An open letter to Mr. Ken Kozel, President & CEO, Shore Regional Health System
This letter is written in support of the recent letter printed in the Kent County News, dated December 3, 2015, submitted by the physicians who practice in the area. This letter provides some demographic data to support the statements made by these physicians, particularly as they apply to the senior citizens of Kent County and northern Queen Anne’s County.
The graph below shows that the percentage of seniors living in the county has grown from 27.9% of the population in 1990 to a projected 40.9% of the population in 2019. The growth in total county population in that same time period is projected to be 14.7%. Much of the growth has been the result of these seniors wanting to enjoy the quality of life the county offers including the ready availability of a hospital offering the services mentioned in the referenced letter.
This data comes from the US Census Bureau and the projections come from the demographics data company ESRI
The fact that in 2013 county residents spent on average 8.0% more than the national average for health insurance and 8.5% more than the national average for health coverage supports the theory that county residents care about their health care options and services. Northern Queen Anne’s County statistics reflect similar numbers. Before some of the significant changes proposed for the hospital in Chestertown are finalized, consideration should be given to the following questions:
1.) What impact will the changes have on the quality of life and economic well-being of the county residents?
2.) What are the total costs, including patient transportation, family visits, etc., to households for a procedure done locally versus being done in another facility?
3). If there are additional expenses, how will the residents be kept whole – insurance, government subsidy, the UMMS?
4.) Will these changes be a deterrent to the potential development of additional senior citizen communities currently under consideration?
5.) In addition to the goal of making the Shore Regional Health System profitable, what are the social and moral obligations of the University of Maryland Medical System to the state’s residents?
6.) Are “best practices” of other university hospital systems being studied to determine whether they could be applied to the UMMS and provide the savings needed to maintain the required level of service the community expects? See the article from the New York Times on September 7, 2015, What Are a Hospital’s Costs? Utah System Is Trying to Learn
7.) If the proposed changes are implemented, what will the impact be on the economy of the county and surrounding area?
The undersigned are members of the local SCORE chapter. Bob Ampula, Dick Barker, Tom Beckett, Damon Bradley, Lew Gayner, Clarence Hunter. Mark Kamon, Jeff Grotsky, Jim O’Harrah, Bart Stolp and Bill Walmsley
Karen O'Connor says
The group presents solid information about the demographics served by our local hospital. It is the questions that I find most pertinent for the Shore Health Board of Directors and the UMMS administrators to consider. The issue of transportation for selected services was brought to the attention of UMMS officials during the talks leading to affiliation with UMMS, and has consistently been ignored. Of greater concern is whether the moral obligation of a health system even enters into the decision-making process. While we would all like to think that it does, the consultants that make recommendations about changes in service line have no connection to the community and feel no moral attachment to the process. It is first dollars and cents, then, how do we make sure Easton gets the biggest piece of the pie? It is essential that there is full community engagement and continued expression of what the community wants and needs if we are going to maintain services here in Chestertown.