The Road Less Traveled

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Mark Kindt
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Re: The Road Less Traveled

Postby Mark Kindt » Tue Mar 24, 2020 12:30 pm

Let Us Now Take The Road Less Traveled By

Let us commence an open and friendly community dialogue about our now radically changed healthcare circumstances.

I am going to float two topics to start -- one minor and one major.

1. Should the City of Lakewood establish a new Department of Public Health?

2. Should the City of Lakewood evaluate whether a major national healthcare provider can be invited to establish a new acute care hospital in Lakewood with public support.


pj bennett
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Re: The Road Less Traveled

Postby pj bennett » Tue Mar 24, 2020 2:23 pm

Absolutely.... I'm with you!!!

The fact, that those previously in power, former mayors and city council, directors, the courts, some organizations, and then ALL the residents, who thought that ridding a community of it's hospital was a smart idea, bordered on madness.

If anyone of them, cannot see the harm that they have caused, by giving away a facility able to provide acute care, not to mention ALL the medical equipment and supplies.....then, well, I honestly don't know what to say.

This action of theirs has put us in dire straits.

This insidious virus has not yet peaked, and who knows when it will.
All the bicycling, wearing of Fitbits and eating healthily, is not going to conquer this nasty crud.

The City of Lakewood needs a hospital. However, large or small, we need something.


Mark Kindt
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Re: The Road Less Traveled

Postby Mark Kindt » Tue Mar 24, 2020 3:20 pm

Regardless of the quality of the previous civic leadership, their decisions, and those of the local electorate, we now have to move on to a different reality -- a major public health crisis affecting all of us.

As a community we need to have a sincere dialogue about what it really means not to have a local public health department or a truly local hospital with ICU beds.

Here we have a moment to both unite and reset some of our municipal objectives as an engaged community of citizens.

It is a time for us to help one another and to talk about what is really important for our families and loved ones.


Stan Austin
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Re: The Road Less Traveled

Postby Stan Austin » Tue Mar 24, 2020 3:59 pm

I am looking at that cleared land and I see a 21st Century medical facility that can meet the needs of a City if 50,000. Maybe an exchange of no fraud prosecutions in exchange for progress? I'd gladly opt for a hospital instead of a Dry Cleaners, and upscale Pet Food store.


Bridget Conant
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Re: The Road Less Traveled

Postby Bridget Conant » Tue Mar 24, 2020 4:26 pm

Well forget that, Stan, you aren’t even getting THAT!

What a colossal failure.

Thanks, Summers and friends.
Last edited by Bridget Conant on Tue Mar 24, 2020 4:26 pm, edited 2 times in total.


pj bennett
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Re: The Road Less Traveled

Postby pj bennett » Tue Mar 24, 2020 5:06 pm

Mark Kindt wrote:Regardless of the quality of the previous civic leadership, their decisions, and those of the local electorate, we now have to move on to a different reality -- a major public health crisis affecting all of us.

As a community we need to have a sincere dialogue about what it really means not to have a local public health department or a truly local hospital with ICU beds.

Here we have a moment to both unite and reset some of our municipal objectives as an engaged community of citizens.

It is a time for us to help one another and to talk about what is really important for our families and loved ones.



How does that get accomplished? Have a dialogue, that is?

Have a meeting at the library and invite the city?
After covid-19 loses it's hold on society, that is.

It's so awful knowing, that not only can we not help others as they become ill.... but, we can't even help ourselves.


Mark Kindt
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Re: The Road Less Traveled

Postby Mark Kindt » Wed Mar 25, 2020 8:40 am

pj bennett wrote:
Mark Kindt wrote:Regardless of the quality of the previous civic leadership, their decisions, and those of the local electorate, we now have to move on to a different reality -- a major public health crisis affecting all of us.

As a community we need to have a sincere dialogue about what it really means not to have a local public health department or a truly local hospital with ICU beds.

Here we have a moment to both unite and reset some of our municipal objectives as an engaged community of citizens.

It is a time for us to help one another and to talk about what is really important for our families and loved ones.



How does that get accomplished? Have a dialogue, that is?

Have a meeting at the library and invite the city?
After covid-19 loses it's hold on society, that is.

It's so awful knowing, that not only can we not help others as they become ill.... but, we can't even help ourselves.


The dialogue starts person-to-person as we talk about what we are facing and how we should face it. These can be conversations at home, on the telephone, on social media. I'm sure that this dialogue is already going on. It can start with just a simple question. "Are we prepared for a public health crisis?"

In the quiet space between fear and hope let us embrace empathy for others and consider what they need to protect their lives and well-being.

I have no idea what will ever be built on the vacant land.

I do know that Lakewood should have a health department and a hospital.


Mark Kindt
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Re: The Road Less Traveled

Postby Mark Kindt » Tue Mar 31, 2020 9:03 am

Over The Next 30 Days

Now that we know that we will be sheltering in place for the next thirty days, we can use all of this amazing communications technology to talk with one another about the future of Lakewood.

I'm sure that we each know someone special to us that might be particularly susceptible to Covid-19 and might need local hospital care.

Remember that Parma is a city of 80,000 and that it has three hospitals. Lakewood has a population of 50,000 and no longer has an acute care hospital with ICU beds.

For those of you between the ages of 35 and 45 with young families now is the time to plan for the future. You are the decision-makers in Lakewood.

The time is ripe to talk about whether Lakewood can build a new acute care hospital this decade.

Remember that the stimulus bill passed last week has $100,000,000,000 ear-marked for new hospital construction. Yes, that is $100 Billion!


