A day after State Senators Thomas Mac Middleton and Steve Hershey told Chestertown residents that they had introduced a bill in Annapolis to keep all current inpatient functions of the Chester River Hospital for one year while the State of Maryland looks more carefully at the needs of rural regional care centers, University of Maryland Shore Regional Health President Ken Kozel has endorsed the proposed legislation. Here is Shore Health’s statement:
University of Maryland Shore Regional Health applauds the leadership of Senator Middleton, Delegate Hammen, Secretary Mitchell and all of our Eastern Shore delegation members in recognizing the challenges we face in delivering rural health care,” said Ken Kozel, President and Chief Executive Officer of University of Maryland Shore Regional Health. “ This plan to pause and evaluate rural health care needs on Maryland’s Eastern Shore is a plan we enthusiastically endorse. “
“As our Shore Regional Health strategic planning process has made clear to us, we face unique challenges under Maryland’ s waiver to provide for the communities’ full array of health care needs, made more complex by the need to address issues around an aging population, geographic isolation and low population density, limited transportation options, the recruitment and retention of physicians and advanced practice providers and the economic viability of our region,” Kozel said.
“We believe that the State’s rural health analysis will help to bring clarity for our path forward and UMSRH looks forward to being a partner with other community representatives in this process.”
Bill Anderson says
“We believe that the State’s rural health analysis will help to bring clarity for our path forward and UMSRH looks forward to being a partner with other community representatives in this process.”
Meaningless weasel words from right outside the hen house. The community is being lead down a path toward zero health care opportunities in the area; get prepared to drive to Easton or Annapolis if you require a hospital procedure or stay. It’s shameful that the U of MD health system took over the hospital under false pretenses and is now dismantling it piece by piece.By 2020m it will be nothing but a memory. So now there will be a study that proves that community hospitals are not sustainable, and that this hospital should be closed. The state legislature can do nothing about that conclusion other than to support it.
ralph dolinger says
I am a senior citizen in rural Kent county. Recently we have had to make several late night hospital related decisions and those circumstance gave us a wake up call concerning what choices we may have to deal with in the future.
While fully appreciating all of the hard work going into saving our full service hospital I have not found any direct intervention from Dr. Andy Harris.
As a doctor and our Congressional District representative I hope that he will provide leadership. I fully understand Dr. Harris opposes government run healthcare and wishes to defund, repeal and replace federal care with the free market. However, do those positions help of hurt the citizens of the First Congressional District? Representative Dr. Harris as a doctor, a person with a strong position on healthcare and our representative please take a strong position and help the Kent County save our full service hospital.
David Foster says
This is very good news that University of Maryland Shore Regional Health supports the plan put forth by Senator Middleton and agrees to maintain inpatient services without any further reduction at the Chestertown facility during this planning process for at least a year.
What remains to be seen is whether Shore Regional Health will treat the citizens of Kent and Queen Anne’s Counties as respected stakeholders during this planning process and operate transparently (including the sharing of all studies, recommendations and consultant reports) with those stakeholders?
CEO Ken Kozel and the Board of Shore Regional Health have been given a wonderful opportunity to help restore the trust so badly lacking in this process and we hope for their sake (and ours) that they make the best use of this opportunity.
Stephan Sonn says
David,
I completely agree that trust is at the moral heart of this issue. To appreciate that, you must first perform as if you had a moral heart. Short of that they wind will wind up on a government mandated course.
I too will wait and see, but by my insight, I am not particularly impressed.
.
Gerard S O'Connor, MD says
Allow me to clarify some hearsay…let me temper this victory with cautious optimism.. First off there is no mention anywhere about a one year guarantee. The only RECOMMENDATION from this powerful Finance committee is that UMMS should not “close a hospital” until a new process is put in place to evaluate the healthcare needs of our rural community and how to address those needs. No changes will occur during this process which could take up to 9 months to complete. The process will be led by State health officials with NO institutional affiliation. I believe and hope this process will involve us the stakeholders.We will be protected, however from allowing Shore regional to morph us into a Freestanding Medical Facility if Bill 707 passes.That part will be legislation not a recommendation.Let me be clear Bill 707 does NOT prevent in patient care from being closed at our facility it just keeps us from being a Freestanding Medical Facility. What Senator Middleton’s letter says is that no changes will occur until it is further studied by indepnedent body .Your voices have been heard loud and clear. I applaud this community for such an outstanding response to this issue. What we need now is to put pressure on Shore Regional to put in place and support the infrastucture for which they have received money namely clinics and services to prevent readmissions to our hospital and not just Easton Memorial. Again thank you and please continue to join us in this journey