Hospital Opera
Our local hospital situation is not having its story told in a very clear way by the local corporate newspaper—but, then again, can any story in the United States be properly, let alone artfully, told about healthcare?
Maybe someone should try a libretto…
A few months ago I ordered a book recording about a hospital in Brooklyn called Maimonedes. Here’s an excerpt from Salon.com about the book:
Respect — or rather, the lack of it — may be the single most persistent theme in “Hospital.” It’s hard to say that respect matters more to the people at Maimonides than money, because in this market economy, money is increasingly the only way we measure worth. A former chair of orthopedics says that he fell out with Brier because he wanted to give priority in the waiting rooms to patients who paid out of pocket or who had full insurance: “People who pay for health care don’t want to sit in a room with fifty people. They want to be seen in a timely manner. I think that’s very reasonable.”
The book is called, Hospital: Man, Woman, Birth, Death, Infinity, Plus Red Tape, Bad Behavior, Money, God and Diversity on Steroids by Julie Salamon.
I do not understand why the appointed members of the Monroe County Redevelopment Commission have not made statements about the Bloomington Hospital merger and the slated proposal that the hospital move to a Tax Increment Finance District on the north side of town. The County Commissioners should also have some opinions on the matter…the corporate newspaper has not sought a single quote from any of these community members.
“What’s opera, doc?”