Dollars, not patients

Sat., Nov. 30, 2013

So Premera and Bridgespan exclude the Providence system of hospitals and physicians in favor of Deaconess and Valley hospitals. Sounds suspiciously like a previous sweetheart deal where Rockwood physicians all of a sudden decide to send 90 percent of their patients to Deaconess and Valley instead of their previous practice of sending 90 percent of their patients to the Providence system. That decision turned out to be driven by dollars, not patient care.

Quality of care? With Deaconess fighting with the nursing staff over adequate numbers of nurses to care for the patients, I’m skeptical. Maybe somebody at The Spokesman-Review should look more closely into this arrangement. Frankly, it smells.

Donald Calbreath

Spokane

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