HCA Seeks to Deny Citizens Access to Healthcare

VW, GCyr, and Pats: You all say that you "oppose" HCA's latest action to deny Broadlands residents access to healthcare. What are you going to do about it? Will you continue your support of HCA, or will you actual take a stand and face the wrath of the HOA, HCA, and their cronies?

Lo. Co. needs to stay on course and follow the county plan for hospital development in a well thought out and planned manner. Just building a hospital right on top of another makes no sense and does not further the healthcare needs of the county's residents.

Also, Loudoun Hospital has proven that it expands its service offerings when the county's residents need it to. The only thing is that HCA twarts those efforts by trying to deny the residents access to needed healthcare services.

 

Chris,

What I will do is publicly support both LHC's request for cardiac cath services and HCA proposal to build the hospital. They are not mutually exclusive.

"Also, Loudoun Hospital has proven that it expands its service offerings when the county's residents need it to. The only thing is that HCA twarts those efforts by trying to deny the residents access to needed healthcare services." That is a load of ****. They only expand when forced to by potetntial competition. We have need a Card Cath lab for years. Yet, it is not until HCA shows up that LHC figured that out. If HCA goes away, we have seen the last of any new services from LHC. If they really cared about what we need why is there not a neonatologist in the ER 24/7/365? I guess there are no infants that need those sevices in Loudoun.

 

I'm probably not going to do anything about it. Like most of us on these forums, I'm going to express my written support for my positions from the relative comfort of my chair, while hiding behind the anonymity that these forums provide.

Maybe you could give me some ideas. What concrete actions do you take to support the views you express on these forums? Maybe I will adopt some of them.

To get back on point, what does the "county plan for hospital development" say about another hospital in Loudoun County? If BRMC is not part of the county plan, what is?

Finally, I do not think that expansion of LCH satisfies my desire for more health care choices</u> for Loudoun County. An expanded LCH does not give us a choice at all. No alternatives, no competition.

 

Chris, like Pats, I too am disgusted with the way you misinterpret, warp, bend, cajole, wheedle... almost every post to suit your own needs. I understand you are in health care, I wonder if you are not a Spin Doctor????

 

Thank you for wishing my child well, vweisenburg. To answer your question, it is very simple. I do not see the need for a second hospital so close to another brand new one. Some of the members of this forum have shared with the county's plans for adding hospitals strategically around the county as we grow. That makes much more sense.

T8erman, in response to an earlier post by Pats_fan, I said that I do not think that Chris's comments were exploiting or warping my situation. Since the comments were directed to my situation, I hope that you would have enough respect for my judgement as the mother of the child and not attack someone for voicing opinions just because you do not agree with them.

 

MaryJo,

The problem is that we need the 2nd hospital now. Not in 15 to 20 years when the population density in either the west or the south can support another hospital. If our population in Loudoun is adequate to support 2 hospitals (and even LHC agrees that it is) why does the location of BRMC near LHC make that much of a difference? Fairfax and Fair Oaks Hospital are about 7 miles apart. I haven't seen either one of them go out of business.

If HCA does not build BRMC, we will not get another hospital for a very long time. That is just the realities of the marketplace. The other problem you have is that HCA owns the beds that could be used in Loudoun. We can't just add hospitals because we want to. It took HCA 2 years just to get approval to move beds from Arlington to here. So if HCA doesn't build the hospital, where are the beds coming from? We cannot afford to wait another 20 years for a 2nd hospital. By then we will be half the size of Fairfax with about 15% of the healthcare facilities. That is not good planning.

 

Maryjo - I am not questioning your judgement one iota. But if you go back and read many of Chris' posts, you will understand what I mean.

And yes, the comments were directed towards you I am most positive that Chris posted what she did for ALL to see. Afterall, this IS public forum.

And as weisenberg states, we need another hospital NOW!

 

Chris,

Now I understand your problem! You don't know how to read! What I wrote was: "I don't agree with what HCA is doing to deny the services at LHC anymore than I agreed with LHC denying services in Purcellville."

Do you see the word "oppose" in that sentence or that I opposed HCA's actions? No, because I didn't write it. I said I DON'T AGREE with what HCA was doing, just like I didn't agree with LHC's actions in Purcellville, and I didn't say that I was OPPOSED to HCA building in Broadlands. If you have a problem understanding this, perhaps you can get someone to help you...

