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Monday, March 23, 2020

Looking Desperately For A Medical Short-Fall Fall-Guy

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The media and politicians are looking for a fall-guy for the so called shortage of medical facilities and resources during the CoronaVirus Pandemic.
That’s very important because it’s an election year and the masses are calling for blood and heads; some are even building new gallows (solid plan not based on injection drugs or electricity and firing-squad would only add to the gun violence data).
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Here in SW Virginia and adjacent Appalachia country there has been a massive reduction in medical facilities as administered by:
Medical Facility Certificate-of-Public-Need (CON) Laws.
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Reflections on this process include:
Lee County picks Ballad to reopen its hospital
“I don’t know how many rural hospitals have closed — 70 or 80 or maybe more in the last few years. I believe we will be the only one that has reopened,” Montgomery said.
“The University of North Carolina’s Cecil G. Sheps Center has tracked 95 closings since 2010. Some of the former hospitals now offer emergency or urgent care, or outpatient services.”
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It appears that CONs is a country-wide process based on national health programs like ObamaCare and Medicare; therefore:
It’s Not clear who is really ‘responsible’ for medical facility availability and capacity but it looks like a State Committee based on Business As Usual case loads and clearly not peak epidemics no less pandemic crisis.
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So, Let’s hang the CON committees – wouldn’t want to let a crisis go to waste and someone needs hangin!
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The ‘urgent’ reaction in NY to ramp-up medical facilities (including army field hospitals) is testament to the serious short-falls highlighted by this pandemic:


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