Letter to the Editor: 2 PCMH Boards!??

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To the Editor:
The issue of two PCMH boards has been questioned by numerous residents. I have been informed of an attended four meetings. It seems redundant to me, especially since two of the five board members are on both boards. It doesn’t seem like there would be new insight in the issues discussed. Since two have already discussed these and formed an opinion. Most people that have discussed an issue and formed an opinion are not receptive to an open mind to further discussion their minds are elsewhere not really listening to the other three that are still discussing the issues at hand. The operating board is not the controlling, overriding board. That decision is to be openly discussed and decided by the elected Board and the elected commissioners. We’d like to these people this is their job. I would like to address “PCMH employees” have their say. It was very unnecessary and small-minded to ridicule Bill Bohnert the way you did, Mr. Boehner only addressed your comments and the letter you presented. No one saw these signatures. No one knew what names were on there. He only stated that running for the PCMH board there were employees reaching out to him for help and getting some transparency, not dictation.
I think the residents of Perry County have the right to know some of the facts from a Perry County resident and not an employee or a board member.
1. Why did PCMH go from four to one? rating? Two.
2. Why are we on the Missouri endangered watch list?
3. Why did we lose valuable health care employees?
4. Why did St. Francis and Southeast Health approach us back in June? Almost a year ago.
5. Who decided mercy should be added to the interested party list.
6. Why hasn’t there been any transparency on these? Anon financial documents issues? According to Chris Webbermeyer’s article in the Cape Southeast Missourians newspaper, March 31, he addressed the loss of a nursing school. He said the hospital officials will work toward this goal. He said, “We will continue to support and work toward the development of a nursing program should we pay our officials to spend our valuable money to MAKE SURE Mercy is the choice? Maybe these OUTSIDE issues are why we are on the dangered list. Chris also addressed some of the recent reasons by Mercy was chosen over Southeast Health.
1. Familiarity aren’t the residents of Perry County more familiar with hospitals and use more. Doctors and services regularly in Cape.
2. Success with critical access hospitals. Mercy has closed some of their hospitals. Southeast Health closed two because of only having an average of two patients per day. Mercy now has six hospitals on the Missouri danger list. If Mercy has six hospitals out of 22 on the “danger” list and PCMH is also on it. Are they the best choice to help us?
3. Quality healthcare scores. Southeast Health is rated a 3. Mercy is rated 4 but will their score go down when another six hospitals close.
4. Low cost of care. I have no figures and cannot open-mindedly or qualify to address this.

5. Long-term sustainability.
Southeast Health has been in Cape and Missouri successfully since 1928. How many years has Mercy had a hospital in St. Louis? Chris also stated that the elected board and elected commissioners have the final say. The final decision. Chris is on neither one of these. We need to hear some of the concerns that they have!
In Mercy’s handout at their forum and out of eight items listed as their community value only one of one strong physician and nurse recruitment. All the others addressed technology changes and their commitment to quality and performance. There are eight issues, lower mortality rates shorter ER wait times shorter length of stay, fewer complications, reduced re-admissions, fewer hospital require acquired conditions, higher patient satisfaction
Southeast Health has always been committed to these!
The only other issue was lower cost of care and have no figures to address this issue. Now let’s talk about our originated affiliate Southeast Health. Southeast Health at the forum or they were to attend, and respond which Mercy did not respond to, Mr. Ken Bateman clearly presented their intentions for PCMH. Everything was clear and transparent.
1. He addressed our great need for specialists to be located here in Perry County. He had already hired a cardiologist to be located here at PCMH.
2. He addressed the question from the audience regarding ER wait time I also from almost 33 years of SE healthcare have never had a wait time. My late husband went to the ER frequently and needed immediate attention. He always got it.
3. He addressed transparency and the need to be kept abreast of PCMH changes he has offered to physicians on their board PCMH would be a part of the decisions here at PCMH. We would not be informed of decisions.
4. He offered the nurses school and payable. All leg work between SES health ranking and SEMO had already been done.
According to statistics, in 2020, there were over 80,000 qualified applicants into nursing schools that were rejected because of lack of school. Southeast Health has the foresight to address the nursing shortage. The nurse to patient ratio is one to four we are not getting the health care we deserve and pay for if a patient has another loss or disaster, who consoles them, holds their hand or contacts one of their loved ones. The nursing shortage is critical and Southeast Health was aware of this and offered at our first forum to lessen this and make more nurses available to PCMH we didn’t have to pay people to look for one either. Five, a lot of prairie county residents already have it Dr. Southeast Health and our use their facilities they also frequent the SES health facility already in variable probably our technology needs to be upgraded and I feel that would be a change Southeast Health would address but do we need virtual care our personal medical records accessed by employees in other states I don’t. Virtual healthcare helped during the pandemic one of the officers had to close but I don’t think we need it today. Maybe that is for the future. But today can’t we continue to be diagnosed by a person can’t the patient be entitled to a compassionate caring healthcare employee as long as possible? virtual visits cannot touch you or console you. Can we hear more from our employers on this matter? We should support we had support from them. Who got Mercy involved? Why isn’t there a letter of intent to Southeast Health they are the ones to initiate a partnership. They are the ones to look into nursing school here.
Concerned resident
Sandy Vincent,
Perryville
(PS I would like to thank Dr. Hutchinson for sharing the statistics he had researching and his educated opinions and questions that we all have.