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Broadlands Hospital Approved!

Discussion in 'Broadlands Community Issues' started by T8erman, Jan 29, 2004.

  1. Dutchml

    Dutchml Member

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    Any ideas??? C'mon, read the article... Senator whips up a bill and scurries it to the floor of the Senate which would limit malpractice liablity in the hospital chain his family founded, and its insurer, which he also happens to have $25 million worth of stock. Sounds pretty straightforward to me. Must be nice. Hope no one in the Senate owes him any favors....I'm not for or against this hospital, but these people really sound like a piece of work.
     
  2. vweisenburg

    vweisenburg New Member

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    Do you all really understand the issues around medical malpratice and tort reform? There are hundreds of doctors leaving the profession because of the massive costs of malpractice insurance. When you can be sued and lose millions not due to negligence or incompetence but simply because a procedure or delivery has a bad outcome and the jury feels sorry for the patient, that is a system that makes no sense. Healthcare cost so much because of the lack of common sense when it comes to "malpractice" awards. Without predetermined limits, the healthcare system will evetually collapse.
     
  3. trb

    trb New Member

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    While there may be little argument that Frist could benefit from the legislation because of his HCA association, unless someone has heard it directly from him, I don't think it fair to represent that it's his only or even primary motivation. More importantly, it's not only HCA that could benefit, but also EVERY doctor, malpractice insurer or hospital, including Loudoun Hospital and its doctors. As a matter of fact, I’d be curious to know Loudoun Healthcare’s position on the legislation.
     
  4. Dutchml

    Dutchml Member

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    I'm not arguing that reform is not necessary with regard to malpractice cases and the exorbitant rewards given patients for procedures that have a bad outcomes. I just find it interesting that it's him introducing this legislation that would directly affect his wallet. Such a blatant conflict of interest. There are 49 other senators that could bring this to the floor, but haven't. Health care also costs so much because drug companies are robbing insurance companies, etc., etc. And when it comes to the malpractice lawsuits don't forget that the lawyers get their wallets padded, too.
     
  5. T8erman

    T8erman Well-Known Member

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    And why wouldn't it come from him? He is probably vastly more knowledgable than his fellow Senators.
     
  6. Dutchml

    Dutchml Member

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    ...and has vastly more at stake. No, the other Senators are also mostly lawyers and will practice law after leaving office. Why would they want to bite the hand that feeds them? I rest my case. [^]
     
  7. Donna

    Donna New Member

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    Hi Everyone, wanted to give you the latest on the upcoming neighborhood meeting to discuss HCA. It seems that next Thursday, April 1 is the one day that is able to accommodate more people. I hope that for those of you that weren't sure are able to make arrangements to attend. We have alot of toys, so kids are welcome!! If you have neighbors or friends that want to attend please invite them...the more the merrier. We are going to discuss a lot of issues to help us ONCE AGAIN STOP HCA. Your suggestions, ideas and enthusiasm are what helped us last time..let's keep that momentum going. We are going to start around 6:30 so pizzas can be ordered if that makes dinner planning for the family easier. Let me know about this date and time. The location will be at my house (depending on the number). I look forward to working with you again and again appreciate your involvement. Thanks, Donna Fortier
     
  8. vacliff

    vacliff "You shouldn't say that."

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    Donna-
    Can anyone attend? Do you have to be against the hospital to be there?
    Cliff
     
  9. GCyr

    GCyr New Member

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    How fitting -- April Fool's Day...[}:)]

     
  10. Donna

    Donna New Member

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    Cliff, I would prefer to have only those opposed to HCA attend.

    Greg...Only you...
     
  11. GCyr

    GCyr New Member

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    Donna,

    Regarding your letter to the editor in the Leesburg Today 3/26 issue:

    To say "The community has fought for the last two years to keep the Loudoun Board of Supervisors, the HSA, zoning, the media, our HOA... and our neighbors informed about our feelings of this HCA proposal. We, as a community, have surveyed our neighborhood and the majority are against this plan." Exactly what community and neighborhood are you talking about here because it doesn't sound like this community.

    According to the "official" HOA survey tally published elsewhere in this forum and included below, only 824 surveys out of 2082 mailed out were returned -- that's far from the majority of this community. In fact, only 40% of our community returned their survey, so maybe the majority, 60%, didn't care enough to express their opinion. Of the surveys returned, yes, the majority were against the HCA hospital -- 46% against vs. 41% for HCA.

    That's hardly a majority of this community when only 40% returned their surveys. I could say that only 17% of this community is against HCA if I count the number of surveys against the hospital vs. the total number of surveys mailed out. That would be a stretch, but certainly not much more than yours.

    Also, how will "We, the Broadlands community, ...continue to take action to ensure that our neighborhood is not forever changed from the peaceful and tranquil environment we have grown to love and vowed to protect" when a "wall-to-wall" (my quotes) office park is built on that property instead of a hospital?

    I believe you were at the meeting where the traffic count analysis was presented and an office park puts more traffic in our neighborhoods than a hosital -- that's not very "peaceful and tranquil." Actually, the traffic won't be in our "neighborhoods" unless it's our neighbors driving there, but somehow the hospital traffic always seems to be going through our neighborhoods, so the same should apply to office park traffic. Yes, Broadlands Blvd is in our community, but it's a 4-lane divided Blvd, so it's hardly a "neighborhood" street.

