Positive Steps by Memorial Medical Center

Memorial Medical Center appears to be upping its game.

Wednesday MMC held a public board meeting that was mostly comments and criticism from the public. Several folks started with a litany of bad experiences and criticism; Earl Nissen asked about the poor folks with cancer MMC turned away; but MMC gave good answers to many questions (though not Earl’s). When I suggested they hire an ombudsperson, they produced on the spot someone they’d already hired.

I still view with skepticism and concern Apollo Global, the private equity firm that owns Lifepoint, which owns and operates MMC. There’s significant tension between maximizing profits and maximizing patients’ care. Private equity firms sometimes wring hospitals dry. They’re under investigation, and bear watching – by feds, states, cities, and journalists. They’re part of a U.S. health care system that keeps our costs high and our care minimal. Elsewhere, health care is too essential not to be public. Only in the U.S. do medical bills cause 530,000 bankruptcies annually. That’s two-thirds of all U.S. bankruptcies.

Most providers at Memorial are competent and caring. We’ve had consistently good experiences, although some friends haven’t. Two surgeons operated on me this year, Dr. McGuire at Mountainview and Dr. Pinheiro at MMC. Both doctors came highly recommended, impressed me, and did great jobs.

MMC has an unusal situation. Because its predecessor, Memorial General, was a Hill-Burton public hospital, jointly owned by City and County, which still own the land, MMC’s lease and the purchase contract obligate MMC to keep operating certain departments open and fulfill other promises, including reporting requirements. MMC appeared in breach, notably of obligations to treat indigent patients with serious conditions such as cancer.

A public outcry and a national news story helped awaken the City to its oversight responsibilities. The City investigated. The City wrote MMC demanding compliance. The County joined in the demand.

The good news is that MMC is providing requisite information, if perhaps a little more slowly than the City might like, and negotiating issues. Sources at both City and MMC seem optimistic that the negotiations will lead to improvements, without costly litigation. Trusting no one completely, I’ll be interested to see what actually develops.

It’s good news that MMC has switched CEO’s: John Harris, by all accounts, was dictatorial, played favorites, retaliated against folks who pushed for better medical care and raised issues. So the apparent good news comes after a lot of good people got punished and left, or got fired. The AG and others are still investigating possible medicare fraud and other alleged problems.

Dennis Knox, the new CEO, appears a breath of fresh air. He is more responsive to questions and concerns. He speaks of increased transparency. The other guy clammed up and wouldn’t even answer my calls when I investigated MMC for columns. He held Wednesday’s public board-meeting; MMC says it’ll do that once a year, henceforth. (I’d respectfully suggest every six months.) Yeah, the meeting was MMC trying to put on its best face; but no reasonable observer could fail to conclude that that Board includes at least a majority who seriously care about patients and community.

MMC has a lot of caring, competent providers, but it took those news stories, Yoli Diaz’s complaints, and the official investigations to prod Lifepoint into upping MMC’s game. The ultimate owner remains Apollo Global, which has given us reason to stay alert. Thanks, Yoli, Raul, Gretchen Morgenson, and local officials.

                                       – 30 --

 

[This column appeared Sunday, 24 November, 2024, in the Las Cruces Sun-News

and will presently appear on the newspaper’s website and on KRWG’s website, under Local Viewpoints. A shortened and sharpened radio commentary version will air during the week on KRWG (90.1 FM) and on KTAL-LP (101.5 FM, streaming at www.lccommunityradio.org/). For further information on the topic of this column, please go to my blog, https://soledadcanyon.blogspot.com/ .]

[As I say in the column, let’s credit MMC for losing former CEO John Harris and hiring someone who seems a better bet; and for responding reasonably to the City’s notice of breach; and for Wednesday evening’s public board-meeting. These are positive moves. I’m not delighted that MMC is ultimately owned by a private equity firm, Global Assets. However, if MMC is prepared to bring itself into compliance with its contractual obligations, the City [and County] will remain in a kind of partnership.

I did think Wednesday evening’s session showed both why some people are unhappy with MMC’s work and that there are many caring medical professionals on MMC’s board. (I never doubted that most line people we see at MMC are qualified and caring; I’ve doubted whether management does right by them, or by us.) Recent history at MMC, including some reprisals and firings discussed in my columns, and the temporary closure of the mental health ward, are cause for concern, and cost us some very fine medical professionals. But let’s hope that, going forward, Lifepoint/Apollo manage MMC in a way that reflects a healthier balance between profits and topnotch are. I’m guardedly optimistic about that.]