And, why should I have to "stand and face the wrath of the HOA, HCA, and their cronies" just because my opinion doesn't match yours? Is your opinion the only correct one? I'm sure you think so, but you can be just as sure that I don't think so.

So, how about commenting on what is actually said and not what you think I said or you imagined I said!

 

MaryJo: I'm so sorry to see that you have been dragged into the mud-slinging that anyone of us faces if we dare open our mouths about the HCA's plans to restrict our access to needed healthcare services. It's unbelievable that people will support HCA even when it goes after innocent children with heart problems.

As for the rest of the forum, we all know that another hospital is not needed in this part of the county at this time. First of all, Loudoun Hospital is brand new, and it can meet all of our healthcare needs if HCA would stop trying to protest every time it tries to expand. Next, Loudoun Hospital is not at capacity. So, there's no "healthcare crisis" like HCA has alleged in its attack ads. Finally, Lo. Co. has a plan in place to increase the number of hospitals when needed. We should stay on course.

 

Thanks, chris, but don't worry about me. I'll keep on speaking out against what HCA is doing no matter who tries to stop me. What's the saying about trying to hurt a mother's child? Something like don't stand between a mother and hear baby. HCA and its supporters are trying to hurt my little one and they can send all the hate mail and make all the threatening phone calls that they want. I'm not going to be quiet.

 

I'm going to ask this once again, but I'm not going to hold my breath waiting for an answer. To anyone who may know (or want to venture a guess): What exactly is the ratio of services to be offered by this "full service" hospital and how does it correlate with the needs of this county? After Cliff made his bogus argument (on the other hospital thread) that the mental health services "made sense" because Winchester closed its puny little, unused facility, I put the question out there, but no one (including Cliff) responded. I'm getting tired of everyone talking about how badly we need a hospital 5 minutes away from the existing one because of the population explosion. Call something a "full service state of the art hospital" and I guess it sounds good to a lot of people. Kind of makes you think the next Johns Hopkins is opening up here.

Again, although not many of us are talking about it, (and none of the pro-hospital side is), this appears to always have been first about building a mental health facility in the Broadlands (which we do not need). In the last proposal, psychiatric services for all ages made up one full third of the beds--down, I believe, from 100 percent--(although, no surprise, you'd never know it from the "we really need another hospital" crowd). This did not fly, so now "only" one fourth is devoted to psychiatric patients. I suspect that this is still the biggest chunk of services being offered, but I could be wrong. In any case, this is not about serving our needs. To call this a "state of the art full service hospital" is an insult. If someone really thinks this thing is intended to serve our growing population, I'd love to see how it's going to do that. This is a ridiculous proposal, which in my opinion, is being thrust upon us by some politically correct planners who think mental health patients deserve a nice neighborhood to recuperate in.

 

Brooks5, my sentiments exactly. I would also like to add that nothing is set in stone in regards to the number of beds dedicated to psychiatric treatment. Who's to say that HCA won't in the future include adult psychiatric patients. HCA reps also stated that this building would be the first phase of construction. So stay tuned. HCA will say and do whatever is needed to build in Broadlands. Judging by the fervent and "unanimous" support by our HOA, you'd think they were building the Mayo clinic instead of a Psychiatric Ward. To all those that decry the services offered at Loudoun Hospital and are in dire need of more healthcare choices, get on the Greenway and drive 12 miles to Reston Hospital.

 

I don't think that T8erman's post was directed solely at your situation. I continue to feel, and T8erman apparently agrees, that chris does</u> exploit and twist posts to get her point across. Here is an example of a post that chris recently made in a previous hospital thread in response to a personal issue suffered by T8erman:

So, chris is more than capable of a sincere posting. Here is what she said in response to your situation:

So, while intertwining "sympathy" for your situation in her post, she manages to:
1. Claim that HCA and its supporters actually have INTENT to harm YOUR SON with their NEGLIGENT actions, while also commenting that they are "shameful."
2. Pounce on an allegation about bad parenting that WAS NEVER MADE.
3. State that even if this allegation was made and thus warrants an apology, you will not get one (because, of course, all HCA supporters are jerks, or something like that).
4. Express sadness, but not "shock" that someone in favor of BRMC would send threatening e-mails or make threatening phonecalls (see #3 above).
5. Claim that anyone who opposes HCA or the HOA is met with "pure and total hatred."