    So, unless you can get your employer (LHC) to buy the land and donate it to our HOA, something is eventually coming to that site, whether we like it or not. When someone can explain to me why an office park is more benefical to this community than a hospital, I'll reconsider my stand on this issue.


    -------------------------------------------
    "Here are the final results from the survey:
    824 surveys out of 2082 mailed were returned (40%).
    53 were invalid (no name or address, 2 boxes checked, no boxes checked, or 2 received from the same household) which left 771 valid responses.
    357 did not support the hospital (46%).
    318 did support the hospital (41%).
    79 have not received enough information (10%).
    17 had no opinion (2%)."
     
  12. vacliff

    vacliff "You shouldn't say that."

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    Greg-
    I don't get the Leesburg Today. Did Donna identify herself as an employee of LHC? If so, then her comments should be taken in their proper context.
    I like your twist on the survey.....only 17% of Broadlands residents oppose the hospital. I find it interesting that Donna agreed after the counting of the surveys that the level of response and the closeness of the vote did not in any way demonstrate that the community could be shown to be for or against the proposal. Yet now she tries to use it to say the majority of the community is against it? Disingenuous at best, devious at worst.
    I have previously sent letters out to each of the members of the Board of Supervisors explaining the vote of the survey.
     
  13. afgm

    afgm Ashburn Farm Resident

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    It appears Donna's letter did not warrant being posted at www.leesburg2day.com Maybe someone already pulled it. Can someone verify the date of the edition? The weekly usually comes out on a Wednesday, and the 26th is a Friday. Donna, do you publish under a different name than "Donna"?

    It is interesting that there is a willingness to take this issue public in a static forum, but it appears there is an unwillingness to debate the issue in a forum were the opposing view is present. Must be a feeling of vulnerable to the logic posed by the recent positive decision for the new Broadlands Hospital. Or just a shear complete disregard for the views of neighbors.

    The most positive thing that could happen is if both groups come together and start talking about how to influence how the Hospital will exist in the community. Move to influencing landscaping, parking, road access, etc. That is were the best energy can go.

    LHC can't hire enough people to turn the public sentiment to their favor. Let's not get into a trap of debating the inevitable. Let's join forces and positively welcome and positively influence the arrival of our new neighbor.

     
  14. Donna

    Donna New Member

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    Greg, your right April Fools day is an appropriate day to discuss this issue, its a FOOLISH proposal by HCA. Just one side note, if you believe in your heart that this plan will not disrupt this community then that is your right. It does not mean I or those against are disingenuous or devious. I am not going to debate or defend every issue each time I post on this forum.[^]
     
  15. GCyr

    GCyr New Member

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    Cliff,

    Donna's letter is in the Leesburg Today, March 26, 2004, Volume 16, Number 20, issue which I received in yesterday's mail.

    Donna didn't identify herself as an LHC employee in her letter to the editor and she signed it with her name. However, she did plug her employer (LHC) with: "Loudoun Hospital is a not-for-profit hospital which means its money goes back into the community. HCA is a for-profit hospital with its profit going to its shareholders, and HCA has very deep pockets. LHC wants to use its money where it is needed--back into its neighborhoods, communities and Loudoun family's healthcare needs."

    I wonder where all those LHC neighborhood, community, and Loudoun family's healthcare need projects are hiding and how much money was spent on them. Not the planned projects that may have sprung up after HCA announced their hospital plans but actual projects. Since the COPN approval process noted that "LHC’s contribution to charity care was well below the regional average in 2000 and 2001", did they increase their charity care and project spending to counter HCA??


     
  16. vacliff

    vacliff "You shouldn't say that."

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    Thanks Greg.
    The same old LHC talking points that are not based in fact. Just using "buzz words" to try and induce a certain sentiment, no matter how false it is.

    And Donna, yes it will be an impact on the community when the hospital is built. ANY construction in a commercial development area designed for millions and millions of square feet will have an impact. Some projects can have more impact than others, and some projects can benefit the community more than others.
     
  17. T8erman

    T8erman Well-Known Member

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  18. Homer Simpson

    Homer Simpson New Member

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    That's a wrong statement. We know 3% of Broadlands residents don't have enough info, 15% For, and 17 % against. 60% of Broadlands did not respond (including "hanging chads"). You can't infer that because those 60% were not motivated enough to respond that they were either for or against the hospital. In the 2nd to last election (Clinton/Dole) I don't think half of all Americans voted but it was still enough for a "mandate" to be declared. I think slightly over half voted in the last election. So I think 40% of Broadlands responding is as good as it's going to get.

    There are statistical measures to project that sample to a resonable statistical snapshot. You don't think the Neilson ratings work on a true sample do you, in fact it's only a small margin compared to the whole like 500,000 Neilson families to 450 million Americans.
     
  19. vacliff

    vacliff "You shouldn't say that."

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    Homer-
    I meant that comic as a joke. I agree with you that the results of the survey cannot be used to show anything about "the majority of the community", as Donna tried to portray. The accurate representation would be that the response that received the most votes was "not in support" of the hospital. It was not even the majority of the votes cast, since those that supported it and those that wanted more information totalled more than 50%.
    Statistics can be twisted many ways. It would be an accurate statement to say: "In a survey of the Broadlands community, only 17% said they oppose the project." Although this is a factually accurate statement, it is misleading because 60% of the community did not respond.
     
  20. Homer Simpson

    Homer Simpson New Member

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    I know you were joking. Still had to point out the spin in case folks take it out of context.
     

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