Too Important to Fail

Rural hospital CEO’s like me have a role that our counterparts in larger communities and urban areas rarely have. We usually find ourselves on contact committees for community economic development efforts, meeting with potential business leaders for possible business expansion or relocation. Competition is very high for this kind of development. I have had the good fortune to serve on the Poweshiek Iowa Development, Grinnell Renaissance, and the Waterford Group board of directors over my years here.

So, what does a hospital have to do with economic development? Plenty. Business owners consider many factors when shopping for location. Is there a supply of qualified workers? What is the real estate market? What about quality of life? Are the schools able to provide a good education? What about healthcare? No doubt, high quality and affordable healthcare is key to new business growth in any community. The goal of course is to attract new organizations to locate in our greater Poweshiek community and help grow our economy. Clearly that helps everyone…including Grinnell Regional Medical Center. Besides helping to tell the community’s story and helping to recruit new business to the area, I also have the opportunity to promote the medical center. I get valuable feedback on how we are doing. All around it is a vital part of my job.

Community hospitals in rural areas are often among the largest employers in town. We provide professional-level jobs, salaries, and wages that support the local economy. At GRMC, half my co-workers live outside of Grinnell including myself (I live in nearby Brooklyn, Iowa) and we impact the economies of several communities. GRMC is but one part in a larger healthcare sector of physician practices and their staff, pharmacies, therapists, and more. The excellent retirement communities in Grinnell rely heavily on a quality healthcare system to care for their residents who tend to use healthcare services more frequently. And, accessibility to quality health care influences the decision people make to retire to Grinnell.

It all ties back to my determination to correct the unfair Medicare payment system for tweener hospitals like GRMC, for better reimbursement rates for physicians, and more.

America’s community hospitals are too important to residents who rely on having quality, accessible, and affordable healthcare to fail. We are too important to area economic development and the local economy. We’re not asking for a bailout, we’re just asking for a level playing field.

A Postcard from D.C.

On Wednesday, members of the delegation from Poweshiek County Economic Development (PowI-80) had meetings with Rep. Bruce Braley, Rep. Leonard Boswell, Senator Chuck Grassley, and Senator Tom Harkin.

Pictured here are the members of the group meeting in Senator Harkin's office. We are advocating for many issues of importance to Poweshiek County. Obviously, one of the biggest issues of the day revolved around President Obama's proposed economic stimulus package. The House of Representatives have passed the package and it now goes to the Senate.

The Senate Finance Committee have reviewed their version of the stimulus package. As you may know, our Senator Chuck Grassley, is the ranking member of that committee and Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) is the chair of the committee. Over the past few years, both Senator Grassley and Senator Baucus have been working closely on rural hospital issues, including the unfair Medicare reimbursement system for tweener hospitals such as GRMC.

I am pleased that there is a provision in the package to provide assistance to Iowa's tweener hospitals. We are advocating that this and many other provisions of the legislation stay in the final version of the package that will directly benefit Iowa hospitals and the people who rely on them for their healthcare.

Please take a moment, and thank your U.S. Members of Congress and their hard-working staff, for all they do on behalf of Iowans.

We're doing more than keeping our fingers crossed that these provisions will make it to the final version--we're actually on The Hill telling the story for all of us. When I get back from DC later this week, I'll share more with you about what I heard and learned.