This, I am afraid, is a textbook definition of exploitation (Websters: the act of making productive use of; the act of utilizing). She did not exploit you, but she exploited your situation in order to make these statements. She could have just expressed her sympathies, like several others did. But she did not. This behavior of hers is what I find disgusting.

 

One issue I don't quite get. How would HCA's viability be threatened by locating this Psychiatric Ward outside of Broadlands? If HCA's "relocating" patients...this is a "relocation" isn't it?...then these patients won't mind going 10 miles south of here.

 

Seems to me that some posters on these forums are more interested in discrediting their neighbors than exchanging ideas and debating the Issues</u>.

 

Brooks5,

Once again the anti-hospital crowd resorts to out and out lies. Its the old addage if you tell a lie often enough it becomes the truth. You said and I quote "In the last proposal, psychiatric services for all ages made up one full third of the beds--down, I believe, from 100 percent--(although, no surprise, you'd never know it from the "we really need another hospital" crowd). This did not fly, so now "only" one fourth is devoted to psychiatric patients." When was the hospital 100% mental health beds? It never was. The original proposal was 180 beds with 60 for mental health. That was changed to 164 beds with 40 for mental health. Apparently you are unable to argue your points without resorting to lies and distortions

 

Pat's fan, it's really not worth it to quench her insatiable desire to stir up a forum for kicks. It's much easier to ignore her. By definition, as a flamer, it'll get worse before it gets better as they don't go down quietly. I have a strong suspicion she'll suddenly re-incarnate as......Killer Bee. Sorry about being OT.

 

A bit defensive aren't we vw? I'm going to let you slide on calling me a liar. This time. I'll assume that you're just so excited about this asinine "hospital" that you can't think straight. And as for your inquiry, I believe you are the one who posted in an earlier response to me that the original plan was for a standalone mental health facility. Isn't that 100 percent? And I'm a lawyer, not a mathematician, but I think 60 out of 180 is about (maybe even exactly) one third, and 40 out of 164 is pretty darn close to one fourth. So you'll have to point out the out and out lies for a simpleton like me. You can do it while you're answering my question on how one might justify this facility. (I guess the smoke coming out of your ears clouded your vision and kept you from actually reading my post.)

 

Just to make sure you are all well aware that Broadlands was required by the county (in a binding proffer) to dedicate land to a psych facility. If this facility is not enclosed within the walls of say a hospital it will out in the open and there is no regulations on how large it can be or who it will be for (adult or youth).
Back to the origional topic
the games HCA is playing right now I find very upsetting, but at the same time I find the games that LHC is playing to be just as upsetting. Both groups have given me there own interpretation of the facts and to be honest I do not believe either side. What I do know is the fact that our healthcare needs are being decided by a group of polliticians is what I think is the worst part of all of this .
As to Chris and others who keep throwing things back to the HOA and there support of HCA well I am one of those HOA board members you helped elect and while I support HCA efforts to get another hospital to this area right now I would support any company (other then LHC)that offered me another option. I have three very young children and have not been happy with service I have recieved there for myself or anyone else in my family. When we moved in here 4 years ago I was very pregnant with my second child and was told to pick any hospital but Loudoun to deliver and to me that is saying alot. However just because I am not happy with LHC does not mean I love HCA or am even a cheerleader for HCA what I am is a supporter of getting more options in this area and if that means HCA then great. I may find out (when and if this hospital is built) that I perfer LHC after all but at least then I had the choice and I made it for myself and my family.
to Brooks5 somewhere I do have some of the break down on what I believe will be in this BRMC services, give me a day and I will try to post it. I can tell you at most 64 beds of 164 beds were suppose to be for psych however, with all the community imput that was given the second COPN application reduced that number to 40 as was requessted by the residents

Staci

 

Could the pro-HCA people please stop attacking everyone else? We were talking about what HCA is doing to deny everyone one of us medical care. Are we losing sight of that? Instead of supporting HCA no matter what it does against the people in the community, could we make sure that HCA knows that we are upset. In-fighting is not helpful.

Again, after reading chris's posts and also talking some one on one, I find all of chris's statements to sincere. I don't feel used, and I am the best judge of that. Please, could the hospital supporters stop bad-mouthing the other side and start acting talking about issues? Now, you start in on Brooks5 and coopstar. Is there anyone you will allow to have a different opinion?

And I've seen some of the hate mail and heard accounts of the threats the hospital supporters have made. It's gross.