Bill Call
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Re: The Road Less Traveled

Postby Bill Call » Tue Mar 31, 2020 3:13 pm

Mark Kindt wrote:2. Should the City of Lakewood evaluate whether a major national healthcare provider can be invited to establish a new acute care hospital in Lakewood with public support.


The highest and best use of the old hospital site is a new hospital. That is never going to happen.

One reason the original hospital was destroyed was because it was important to a lot of people to move 1,500 high paying medical jobs and hundreds of millions in economic activity to Loraine County. There is no reason to believe that they have changed their mind.

No one seriously believes that Mayor Summers and his pals really thought that Lakewood would be better off with a retail/restaurant development. It was all about looting Lakewood of its assets. Of course, I could be wrong, maybe they did believe it.


Dan Alaimo
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Re: The Road Less Traveled

Postby Dan Alaimo » Tue Mar 31, 2020 4:25 pm

Bill Call wrote:
Mark Kindt wrote:2. Should the City of Lakewood evaluate whether a major national healthcare provider can be invited to establish a new acute care hospital in Lakewood with public support.


The highest and best use of the old hospital site is a new hospital. That is never going to happen.

One reason the original hospital was destroyed was because it was important to a lot of people to move 1,500 high paying medical jobs and hundreds of millions in economic activity to Loraine County. There is no reason to believe that they have changed their mind.

No one seriously believes that Mayor Summers and his pals really thought that Lakewood would be better off with a retail/restaurant development. It was all about looting Lakewood of its assets. Of course, I could be wrong, maybe they did believe it.


We have seen this movie before: Lakewood development plans go south because of a seriously weakened economy.
Apparently they have gone south, but how far south?
If far enough south, a change in plans is conceivable.
The world has turned upside down.


“Never let a good crisis go to waste." - Winston Churchill (Quote later appropriated by Rahm Emanuel)
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Jim O'Bryan
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Re: The Road Less Traveled

Postby Jim O'Bryan » Tue Mar 31, 2020 6:15 pm

Dan Alaimo wrote:We have seen this movie before: Lakewood development plans go south because of a seriously weakened economy.
Apparently they have gone south, but how far south?
If far enough south, a change in plans is conceivable.
The world has turned upside down.



My nightmare, the same BS by the same players spread out again and again over 20 years.

Lakewoodites either have zero critical thought, or love getting screwed.

It blows my mind.

People think I have inside information. No I have a good memory and a ton of history with these "leaders."


.


Jim O'Bryan
Lakewood Resident

"The very act of observing disturbs the system."
Werner Heisenberg

"If anything I've said seems useful to you, I'm glad.
If not, don't worry. Just forget about it."
His Holiness The Dalai Lama
Dan Alaimo
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Re: The Road Less Traveled

Postby Dan Alaimo » Wed Apr 01, 2020 12:48 am

Jim O'Bryan wrote:
Dan Alaimo wrote:We have seen this movie before: Lakewood development plans go south because of a seriously weakened economy.
Apparently they have gone south, but how far south?
If far enough south, a change in plans is conceivable.
The world has turned upside down.



My nightmare, the same BS by the same players spread out again and again over 20 years.

Lakewoodites either have zero critical thought, or love getting screwed.

It blows my mind.

People think I have inside information. No I have a good memory and a ton of history with these "leaders."


.


How about this pop-up hospital in New York's Central Park.
If they can make it there, they can make it anywhere, even Belle and Detroit in Lakewood OH.
(Photo from the Samaritan's Purse relief organization which set up the emergency field hospital.)
Attachments
cp hosp2.jpg
cp hosp2.jpg (10 KiB) Viewed 16551 times


“Never let a good crisis go to waste." - Winston Churchill (Quote later appropriated by Rahm Emanuel)
Mark Kindt
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Joined: Sat Dec 03, 2016 11:06 am

Re: The Road Less Traveled

Postby Mark Kindt » Wed Apr 01, 2020 9:18 am

Time To Pick The Low-Hanging Fruit

If you are at home making face-masks for those in need, then you have a pretty good idea of why the City of Lakewood should have a new health department.

If you are at home preparing a newspaper for publication with stories about Covid-19, then you have a pretty good idea of why the City of Lakewood should have a new health department.

So just what does the Lakewood Planning Department actually do? Every urban planner is professionally trained to understand the role of public health in urban life. It's in their textbooks.

Let's ask our Planning Department to get to work on these public health needs.

It seems to me that a new public health department could be created for the City within 90 days and then fully operational by the end of Summer 2020.

This is not a heavy-lift. I encourage each reader to raise this issue with their city counsel-person.


Mark Kindt
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Re: The Road Less Traveled

Postby Mark Kindt » Tue Apr 07, 2020 8:20 am

Now Is The Time To Plan For A New Hospital

If you are between 30 and 45 raising your family in Lakewood, then one of your personal goals should be to ensure that you have a hospital handy in times of medical crisis.

It's sort of a "no-brainer".

At various times in the past decade both the Clinic and Metro planners have each envisioned their version of a full-service acute care hospital in Lakewood.

There is no reason that the City of Lakewood Planning Department can't revisit this planning in light of the current crisis. That crisis should be incentive enough to do so.

(Folks, we know that this planning exists, because we've seen bits and pieces of it over the years as a result of the public interest litigation that commenced in 2015).

Sooner or later a new hospital will be built in Lakewood. This is simply inevitable.

Why?

Because no healthcare system can ignore the potential revenues from a healthcare cachement area of 150,000 people.



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