Public Meeting About Lakewood Wellness Center 1/28/15

A store house of articles, facts and discussions related to the loss of Lakewood Hospital, LHA, LHF.

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Bill Call
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Public Meeting About Lakewood Wellness Center 1/28/15

Postby Bill Call » Sat Jan 17, 2015 8:41 am

There will be a public forum on Wednesday, January 28, 2015, at 7 p.m. in the Mackey Main Stage auditorium at the Beck Center for the Arts, 17801 Detroit Avenue in Lakewood.


Tim Liston
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Re: Public Meeting About Lakewood Wellness Center 1/28/15

Postby Tim Liston » Sat Jan 17, 2015 10:54 am

Will Mr. Cosgrove be there? If so, perhaps there is a very outside chance that a huge groundswell would cause the not-for-profit Clinic to reconsider eliminating important medical services that the not-for-profit Clinic provides to our very-well-populated area. If not, then we need to convince City officials to firmly resist the not-for-profit Clinic's elimination of important medical services from our community.

I suspect neither outcome is likely.

And I am in the camp that if/when emergency services continue in Lakewood, such services will be short-lived. Heck what we have been promised I suspect is already well watered down.

I guess the difference in for-profit and not-for-profit is, where do the profits go? In a for-profit setting, the risk-takers (shareholders/owners) make the profits. In a not-for-profit scenario, the employees (doctors/management) make the profits because arms-length and risk is foregone BUT MAKING THE MOST AMOUNT OF MONEY IS STILL ENCOURAGED, even at the expense of customer service. In a for-profit entity, the risk takers are shareholders who choose to assume the risk. In a not-for-profit setting, the risk is spread around like butter. When was the last time you read about someone who took a financial beating when their not-for-profit failed? But in either case, the motivation to make the most money is the same. How the Clinic is able to provide such important services on such a massive scale, while paying practically no corporate or property taxes, while my little company pays both, defies the imagination. My guess is that when non-profits came into law, it was contemplated that any such entity would come to be any area's largest employer.

All this is to say is that I think a big part of the problem is the whole concept of not-for-profit entities, at least as far as tax considerations enter in. Without the benefits of not-for-profit non-taxation, the Clinic would probably not exist, at least not nearly in the scale they do today.


Bill Call
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Re: Public Meeting About Lakewood Wellness Center 1/28/15

Postby Bill Call » Sat Jan 17, 2015 12:57 pm

Tim Liston wrote:And I am in the camp that if/when emergency services continue in Lakewood, such services will be short-lived. Heck what we have been promised I suspect is already well watered down.



I think you are correct.

I suspect that the last minute proposal to build a facility on Detroit was suggested by the Clinics crisis management team. Something to dangle in front of the rubes until the deal is done.

Part of that deal is to make it nearly impossible for any other health care provider to locate in Lakewood. While it is called "first right of refusal" it means that any potential investor will have to invest hundreds of thousands in legal fees before even considering a move to Lakewood. How likely is that?

Why are we giving the Clinic a prime piece of real estate on Detroit? Any potential investor will want access to Detroit and not to be shoe horned on Belle.

Why not this instead:

A new Clinic facility on the Rockport site stretching from Detroit to Clifton.

Easy access to all the near Westside
Easy access by bus along Clifton and Detroit
Within walking distance of 15,000 people
Appealing to the 20,000 commuters who pass by each day

There is more but it's not going to happen.

The Cleveland Clinic needs Lakewood's business in Avon. I can understand by the Clinic wants a healthcare desert in Lakewood but I don't understand why leaders in Lakewood want it.


Tim Liston
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Re: Public Meeting About Lakewood Wellness Center 1/28/15

Postby Tim Liston » Sat Jan 17, 2015 1:29 pm

They can call it an "emergency room" but can it really be without the resources of an attached hospital, surgeons, specialists, state-of-the-art imaging and other high-tech equipment, stuff like that? I have never heard of a real emergency room that was not a part of a real hospital. It makes no sense. And frankly if a member of my family had anything more than a broken arm, if it was not life threatening I'd take them to Fairview. If it was life threatening, I'd call 911 and the paramedics would take them to Fairview.

But what upsets me is the extent to which the Clinic has used (abused) its so-called not-for-profit status to avoid corporate and property taxes, when it operates in every way like a for-profit enterprise, including who they choose (and choose not to) serve.


Bill Call
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Re: Public Meeting About Lakewood Wellness Center 1/28/15

Postby Bill Call » Sat Jan 17, 2015 1:41 pm

Tim Liston wrote:But what upsets me is the extent to which the Clinic has used (abused) its so-called not-for-profit status to avoid corporate and property taxes, when it operates in every way like a for-profit enterprise, including who they choose (and choose not to) serve.


Non profits are not legally exempt from Anti trust laws but in practice they are.

I've talked to employees of two medical specialists who use to have offices in Lakewood. Both mentioned that one of the reasons they left Lakewood was because Lakewood Hospital made it very difficult for them.

Our company does a lot of business in office buildings around the County. Most of the old medical buildings are nearly empty. Once thriving practices forced out of town because they could not compete with the tax exempt Clinic.

The City of Lakewood has a lot of legal options to oppose the Clinic and its policies toward Lakewood. They won't use any of them. I usually have a conspiracy theory just about anything :D but their inaction makes no sense at all.


Grace O'Malley
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Re: Public Meeting About Lakewood Wellness Center 1/28/15

Postby Grace O'Malley » Sat Jan 17, 2015 3:44 pm

Tim Liston is correct. Without the associated support systems, the idea that we are going to have a real full service emergency room is a joke. We've already been told we will have no trauma designation. That means car accidents, shootings, anything more serious than stitching a cut will be sent to Fairview or Metro. Cardiac or stroke will be stabilized and moved.

I hope everyone tries to attend the public meeting. A show of force is what is needed. Let's not be like our "leaders" and roll over without a whimper.


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Ryan Salo
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Location: Lakewood
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Re: Public Meeting About Lakewood Wellness Center 1/28/15

Postby Ryan Salo » Sat Jan 17, 2015 4:02 pm

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/pol ... story.html

this is an interesting article about standalone emergency rooms in Florida. I like the idea of 23 hour observation rooms.


Ryan Salo

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