A Chestertown spy attended last week’s meeting in Annapolis of the House’s Health and Government Operations Committee and was eager to report back that freestanding medical facilities, a.k.a. general hospitals like the one in Chestertown, are experiencing an unprecedented level of declined use.
Ben Steffen, Executive Director of the Maryland Health Care Commission, gave that sobering account in a report to lawmakers in a twelve slide powerpoint that the Spy believes is self-explanatory.
Stephan Sonn says
This report shows that the hospital at Chester River does not have to be just be a pit stop in the future.
But realistically speaking we are not a wilderness.T he elderly and infirm require full service.
So do young families, employees, and our affluent who will not take to an “R2B2” performing their surgery.
It is fortunate that many of them have the means to force the issue and are doing so currently.
Richard Crane says
Though the information was useful, the use of acronyms without carefully looking at the titles made understanding the slides difficult. My take away is that our local hospital is going to be changed. If they can close down a facility in Frostburg, we will lose our in patient hospital care.
Louis Howeth says
When the hype about services provided at our hospital in Chestertown does not measure up to the services that the patient receives when he goes to the hospital, it is not likely that he or is family will return to that hospital again. The people that have always used the hospital have not left the hospital. THE HOSPITAL HAS LEFT THEM.
VERY SAD