relationship with Citizens for Spring Hill Hospital.

The e-mail states five individuals agreed to send letters to the editor that were provided at the group’s Nov. 21 meeting, two of which were published in The Daily Herald and were not attributed to the organization or HCA.

Ron DeFrancisco, who moved to Spring Hill from South Florida in February, said he was provided with suggestions and a sample letter, but the actual contents of the letter were his own.

The other letter’s author, Flo Grabowski, could not be reached for comment.

Jobe said she wrote a sample letter and distributed it to members at a Nov. 21 meeting. She also said she stressed key points the group needed to make to the public.

“I am not a public relations specialist,” she said. “I am a stay-at-home mom. It’s a compliment if she thinks it’s well written.”

A news release from the city of Spring Hill says Jobe “currently works as an independent consultant and serves on the Spring Hill Chamber board.”

Bustetter said the group has been peddling misinformation by saying taxpayers are funding the appeal and that legal expenses could total millions.

“I very much understand and believe in the American way of being involved and expressing your views,” she said. “What I am concerned about with this is the fact that they are leading people to perceive that HCA is not involved. They are very much involved.”

HCA also denied a request by Maury Regional and Williamson Medical Center to enter into binding arbitration, prolonging the appeals process, Bustetter and Williams said.

Reid Brogden, general counsel for the Tennessee Health Services and Development Agency, said he was not aware of a request for binding arbitration.

An HCA spokeswoman could not be reached for comment Thursday.

Williamson Herald Letters to the Editor

Let's cut right to the chase and attempt to get some "truthful" answers...so, Ms. Bustetter:

1.) Is Williamson Medical Center a non-profit COUNTY entity?
2.) Is Maury Regional Hospital a non-profit COUNTY entity?
3.) How much did the initial CON process cost Williamson Medical and Maury regional? Please include marketing, advertising, public relations, consultant fees (i.e. lobbyist Jerry Sharber), legal fees, etc in your calculations?
4.) How much is this hospital appeal costing Williamson Medical Center, Maury Regional, and HCA?
5.) Is it true that the loser of the appeal pays the entire cost of the appeal, including those costs accrued by HCA during this process?
6.) Is it also true that this Certificate of Need was decided by a 7-1 vote?
7.) How many CON's have been overturned in the past? Of those...how many were 7-1 decisions?

Now, since I am the one asking all of the questions, let's answer a few that have been asked by Ms. Bustetter.

1.) Has this Citizens for Spring Hill group been run and funded by HCA?
*answer* Absolutely not! Look at the players for yourself. A stay at home mom, a school teacher, city officials including a few aldermen and the mayor, a professional blogger (I think that is me, although there is nothing professional about this site), and thousands of community members. Is it so hard to believe that almost 11,000 signatures are possible in a community of over 25,000? Ms. Bustetter, it is called hard work, not corporate sponsorship!

2.) Let's talk about this "PAID professional blogger"... I can assure you that this website is absolutely free (provided by blogger.com). This website was started to get the community involved in city politics long before this hospital discussion, and it has worked extremely well. And I can attest to the fact that I have not received a penny to do anything on this website (unlike the WMC employee who received a flagrant PASS to operate his own site during the CON process, on which he spewed WMC's twisted and disgraceful propaganda). I write all this stuff for two reasons:
a) to give the citizens an understanding of what is going on in their city and how they can become involved
b) to stir the pot, and point out things that city leaders say that have value, and also those things that make very little sense.

Sadly, for WMC and MRH, these two things both came to a head, because there was more trash being spewed by both of our county governments to fill this message board for years to come. Sorry again Ms. Bustetter, there are some people willing to fight even though they are not being paid to do so!

3.) Let's discuss this "use of taxpayer funds" that seems to be of some question. A not-for-profit hospital, controlled by the county, hopefully produces a profit at the end of the year so that the county (aka TAXPAYERS, aka CITIZENS, aka YOU AND ME) do not have to prop up that hospital. So since we are talking about two different counties, let's break those out for a second.

* Williamson Medical Center: Although it is true that WMC operates under its own budget and funds, it was WMC and their well paid 'henchmen' that were going to all of the communities in the area and saying that it was each municipality's 'fiduciary responsibility' to oppose Spring Hill Hospital because THE DEBT SERVICE OF WMC IS HELD SOLELY BY WILLIAMSON COUNTY CITIZENS. Lets not kid ourselves here, the only difference between a for-profit hospital and a not-for-profit hospital is their balance sheet. WMC is using its own operational expenses to fight this appeal, from which could come new services and facility expansion. Instead, these funds are being used to appeal a 7-1 decision. Case in point...I wish I had a camera when I visited a friend and his wife who recently had a baby at WMC - Can you really call a storage closet and a converted patient room a state of the art nursery and NICU as your print and radio ads say that you now have? I am sure that this is just one example of 'services' that are being compromised or cut because you insist on spending money on this worthless appeal. Question to Mr. Miller and Ms. Bustetter: Who's paying the yearly cost of YOUR debt service? Answer: The taxpayers of Williamson County!

* Maury Regional Hospital: The big threat all along made by MRH was they did not have the funds to deal with a competitor in the area, and there was a good chance that the hospital would have to ask the taxpayers to help keep it afloat. This would lead to fewer services provided to the citizens and higher medical costs for the region. It is also a fact that MRH receives operating expenses each year directly from Maury County Citizens, so Maury County Citizens are most certainly paying directly for this appeals process.

The last thing that I'll add... Did the folks at WMC ever consider that by coming out so PUBLICLY against the Citizens for Spring Hill Hospital at this time that they have actually put themselves into a TRAP? Trust me, it is no secret that WMC and MRH would want this appeals process to continue under the radar. Now it seems that will no longer be possible as they have come out publicly in a very arrogant way (nothing says 'I know what's better for you than you do', more then an attempt to appeal a 7-1 decision) to attack the resolve of the Spring Hill community. But I guess that is par for an organization accustomed to bullying tactics and organized campaigns.