DMH Asks BOCC For 3.5 Million Dollars
I am sure more details will be in the paper, but I was notified that at the BOCC meeting last night, DMH asked for 3.5 Million dollars to purchase general equipment. General equipment being CT scanner, MRI, mammogram machine, etc. From what I understand, this money is to come from the excess revenue from the 1% sales tax that we voted for. The will be a public meeting on March 17 regarding this, and they also asked for a $25,000 subsidy for EMS. I am very curious how everyone else feels, but the local schools are in trouble financially, DMH has just laid off employees from lack of revenue and they want tax dollars to buy equipment. All I can say is just when I think I can't be anymore amazed...the floor is yours.
I'd like to see a business plan. I can only assume that DMH management believes that this new equipment will yield a return on investment and push the hospital towards profitability.
If the hospital needs to become a county facility, I'm okay with that. But if it's going to remain privately-owned, then its management cannot continue to come to the county with its hand out.
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When is it going to end? They will be back again soon requesting more money. The county is in a serious financial bind. As time goes on, the hospital seems to be less and less financially viable. I hate, in fact, really hate, to see it, but I need to put emotions aside and objectively look that this is not going to work. Cut the costs now and close the thing.
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WAIT AND SEE HOW YOU FEEL WHEN ONE OF YOUR FAMILY MEMBERS DIES ON THE WAY TO TALLAHASSEE OR GAINESVILLE WHEN THEY HAVE A STROKE, HEART ATTACK, OR SERIOUS EMERGENCY. CLOSED MINDED PEOPLE LIKE YOU ARE THE REASON THAT US EMPLOYEES OF DMH ARE IN OUR OWN FINACIAL BURDEN.
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Like DMH can do anything? What a joke. DMH could do nothing except collect a fee for transportation! DMH is not equiped to handle any of the ailments you list. I would rather take my chances on the way to Tallahassee or Gainesville. I feel that prayer would be more beneficial than DMH. By the way DMH is in a "financial budden" because of mis-management, lack of a clear business plan, micromanagement by BOCC and DMH Board and other items clearly documented each time you guys seek a bailout for the county jobs program that is DMH!
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YES THE HOSPTIAL IS IN ITS PRESENT STATE BECAUSE OF MISMANAGEMENT BUT IT IS NOT THE EMPLOYEES FAULT AND WE ARE THE PEOPLE SUFFERING. YES WE ARE EQUIPPED TO STABLILZE AND SHIP THOSE PATIENTS TO THE LARGER FACILITIES ONCE THEY ARE IN A BETTER STATE. GOOD FOR YOU-PRAYER IS WHAT YOU NEED. AFTER ALL PRAYER HAS BEEN WHAT HAS GOTTEN THROUGH THE TOUGH TIMES IN MY LIFE. I GO TO WORK EVERYDAY AND GET A 10% SALARY CUT ON TOP OF THE 10% I HAVE ALREADY BEEN CUT BECAUSE I HAVE NOT WORKED A 40 HOUR WORK WEEK IN ALMOST 2 YEARS ON TOP OF NOT GETTING ANY RAISES FOR 4 YEARS. I DON'T EXPECT A HANDOUT FROM YOU OR ANYONE BECAUSE SOMEHOW I HAVE CONTINUED TO PAY MY MORTGAGE, MONTHLY BILLS, AND PAY FOR MY CHILD. GET YOUR FACTS STRAIGHT BEFORE YOU SAY WE CAN NOT HANDLE THESE SITUTIONS. SUPPORT THE LOCAL COMMUNITY AND MAYBE THE ECONOMY HERE WOULDN'T BE SO BAD--AFTERALL YOUR TAX PAYER DOLLARS HELP FUND THE NEW HOSPITAL.
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Everyon in the community has supported the hospital with the collectio of sales tax from Perry and Taylor County. DMH cannot provide the kind of healthcare you reference, plain and simple. All DMH would do is transport folks to other facilities. Share with this blog what specifically DMH would do for "STROKE, HEART ATTACK, OR SERIOUS EMERGENCY". I would bet that your answer would be ........ and coordinate transport to ...... Many folks over the years have tried to support and use DMH with less than satisfactory results. Maybe DMH should try to import doctors who want to be in our community and at least understand what, culturally, a bedside manner is all about. The most recent crop of doctors and specifically imported from the middle east (female - Syria) are only here because there is no managed care and the income potential can be great. DMH is a joke and is a county subsidized job program. I really do not feel sorry for the employees, the hand writing has been on the wall for years and if you have not looked for other employment and stay on a sinking ship of fools it is your fault, not the tax-payers of the county. DMH has never been able to compete in the healthcare world and never will. That is just the fact of the situation. Most people with insurance go to Tallahassee or other "regional" hospitals who can provide services for "STROKE, HEART ATTACK, OR SERIOUS EMERGENCY". In light of the current budget delimma of our county, the funds requested for DMH would be better used improving the climate of the county to recruit a new employer or assist an exisiting employer to add to the jobs available. You should understand that since that is what the BOCC has done for DMH in the past with no return on the investment.
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Since you know it all, why don't you come fix the problem. I am a nurse at DMH and for your info I have helped SAVE LIVES by doing compressions on peoples chest because their hearts were no longer beating!!! We do save lives and if you worked here you would know that. I get so sick of people talking bad about our hospital. I gurantee you would rather stop here with a sick child who couldn't breath, rather that drive an hour or more and have that child or loved one DIE in your arms!!!!!
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I would rather my child die in my arms than at DMH. I would not stop at DMH for any reason, and many in our community feal the same! That is obvious by the lack of customers DMH has. Branding is everything in business and the DMH brand is about par with the peanut industry at this point. DMH really has nothing to offer our community other than the jobs you guys have! Why not have DMH do a survey of citizens in the community? They do not want to hear what everyone is saying! If you are a nurse you must be educated. Make an educated decision and seek employment elsewhere, everyone is tired of all you folks showing up at BOCC meetings with buttons and matching shirts wasting taxpayer dollars! And that is a fact!
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You are obviously a sick, narrow-minded
person who shouldn't have children! Be careful what you wish for!
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You are obviously a sick narrow-minded person who should not have children. Be careful what you wish for!
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Your a sick minded twisted individual. If my worst enemy could save my child I would allow it. What kind of person are you to say something like that about your own kid. The hospital has done nothing to you or the community but help. It is like any other rural hospital that only does certain things and the rest is shipped for their safety. Same as Live Oak, or any rural hospital you choose. Sometimes even Tallahassee ships to Shands so what do you have to say to that fact! The hospital has not caused any more problems in our economy than welfare, wic or any other "government" based program. But regardless of any of the facts that you don't know, saying that about your child is awful!! I hope and pray you never experience what it is like to lose a child. It is not their fault you are a disgusting no good moran. I pray for their safety because they oblivously can't count on you.
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Toyna, This twisted individual is a prime example of what we have running things here in Taylor County.
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AMEN TONYA!!!
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Well I am very sorry you feel that way. Have you ever been a patient DMH? I have found that most of the people that call us a bandaid station, aren't talking from personal experience. And how many people in this community do you think are not paying hospital bills? Non paying patients have contributed to the problem. By the way, I am a taxpayer, and I don't think it's wasting my money.
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Get over it, people do nt use DMH plain and simple. People who are not going to pay are going to use DMH. What type of business can afford customers who are not going to pay. Providing healthcare to people who do not pay and jobs for said business is not the responsibility of the taxpayers of our county. People with insurance typically go to Tallahassee. When anyone goes to Tallahassee for medical services it looks like a Taylor County reunion! LOL! That is a fact. DMH should be closed or leased to an individual or group that can operate a business. Taxpayers can no longer afford to keep DMH open! I do not run anthing in this county, I work hard to provide for myself and my family and that includes paying for health insurance and medical care. As a taxpayer I want my taxes to support the roads and such in the county. That does not include the county jobs program that is DMH!
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I would still like to know if you have ever been a paient at DMH, or are you making your judgements based on hearsay?
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I have used DMH a half a dozen times in the last 20-25 years. At the old location and the new location. I have had one positive experience out of six. And one of the negative experiences has been recently, regarding the female doctor who has been "recruited. I am always amazed at the level of contempt the doctors at DMH have with the customers of DMH. My judgement and opinion is based on personal experiences!
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I am so tired of everyone dogging DMH. If you worked there you would see that this money is needed in order to provide the kind of care all of you insist on having. The problem is the people that work are being cut; not the ones who make the mistakes liking the billing office. and the ones who make the big money. How can you run a hosipital without the blue collar workers and state of the art equipment? Give us a break!
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I think everyone would agree that hospitals require expensive equipment. What I don't understand is why DMH, Inc. doesn't have the money to buy this equipment itself.
I've asked this question before... Is it not possible for DMH to be self-sustaining? Is Taylor County simply too small and poor to allow a hospital to turn a profit? If so, then let the county take it over (I don't advocate closing it down completely--I do believe we need a hospital here). But if the hospital is going to remain privately owned and operated, then it has to be self-sufficient.
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DMH should be closed! I agree they need a business plan, but their plan would not be viable. Everyone is up in arms over the Obama administration "socializing" everything. Heck, we have had socialized medicine in Taylor COunty since the new DMH has been built! LOL!!!!
But seriously, the citizen's and who they elect (BOCC) have given DMH a chance to make it and have put a lot of public funds into the DMH coffers. Either do not continue putting public funds in DMH or call DMH what it is a county funded jobs program for healthcare related employees. I would feel better about a local jobs program than the current charade carried on by the DMH Board and Jack Brown and company. If DMH cannot make payroll on a regular basis, cannot cover operating costs on a regular basis, how is DMH gowing to afford "3.5 Million dollars to purchase general equipment", much less repay that amount. Although there could be an argument that since DMH is owned by the county they should make these investments. Either way a business plan needs to be developed and shared with citizens on the return on investment from the "3.5 Million dollars to purchase general equipment".
I would like to see some cost / benefit analysis and ensure that a local potentate (unqualified medical equipment dealer) is not gaining from the sale of a used CT scan or some simular rip-off.
As far as the dire situation of the school district all I can offer today is that things continue to be in the toilet, but new hero Paul Dyal will have a new coach with lord knows what under the table and what school district policies violated to get a new coach. Yea Paul Dyal - the new Oscar! Putz!
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Dmh is flat broke and no doctors to fill it who would give 3.5 mill n equipment knowing this.They cant even afford to give Dr.Emrick a raise seeee ya! ron.
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Well the female doctor from I think Syria sure tries to make a buck from local citizens who use the facility. She needs to return to the rock she crawled out from!
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Like I said! If the cuts would come where the mistakes are being made; in billing... DMH would be self-sustaining. They can't even bill employees correctly. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that those folks need to be fired and let someone do the billing who knows how and in a timely manner. I guess the BOARD (boring)needs a meterorite to hit the meeting to get this through their heads. Everyone at the hospital knows those billing people spend half their time eatin and the other half smokin. Drive by there you'll see'em out back! Get rid of them and get rid of the rest of those people who are in positions they are not qualified for. Let's see everybodies educational and certifiable credentials. Demand this!!!! You will be appalled at who is running what! Especially the hiring and firing!!!
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First off to whoever wrote this you need to get your facts right cause basiclly you are making yourself look like an asinine fool and complete idiot. Your right that some people eat and smoke but when you look at a computer screen all day trying to figure out how to bring money in from thin air that is pretty stressful and you need some way to calm down. You dont know what goes on in those folks lives so BACK OFF!! cause im sure you couldnt do any better of a job !! If your so worried about where all the money is at then why dont you take a look at the big picture WHAT WAS WRONG WITH THE OLD HOSPITAL all it need was more space not another location. So if your wanting to point a finger then you need to see if you can find out who the ones were that had the bright idea build a brand new hostpital. Oh but let me guess your probably one of them. So dont put off the blame on workers who get paid hardly anything trying to make something from nothing. Put the blame on the morons who decide to bring in new doctors and new machines that come with $100,000 salaries and $1,000,000 price tags. Next time I belive that it would better you and all others to think before you speak.
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I can see why you couldn't do it. You can't even spell or write a decent sentence. You NEED to get another job... selling peanuts.
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The good news is that according to the article, DMH will have to present a business plan in order to qualify for these funds. That should be an interesting read.
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I just finished reading the article in the paper about DMH cutting salaries by 10%. I'm absolutely astounded by the idiocy.
Mind you, I'm not saying that cutting the salaries is a bad idea. Maybe it's a good idea. The problem is, nobody knows one way or another.
How do we know this? Because DMH's management has said so, according to the newspaper.
It appears that department heads met with the board, and they came up with the idea of reducing the salaries of anyone making $25,000 or more by 10%. The board voted unanimously to do this.
So the newspaper asks the Chairman of the Board how much money DMH will save with this move, and how many employees will be affected.
He doesn't know. He tells the newspaper to contact the Chief Financial Officer and ask him.
So the paper contacts the CFO, and it turns out that HE doesn't know, either! Not only does he not know, but he tells the paper that he has no intentions of finding out by actually crunching the numbers.
I see two possibilities here.
Either the newspaper has made some grave reporting errors, or DMH is being run by a group of people whose business acumen is so severely deficient that I wouldn't trust them to run a lemonade stand, much less a multi-million-dollar enterprise.
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Wow. I have been sick today and have not bought a paper yet so I have not read the article, but it sounds like a good topic. I wonder why they decided to this now and not when they cut everyone else's salaries and laid off workers. Not a surprise that no one knows anything.
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No, I don't think so. Maybe try again?
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Probably got spammed. I will send it again.
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the 10% salary reduction was the boards idea. the depeartment heads met with the board and tried to get them to only reduce salaries by 5% in hopes of preventing a mass exodus....
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I support the hospital but not this
CFO and Board. The story in the paper is correct but it shows you how ignorant they are....WHY would you contact the newspaper to give them info if you don't have all the facts. What we need to do is get rid of Joe Collins, John Yarbrough & Bill Brynes because if it was up to them alone...THEY WOULD SELL THE HOSPITAL IN A HEARTBEAT. And someone needs to tell that joke of a chairman that he needs to keep his mouth shut in public because if you want to know what's going on at DMH just sit near him in a restaurant & you'll learn everything.
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For anyone who dogs the hospital I tell you to go to Tallahassee or Gainsville be put in the hospital and see what kind of care you get. Or go to the ER and sEE how long you wait and what you are charged!!!!The employees of DMH have stuck it out to serve this community because they care about it.We have not had a raise in 4 years, our retirement has been cut out, our dental has been cut out, our medical has increased and now they want another 10%.1) We need Dr.'s here a cardologist and another surgon 2) We need to hire people who know how to bill not someones relative that worked at mickey D's last week and gets a 2 day crash course on billing! They dont know what they are doing! 3) Dont pay an agency thousands of dollars to find a CEO then pay him thousands of dollars then fire him and have to pay him plus all the others we have paied agency to find. 4) You are going to loose the excellant nurses you have now and are not paying well then you will have to staff with agency nurses and spend 4 times what you are paying them. 5) Who suffers? Everyone. Someones mother,father brother sister child thats who.How about asking someone who works in health care for some suggestions. You are acting like insurance co. someone who knows nothing about medicine is telling you what procedures they will and will not pay for. Does that make sense?
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The County SHOULD ASK THE EMPLOYEES AT DMH what the problems are.
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I am a Dmh employee as are you Connie. But, we do not need to point the finger at other employee's, not all of us at DMH thinks like you. I takes each and everyone of us to run the hospital. There are a lot of GREAT employee's at our hospital (billing department included). Like I said it takes ALL of us to keep this hospital going. From Administration all the way to housekeeping. This is not the time to be pointing fingers we all need to stand together as a family. I have been here for over 10 years and this is my family. I do not want to go somewhere else and work and it is not all about the money. I love our hospital, we do great care. What the community needs to look at, is what will they do when they need emergency care and we are not here to offer it? I understand we are in trouble, but closing the hospital will once hurt this community further.
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I'll be glad to talk to you. What's your name? Or is that a secret?
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On comment #2 by Nobody.......Hiring relatives instead of the best qualified has been a problem in the past:ie-when Charlie Ward retired guess who got the job. Can you say "kin folk". These actions affects the moral of the employees which filters back to the operations of the hospital also. And yes I have concerns with the billing at the hospital. Now, more than at anytime, it needs to be done correctly. The hospital problems/poor management has been festering for quite some time and with the terrible economic conditions now upon us, the situation is catastrophic....we can say....the patient is on life support and you have to decide when to pull the plug. It has been a wild ride.....remember the Crest days????? ...If we don't pull the plug and the patient survives what kind of life will it have? To those making the decisions on its demise/resurrection I do not wish good luck.....but that good wisdom be placed upon you.
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Same person tried to get their daughter hired too but got caught.
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She should have been fired for that and still needs to be.
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PLEASE !! One of the worst things for morale is for people to make false statements because they do not have knowledge of the true facts or they do not care to get them. Gossip will only generate gossip. Perry is a small town. Most everyone is related. There are many employees, management and nonmanagement who are related at DMH. FACT: Department managers interview and select the best person/fit for the job opening in their department and the CEO (top guy) interviews and selects the best management employees, according to the applicant's interview, work ethics, knowledge, fit for the job, potential, etc, etc, not HR. So, before you all make any more false statements or accusations, be intelligent, state the true facts not personal opinions and if you do not have true facts, don't say anything! And that goes for all negative statements, including billing and management, made verbally in the community or posted on blogs bashing DMH employees and DMH.
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I agree that rumors, and gossip lead to non-factual determinations, however, something is wrong at the Hospital, it didn't just start either, and when CEO's Boards, and top management change, the Hospital is still in trouble. It's been in trouble since the New Hospital, really even before, it's been leased, sold maybe I'm not sure, run by boards, run by the county, and still problems, so who is to blame? I've heard the stories of substandard care, from people I know and trust, I've heard the stories of fabulous care, from people I know and trust, something has to be done, I don't know what, but to continue on this way is insanity. I don't know if there are any offers to buy the Hospital or not, I've heard there are, but the offers come from people that want to run the Hospital differently, downsize to an emergency facility. I don't know if the people in charge have such great egos that they would sink the Hospital in order to maintain control, but something is wrong, and if something isn't done to correct the problem we will not have a Hospital, there's no way the county can keep this up, money will run out, so can't someone in charge come up with a plan, either sell, lease, or partner, I think it would be better to have an emergency center than nothing at all.
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What a crock.. Everyone knows nepotism is not supposed to be tolerated according to the employee handbook and yet HR gets their relatives hired and even held back applications so that their daughter ( a nonrehirable former employee) might be hired again. She didn't get that one by. EVERYONE KNOWS!
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jessica,CARLA LYLES and all you others that work at DMH.Yes do a survey before you take the word of a parasite that would rather let his child die in his arms before he would see someone capable of keeping that child alive. How ignorant and pathetic this little person is,hopefully if something ever does happen to a child of his someone else with some sense would take the responsibility away from an idiot like that. And you little man, I am one that you do not speak for,when you say everyone that includes me and I would not have Perry trash speaking for me.
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WELL SAID!!!!!!
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Well said, there is no hope for this insane man. Nothing should ever stop anyone from trying to help or save their children.
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So, I guess all the ones that put their letters in the editorals do not know what they are talking about huh Jimmy B? Just because of your so called experiences we should not have a hospital here? You who by the way would rather your child die in your arms? Well let me clue you in on to something I know! I would rather take their opinions from them, not even knowing who they are than a so called parent such as yourself! We need this hospital here.
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I am not employed by DMH and they, who you speak of, most likely are, they have a financial interest in the taxpayer bailout of DMH, enough said. To correct you I stated that I would rather my child die in my arms rather than DMH. My children get great care in Tallahassee and see their doctors, dentist, ect.. on a regular basis. From the time my children came home from the hospital, TMRMC, from being born, to now I have not waited for a child to get sick enough to have to go to DMH. What is ironic is that everyone I talk to in Perry feels the same way. If no one is using the hospital here, no one who pays anyway, it is not needed. It really is just an indigent care transportation station. LOL!!! Get over it! LOL!!!!!
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There are no two children loved more than mine, and they are treated by DMH and DMH doctors. While I lived in Tallahassee my children were treated by docs there, we moved here and fell in love with Emerick, so we now use him. My oldest had to have minor surgery several years ago, and thanks to the ER staff at DMH she did and made a full recovery. However, she had been treated in Tallahassee for a full week prior to the surgery, had I continued using Tallahassee she would have lost a limb, the docs at DMH recognized that and corrected the problem in the nick of time. Recently my younger child had to have minor surgery, we chose DMH. I am certain that there is no other facility that could have given him better care. The nurses and staff were fantastic, so much so that when it came time to bring my young son home he said he wanted to stay in his "new, big house with the nice girls". They made him comfortable and happy while providing excellent health care. He just knows he was loved and they took his pain away. They even came in on their breaks to play games with him.
You don't talk to everyone in Perry, probably just your own little click of inbred idiots who would rather their child die than provide adequate care. The pediatric wing was full of people during our stay, no one looked miserable, not the parents or the sick children, and certainly not the friendly staff. Although there were some poorer looking families, there were some there with plenty of money so your claims that no one who pays would use it are completely false. The irony of your comment is that though you talk so badly about them, they would be there for you in a second and they are more than capable of providing whatever care you will need. I can't believe that you would brag on TMRMC, the hospital that looses their accrediation at least once a year. You should really try to hide your ignorance more, your comments have no validity because of your obvious stupidity. One of the worst things that could happen to our small community is to lose DMH. I can't even fathom how someone would prefer to live in a town that doesn't have a hospital.
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DMH "pediatric wing"? Is that next to the OB-GYN Wing? The Open-Heart - Brain Surgery Wing? LOL!!!!! And by the way we do not have a hospital! DMH is not a hospital! TMRMC and Capital Regional are regional hospitals, DMH is not a regional hospital, never will be, [*].
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Where are you now moderator?
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Oh I'd say both groups are about even with the insults, well if they stop now.
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I am right here. I don't moderate every second of the day. Sometimes it takes me a day or so to review a post. Thanks for asking where I was and thanks for participating.
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yes they have a peds wing and yes they did have ob/gyn wing, where my son was born. no DHM is not a regional hospital and probably will never be one, but it is a COMMUNITY (rural) hospital and from the way you talk Jimmy, you are not part of the community , so pack up and move on.
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Jimmy B. obviously needs medication. I'm sure any nurse at DMH would love to oblige him.
