Former Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett recently authored an op-ed in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette about the important role of hospitals and health systems in Pennsylvania and the need to reject legislation that would jeopardize patient care and reduce healthcare access by taking resources away from local hospitals.
On the unique importance of hospitals and health systems, Governor Corbett wrote, “Hospitals are truly the front lines of 24/7 healthcare. When a child breaks a bone or wakes up in the middle of the night with a fever, when a parent exhibits symptoms of a potentially significant health problem, or when a loved one fighting a serious disease experiences complications, families can count on their local hospital for care — any time of the day, every day of the year, for nearly every kind of medical need.”
Governor Corbett also stressed the importance of prioritizing legislation that strengthens patient access to care and rejecting proposals that would destabilize that access at a time when many hospitals are facing workforce and financial challenges: “Sadly, new legislation being considered in Washington D.C., including the SITE Act and the FAIR Act, could destabilize our state’s hospitals even more. These bills would cut patient care by slashing billions of dollars of funding to hospitals…We can do better. I urge lawmakers to reject policies that would cut patient care and focus on real solutions that support our hospitals, our healthcare workers, and our residents’ access to care.”
Governor Corbett joins a chorus of voices across the country expressing their support for hospitals and health systems and speaking on the need to protect patient access to 24/7 care:
- Michigan Lieutenant Governor Garlin Gilchrist discussed the important role hospitals play in providing mental healthcare in Bridge Michigan, “Another key aspect of Michigan’s access to mental healthcare is our state’s hospitals. Hospitals are the only sites that provide around-the-clock emergency care, including in-patient psychiatric care. For many in our state, particularly in our low-income, minority, and rural communities, hospitals often represent the only nearby, accessible option for both acute and continuing mental health services.”
- In Ohio, Brian Lane, the president and CEO of The Center for Health Affairs, said in Crain’s Cleveland Business, “[T]he benefits provided by hospitals to their communities are undeniable and extend far beyond their walls. Hospitals play a vital role in addressing health disparities, promoting wellness, and improving overall community health status through addressing social determinants of health such as food insecurity, healthy homes, and transportation barriers through telehealth and other community services.”
- David Stout, a County Commissioner in Texas, wrote about the importance of local hospitals in El Paso Times, “El Paso County’s hospitals are a health care lynchpin for southwest Texas. Some neighboring residents drive hours to access care at our hospitals — like Juvencia Padilla, who, the Texas Tribune reported last year, regularly makes an hour-and-a-half commute from Fort Hancock so her son can receive necessary medical treatments.”
- In New York, John Rubbo, Majority Leader of the Yonkers City Council, wrote about the economic importance of hospitals in Lohud, “Hospitals like St. Joseph’s Medical Center and St. John’s Riverside here in Yonkers can serve not only as cornerstones of our community’s health, but also anchor our local economy. And unlike most businesses, the need for hospital care remains constant, making them a crucial source of economic stability even during times of economic distress. And for the same reason, the direct and indirect economic activity that surrounds hospitals represents a reliable artery pumping blood into the local tax base.”
- The Editorial Board in The Berkshire Eagle in Massachusetts touted the community importance of local hospitals, saying, “The long-hoped for reopening of the North Adams Regional Hospital promises considerable material benefits to the region’s quality of life, from closer and expanded access to life-giving and life-saving medical care for residents to an infusion of high-caliber jobs in an area hungry for growth. Yet it means so much more. This reinvestment in and revitalization of a vital institution of community infrastructure is a big symbolic victory for this corner of the county.”
Across the country, hospitals and health systems support local communities by providing vital, around-the-clock care to any patient that needs it. Congress must take action to support and strengthen our hospitals and health systems so they can continue providing the quality patient care that communities count on.