It is the 410-bed hospital in Blue Island that nobody wants. Even for free.
In a stunning development underscoring the plight of non-profit hospitals struggling with the increase in uninsured patients, the Catholic ownership of St. Francis Hospital & Health Center on Wednesday said it will shutter the hospital because nobody would buy it.
The religious order of nuns that oversees St. Louis-based SSM Health Care said it could not even give the hospital away to other health facilities "for free."
Saddled with tens of millions of dollars in losses from uninsured patients who could not pay their medical bills, St. Francis would be abandoning its core mission of caring "for the people of its communities regardless of their ability to pay." SSM will seek a closing application with the state, a process that could take several months.
This particularly strikes close to my heart because the earlier institution I was working for was a not-for-profit institution. Supported by an extensive parish and network of churches.
Brings me back to the argument that as bad as things are, who really loses if hospitals continue to run in the red? The answer obviously is "we all do". Not only are employees laid off, but now the community has to travel farther in search of health care.
TANSTAAFL - There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch.
Immutable law of economics.
[RANT!]
A fact all those clamoring for "universal care" (etc.) do not seem to understand: you can't force someone to provide anything - be it a product or a service - for free. The insurance boondoggle is bad enough as it is... without the added stupidity of government rationing (which is what will happen under
[END RANT!]
Dr. WhiteCoat at WhiteCoat Rants. Y'all head over there and check it out...
