THE NEWS THAT Newman Regional Health is taking over the operation of the emergency department is good news for the community.
For nearly 20 years, the hospital has contracted with different companies to manage the ER, which included providing the emergency room doctors. Typically the doctors didn’t live in our community but would travel from places like Wichita to work their shift at the hospital.
When my children have been patients in the ER, our care was good. But I always thought it was unfortunate that the doctors were not part of our community.
With Newman taking back the running of the ER, hospital management wants to hire five full-time physicians, and they are going to encourage the physicians to live in Emporia.
Having the doctors live in our community and be employed by the hospital has many benefits.
The doctors will understand the mission and vision of the hospital. They will be familiar with the other physicians and understand their practices. They will be familiar with the nursing staff and understand how they work. We hope that type of familiarity will lead to better care in emergency situations.
This change will also be making an investment in the commuity. The money that people spend in the ER will stay local instead of being shipped to an out-of-town corporations. Having five new doctors in town purchasing our community’s goods and services won’t hurt either.
This change brings many opportunities to the commuity, and we congratulate Newman Regional Health for taking the step.
Chris Walker
Editor & Publisher
dale011 (anonymous) says...
Yes, this is good for Emporia. Physician staffing agencies have their place, but the doc's are temps so they have no real buy in. Having them become part of the community is a good thing.
August 19, 2009 at 4:12 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
harvestr (anonymous) says...
Why do you think that hiring the physicians that are working the ER now is going to work? Even if they come to live in Emporia. These are the same physicians that we are now having problems with when we go to the ER. I have had dealings with some of the physicians. One in particular lacks "people" skills. When this was discussed with his/her supervisor and the hospital, they admitted this and say they are still working with this person's people skills. What about all the unnecessary testing that is being done? That really racks up the money. Also, the time spent in the ER is unreasonable at times. The patient is being charged often a ridiculous amount. You have your basic charge depending on the severity of the case. Then you are being charged in increments. Maybe every 15 min you get charged a certain fee. So you see the doctor sitting at the ER desk, joking with the nursing staff and maybe a couple of patients being cared for. Often this racks up the money for the ER bill. No, the ER is not being run smoothly. The nursing staff needs more education. What do we offer in Emporia to attract good ER physicians? There isn's a lot. Why should Emporia worry, we have Topeka, Kansas City and Wichita within distance. But remember, if I get poor care at the ER or the hospital, Topeka, Kansas City and Wichita is within driving distance.
August 20, 2009 at 12:40 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )