TMH Primary Care Clinic???
According to the Perry News-Herald, Tallahassee Memorial Hospital is interested in opening a primary care clinic here in Taylor County as soon as this fall. TMH President and CEO G. Mark O'Bryant met with the DMH Board at their weekly meeting Tuesday to further discuss possible partnership avenues and their desire to locate a clinic here. According to O'Bryant, TMH has not decided whether to fully fund it or partner with DMH and share the costs. TMH did a study of the area and decided that Taylor County and the surrounding area lacks primary care doctors. He said that the clinic would not do much on site diagnostics and would rely on DMH as the principal site for outpatient diagnostics. He congratulated the board for getting the $2.2 million to purchase equipment and stated that they would start with two primary care physicians, who would live and be a part of the community, with room for expansion.
First I will say that this explains the urgent need for new equipment. I personally don't see how we need more primary care physicians in comparison for the need of specialists. We have had specialists here before, but could not keep them for whatever reason. Obviously, the profit potential for primary care for Taylor and surrounding areas are great in relation to specialty care. It seems to me that the plan is to use the TMH name to hopefully bring those residents that have stopped using DMH back to Taylor County and therefore increase the revenue of the hospital. Probably the best and only move to resolve the issues that brought DMH to its knees to begin with, but will probably have to eventually change the D to a T to completely fix it.
Open discussion...
It will be interesting to see what develops. The BOCC should contract directly with TMH, why have a "partner" or middle man as inept as DMH,Inc., it's Board and certain employees (Doctors, ect...).
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What struck me most about this article was the building delema. TMRMC doesn't know if it will rent or build a facility, maybe when they start investigating posibilities they'll realize the potential of the old hospital building. Surely it could be refurbished for less than building a new building.
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Aren't there enough empty buildings that TMH could utilize for a primary care clinic without building another building?
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That is true. Instead of destroying another footprint, why not refurbish or tear down and rebuild. Building another new building is kind of like Taylor County getting another pharmacy and auto parts store. Granted, Walgreens and O'Reilly's will provides some needed part-time jobs for many working people that need them because their full-time paychecks barely provide and must work two jobs, but in reality we really don't need them. I don't see how our local economy can support that kind of competition. Maybe that is the idea, to force out competition.
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who or what is O'Reill's?
Must have missed the "mullet wrapper" when this was in.
Question off the subject.
Has anyone heard that the City police are charging people when they write up a report? Doesn't matter what it is for, if it is a police report you are gong to be charged. Not the Sheriff dept, just the police.
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I just saw O'Reilly's yesterday for the first time. It's an auto parts shop. I had never even heard of it before driving past it yesterday.
I'm not sure how many auto parts shops a small town like ours can sustain. As the moderator says, it's about the same as getting yet another pharmacy.
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Well, I'm confused.
If TMH can operate a primary care clinic here at a profit, why can't DMH do the same? Why not keep all of the profit here in Perry rather than sending a chunk of it to Tallahassee?
Also, maybe someone who understands this better could explain something to me... Why do we need separate primary care and ER facilities at this time? If we had a busy ER, I could definitely understand the usefulness of this; you don't want someone coming in with an earache when you're busy treating gunshot wounds. But our ER isn't that busy, so being overcrowded or short-staffed doesn't seem like a factor.
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I think this is the best thing Taylor County could ask for at this time. We know that it can't be run by the BOCC. We need someone in there that knows how to run a Hospital and Tallahassee Memorial is the best thing we have going to keep Perry alive. They also have on the best trauma units around with service to 6 Big Bend County's. Let's welcome them.
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I agree with you. If TMH were to take over DMH, that would be the best thing, if you don't want it to fail. If TMH couldn't make it survive, no one in Taylor County surely could. It is going to take much more than just pouring money into it. I mean that will keep it alive, but the money will run out eventually, or the citizens will get tired of it. I am sure the well would run dry before the people got tired of funding it.
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A good CEO can turn this hospital around. Remember, healthcare is a service industry, the business is there the competition is 50 miles away and the service area is large, so the real reason is why aren't people coming? You need a hospital staff dedicated to quality, management that gets them the tools they need to effectively do their jobs and management that creates a work environment built on passion and worthwhile work will develop a culture that drives success! If you do these things then the employees will drive your other essential business pillars which are finance, customer, culture, community, along with the previously mentioned quality, these come together to equal growth. This is drven from the CEO down and the organization needs to become a bottom up organization. It is imperative that it focuses on a culture of execution eliminating such things as waste, needless cost, infection, falls....all things that cost a hospital millions. Eliminate these and create this culture and you are on your way to a financially viable institution.
EY
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Good points!
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While there are alot of details to work through, the overall concept looks great. At least it is a local partner who would be invested in the community instead of some national corporation that would drop it in a second if things weren't going right somewhere else in the country.
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The question to me remains. DMH currently has at least 2 Primary Care Clinics they are suplimenting, Dr. Mutnal and Dr. Mohammed, maybe others. How is bringing in competition for yourself benefitial?
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TMH will bring specialists because of its name and the ability to refer to their healthcare circle if needed. A relationship may also foster a teaching environment where DMH can benefit from additional services, such as a heart program perhaps, which will bring in additional income. Throughout our great country smaller hospital's are finding these types of realtionships benefical and necessary for survivial. Taylor County is beautiful I am sure but recruitment to this rural area is challenging in the healthcare sector, you are competing against other cities for services.
EY
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Does this mean Commissioner Page will remove his TMH billboard that appears to be on his property? Since Page directly or indirectly receives money from said billboard and TMH, does he have a conflict of interest?
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The hospital could start the primary care clinic, these are great for funneling business back to the hospital and for attracting specialists as the family health care center (primary care centers) refer business to the specialists, this will attract them. You could also get TMH to assign residents and fellows to the hsopital for needed specialties. Primary care clinics cost money to start and if DMH is hurting then a relationship, however temporary may need to be developed.
EY
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