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I want the Hospital to stay open if possible, but surely you've read other comments besides Jimmy B, there are problems out there, and acting like there aren't any, and that everything is alright, and everyone is doing their job, it's a well run institution. It's not, I've related my experience first hand, it was rediculous, I know nurses and other employees personally, that do their jobs very well, I don't believe they are on this site, talking about something that isn't true. They are doing thier jobs, hoping that everything stays afloat, they know there are problems, they also know the Hospital can't continue as it is, they are not sure the Hospital needs the equipment, they are not sure that will help, they just hope they can continue to work. They are grateful for the help from the taxpayers, oh sure they get mad when criticism is leveled at their place of employment, but they also know it deserves some of that criticism, that mistakes have been made, just like any Hospital, I've lost Family members to what I thought was incompetence at TMRMC, it's just how our health care is in this country, it all needs a price overhaul, and customer servce tweeking. I know JimmyB has been very vocal about his opinion, but so have the Hospital Employees, in fact, each time some of these employees answer legitimate problems, they act like there are no problems, that everyone at the Hospital is working and everyone is doing their jobs, well someone isn't, you are in deep trouble some of it is not your fault, but some of it is.
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I too am one that wants the hospital to stay open, Perry needs this and so do surrounding Counties.There is pro and cons about everything in this world, and you can't please everyone all the time. Boy what a good world that would be if only we could. I don't care how good/bad an establishment is there is going to be someone that has a beef with it and so therefore crap is started. Jimmy B, by stating the kind of parent he is,asked for what he got, but in my opinion he didn't get enough. You Perry Inquirer also need to know that everyone does not think alike either,people see things differently and to accuse the ones commenting on here of not *being truthful* just because of your experiences, and just because you know some that are doing their jobs beautifully is ridicules.You do not judge all by one.This is what this board is all about(controversy)not lying.I think that if we are lucky enough to be able to keep our hospital, then we should be lucky enough to get whatever equipment we need to be able to help people and keep them alive, even if it is only long enough to get them to another bigger hospital! We still need ours.To think otherwise is someone that is not hitting on all cyclinders! If my child needed help then I would then need that hospital to help me with my child, in order to keep my child alive! Unlike Jimmy I surely would not like for my child to die in my arms.
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I think it would be great for DMH to remain open, however a lot of water has gone under the bridge and in this economy DMH really has not chance. There simply is not enough business for DMH to remain open and DMH appears powerless to develop a market or brand. the taxpayers of teh city and county cannot aford to continue with the bailout scenario and there simply is not enough sales tax being generated to keep DMH out of the sea of red ink. Great effort all thos at DMH, but it is time to develop a new mission for DMH.
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I first became aware of the hospital and its financial woes when I interviewed for the CEO position back in January. To this date, it appears that there is still no CEO in place taking the ship in the direction it needs to go. The answer to making any institution financially sound is not to give 10% pay cuts across the board, but to get rid of the low performers and give the hours to the people who are your best employees. This gets rid of the dead weight and puts the best employees where they should be, working to the fullest of their capabilities. After speaking with the CEO selection committee, I felt it would be a challenge, but you DMH could make a turn around, though it would take some time. The next big step toward financial stability once the best employees are kept and the bad employees are out the door is to build confidence in the facility from both the community and the doctors. This can be done in one of two ways, to either focus on physician referrals and turnaround times for tests (lab, x-ray, CT, etc.) or by inviting the community to see the facility first hand and talk to the employees (again these are the employees who are the best not the ones that were let go because they were not productive). Finally, the last step necessary to become financially sound is to renegotiate all of your contracts, those that are service contracts, physician employement contracts, and reimbursement contracts. Once these three steps are taken, the hospital will be better clinically, financially, and will have a better reputation. If you are financially stable, you are capable of recruiting the physicians, both FPs, IMs, and specialists because you have a facility where the employees are competent and thankful for their full hours, you have a facility that can make money, and you have a facility that has a firm committment from its community.
I for one would be sad to see such a nice facility close and go to waste. If the board cannot select a visionary leader with a plan to turn the hospital around, then they really should focus on selling the hospital to a larger system. If I ahd come, I would have tried to get the facility certified as a critical access hospital which would get better reimbursement from Medicare and Medicaid.
I hope that the facility is able to stay open and that the hospital grows to be able to serve a community with top quality physicians, nurses, and the rest of the staff.
Eric E. Easey
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