Posted on 08/22/2004 7:57:45 AM PDT by Dubya
LOS ANGELES - Financial problems caused mainly by the treatment of uninsured patients have forced two emergency rooms to close in Los Angeles County, raising concerns that other facilities may be overwhelmed.
The latest closings are the fifth and sixth emergency rooms to close in two years, causing some officials to worry about a shortage of emergency care in the state's most populous region.
"We cannot stand any more closures in an emergency system capacity in Los Angeles - this system is on the brink of absolute chaos," said Jim Lott, executive vice president of the Hospital Association of Southern California.
One of the two shuttered emergency rooms is at Northridge Hospital Medical Center's Sherman Way campus, which officials announced Thursday would be closed by Dec. 31.
They blamed a decrease in reimbursements for treatment of uninsured patients, many of whom use the emergency room as their primary care facility.
Jerry Conway, hospital president, said the 209-bed hospital has been losing $1 million a month for a year.
On Aug. 13, a federal bankruptcy judge ordered 80-year-old Elastar Community Hospital and its emergency room in East Los Angeles to shut down after it amassed more than $10 million in debt.
The hospital, which served a large population of Hispanic immigrants, could not afford to pay its roughly 400 workers.
Health officials said four emergency rooms - most in low-income areas - have closed in Los Angeles County in the last two years because of the soaring cost of treating uninsured patients.
Not to mention trial lawyers lying in wait.
I noticed there was no investigation into what consituted the bulk of 'uninsured patients'. Perhaps AP should inquire at the Mexican Consulate.
Not to mention the hospitals/medical unions/towns who'll be sued up the kazoo for not keeping these facilities open to serve the Mexican invasion force.
I guess it never occurs to these PC morons that if they got rid of the illegals, they would solve a huge percentage of the problem. Nah, that's much too logical.
The solution to this problem will be Universal Health Care in California. Wait and see.
Simple law of economics - money = healthcare
Since illegal aliens do not typically have health insurance, medical care is not reimbursed. Federal law prohibits those without means to pay from being turned away.
The federal government refuses to reimburse the hospitals for care for illegal aliens due to their refusal in stopping illegal immigration.
Private industry suffers and goes bankrupt. Then when tony liberals need emergency medical care, there is not ER available.
Then it becomes a crisis.
This is the same situation occuring in hospitals in border states and coming to hospital near you eventually.
Go to your local ER and see the emergencies: runny noses, coughs, itchy ears, bloody noses, etc. The ER becomes the primary care center for the invaders. So it's no small wonder that they're being closed down.
"They blamed a decrease in reimbursements for treatment of uninsured patients, many of whom use the emergency room as their primary care facility."
For one thing, the law needs to be fixed so that the emergency room is for emergencies. People are going to start dying because the emergency rooms are being shut down because of people going there when they have a cold.
Simplest solution: treat everyone who comes to the ER. But, have a local Border Patrol office next door. After you exit the doctor's room, BP is there to assist you in returning to your home country.
notice how AP won't use the word ILLEGALS!!!!!!
I think the people of america are much more concerned about illegal immigration then the media and the politicians claim.
When legal citizens start dieing because they cannot get emergency medical treatment in a timely matter maybe the citizens will make enough noise and the predators and parasites who are our politicians will be run out of office.
I live in vegas but I visit Kingman AZ every week. many politicians there are running on a open platform of being conservative and anti illegal immigration. It is a refreshing change from what we see in Vegas.
It's a family thing. Apparently all the Bush relatives need work.
yep, if they could just give them some aspirin and send them away, things wouldn't be too bad. However with the threat of lawsuits every conceivable test must be performed to ensure that no problems could possibly exist. While illegals are definitely a contributor to the problem, the inability to refuse care to those who don't need it and don't have to pay a cent for it (even my democrat girlfriend who is an ER nurse supports required copay from everyone to cut down on the freeloaders)have made this a problem all over the country. Many are so audacious that they call an ambulance whenever they need a ride to the doctor's office. And the law says that they ambulance cannot refuse to come. These people believe they are entitled to these things.
We lost an emergency room in Delco two years ago after their malpractice insurance rose $10 million in a year.
Entitlement is a huge problem. You hit the nail when you say way too many people (legal and illegal) think america owes them a house, money, food, a education, a car, a abortion, a computer, their electricity,gas and water bills paid, etc etc. The worse part is it isnt gonna get better anytime soon. It will become much worse. As a matter of fact now that you mention that I think it is a bigger problem then illegal immigration. Illegals are just the straw that is gonna break the camels back.
bttt
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