Letter to the Editor: Bringing perspective

Posted

Dear Editor:
This letter is in response to Dr. Joe Hutchison’s paid advertisement in the Republic-Monitor’s Feb. 9th edition. It is unfortunate to write this letter, but we think it is necessary to bring a bit of perspective to his latest ad.
In good faith, the leadership team, and in particular our CEO Chris Wibbenmeyer, at Perry County Memorial Hospital has answered Dr. Hutchison’s questions regarding the false assertions regarding CMS (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services) violations he highlighted most recently in the advertisement.
These ongoing, false accusations of any violations only causes harm to Perry County Memorial Hospital, the organization which he “claims” to care so deeply about and wants to advocate for.
The Board of Trustees insist that Dr. Hutchison immediately cease the false allegations of which have been disputed with him repeatedly, on numerous occasions, not only verbally but also electronically by our leadership team!
The ongoing false allegations made only serve to cast great negativity on our organization and disparage our providers, leadership team and staff. Many changes have been made in the past two to three years, including a leadership change at the top.
The leadership team, our providers and co-workers are working hard every day to bring this great institution to a really amazing place and secure affordable, high quality, accessible health care for our community for decades to come.
In addition, the ongoing questioning of physician salaries in this manner is absolutely uncalled for. This can lead to additional losses of physicians, which diminishes Dr. Hutchison’s credibility in fighting for his cause. Furthermore, these salaries are not even accurate as this number includes all fringe benefits.

Dr. Hutchison seems to be picking fights with good, honorable people that simply want to do their job and serve our community. If he really cares about this organization, like we do, he will be more selective as to what he posts and the information he shares.
While Dr. Hutchison has the freedom to voice his opinion, and we respect that, the unfounded accusations and exploiting personal information has the potential to cause great harm to this institution and the community it serves.
As we are at a critical point in negotiating the future of Perry County Memorial Hospital and all the great opportunities possible, it is important that we respect the process and have a healthy and thoughtful debate.
Best Regards,
Perry County Memorial Hospital Board of Trustees
Beth Guth
Patrick Naeger
Darrell Niswonger
Greg Unger