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Gar Williams: What is going on at MRH?

Editor,

MRH has a vision statement that says, “Memorial Regional Health will be the first choice for patients, physicians and employees.” If MRH is following its vision statement why are hundreds of patients going to Steamboat, Meeker and Grand Junction hospitals for their surgeries if MRH is supposed to be the first choice?

Why would MRH choose to close the OB department and fire one of the best OB doctors in the nation? Why is part of the OB staff being fired if MRH is the first choice for patients, physicians and employees? Is it true that a physician who was employed for 6 weeks and never saw a patient? Was it because he could not get credentialed in Colorado? Don’t you check a physician’s qualifications and status before hiring them?



Why was the CFO just fired after one and a half years of employment? Why was the Risk Management Officer’s position eliminated after notifying the CEO of problems that had to be reported to the state, problems which were verified by the Colorado Department of Health investigation?

Why was the Maintenance Director terminated after he brought building and fire code violations to the CEO? Why was the IT Supervisor terminated before he could report HIPPA violations?



Their mission statement says, “to improve the quality of life for the community we serve through patient-centered health care and service excellence.” If the health care delivery system at MRH is patient centered, why do we no longer have MRI and CT scans available after 5 p.m. and on weekends? How does this serve the patients?

Why did MRH administration not purchase a Mako Surgery robot when they had one of the premier joint orthopedists in the nation on their staff? If MRH is supposed to be the patient’s first choice, why are they most expensive for MRIs, CT scans, labs and patient visits when UCHealth 45 miles east is much less expensive for the same service?

Why are patients receiving multiple bills for services and being turned into collection agencies for bills that were paid in full? Why have over 40 veterans administration patients been individually billed and turned over to collection agencies for services that were authorized and payable by the VA? Why were the VA staff who were attempting to deal with these billing problems told by MRH to, “keep your nose out of this, it’s none of your business”?

Is DOLA investigating wrongful appropriation of grant monies and requiring that the state be paid back for the grant? Is Medicare and Medicaid investigating billing MRH’s practices and withholding millions in payments?

Is MRH writing off Employee Discounts as receivables and bad debt?
What about values and integrity? If MRH values integrity as they claim in the choice statement, why are patients who never received a bill turned over to collections? Why are patients repeatedly receiving statements for bills that were paid months ago? Why is the CEO of MRH attempting to quickly and quietly, without community involvement, get a memorandum of understanding with St. Mary’s Hospital to lease the new Medical Office Building and the Urgent Care facility passed at Thursday’s Board of Trustees meeting without getting other bids. Is this the best for the hospital and the community, or is it in the CEO’s best personal interest?

Who is ultimately responsible for the leadership and the problems within our hospital? The CEO. Is it time to look fora new CEO and/or the hospital board?

If you have questions or concerns about the management and operation of MRH, attend the board meeting on Thursday at 6 p.m. at MRH.


Gar Williams,
Craig


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