New Castle News
Guest Opinion                                     
November 2, 2005

Recently, I had the pleasure of being the guest speaker at one of New Castle’s fine community service organizations. After my presentation of the Jameson Annual Report, a question was posed to me that made me think that the people of Lawrence County would be interested in my response.  The question was, “What is the biggest challenge facing Jameson today?” I indicated to the members there is no short answer to this question. 

             However, I answered in the following manner.  The first challenge we must deal with is reimbursement received for services provided by Jameson.  This reimbursement is presently inadequate, especially when you consider over 70 percent of our reimbursement must come from the state and federal government, and in both cases, we are not fully reimbursed for our services. 

           Jameson provides a full continuum of services and programs to our community, and in many cases more than other community hospitals.  However, the amount we are paid from third-party payers, insurance companies, Medicare and Medicaid is less than other hospitals and providers and in some cases less than our cost.  This is because of where we are located and the type of illnesses we treat.  Because of these two factors, we are put at a disadvantage when it comes to reimbursement.  Many times the reimbursement formulas are arbitrary.  It is important for the community to understand this, because if we are not reimbursed adequately for the services we provide, we cannot advance our programs or remain financially secure, which will cause problems for the hospital and community.

         The second issue that is a threat to Jameson is the number of people from Lawrence who are referred out of Lawrence County or choose to leave Lawrence County for medical services.  Many times they go outside of our community for services that are provided locally.  The medical community is a very strong and quality group capable of providing most needed services locally.  We recognize many times there are services we cannot provide and people must go to quaternary or tertiary hospitals, but for the majority of routine and advanced services such as surgery, general specialties and orthopedics, cardiac care, cancer care, and lung care, as well as general medical care and internal medicine services, our physicians and hospital provide outstanding care. 

         We are constantly striving to ensure that our patients and our community are satisfied with the programs and services we provide.

         A third and most significant challenge we face is the duplication of services and excess medical capacity in Lawrence County, especially in New Castle.  As we continue to see private entrepreneurial groups come into our community and establish medical services that take revenue away from the hospital, we find ourselves at a significant disadvantage from a growth perspective and a financial perspective because we provide health services 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  Revenue from departments such as lab and radiology is needed to fund many services our community depends on.  If we lose revenue because it is going to outside providers, these services would greatly suffer.  Obviously, we are not opposed to competition; however, when we speak of the high cost of health care, we must look at the excess capacity that is being created because of unfettered competition and unnecessary duplication. 

         This competition and duplication redistributes the limited number of patients and weakens the entire delivery system.  Jameson has responded to this by ensuring that its services are advanced, convenient, and of the highest quality.  We believe we offer services that are extraordinary and meet the needs of our public.  We can be very proud of our community hospital and our medical community.

         The years ahead will certainly be very difficult for health care providers because of the numerous concerns about cost, access and quality.  However, Jameson, if it is to be strong and independent, must depend on the community for its support.  Jameson is an independent community hospital here to serve you.

Thomas White, President/CEO
Jameson Health System