Donate to WERU Today!Host/Producer: Rhonda Feiman
Production Assistant: Petra Hall
Technical Assistance: Joel Mann & Amy Browne
Healthy Options: For Well-being & Being Well
This month:
– Why is a local hospital so important for the community in which it is located? How can hospital consolidation affect local hospitals?
– How is the success of a local hospital evaluated? How did Waldo County General Hospital rate, before it became a part of MaineHealth?
– Waldo County General Hospital was a successful, profitable, independent hospital, with innovative and award-winning programs. How has that changed since becoming part of MaineHealth?
– How can a local hospital be innovative in developing & providing services? How might they share these innovations & successful practices with other healthcare entities, nationally or even internationally?
– What is the importance/value of having a hospice unit at your local hospital? What is the importance of having a local Ob-Gyn unit at your community hospital?
– What impacts can be caused by closing Ob-Gyn and hospice units? What are the effects of reducing healthcare services which the community has relied upon for many years?
– Who loses their jobs locally when hospital services are eliminated or redirected to out-of-town facilities? Beyond the hospital staff who are let go, how is the whole community affected?
– Who now decides what services are provided? Is there any local autonomy or are the decisions made by people without connection to the local hospital & community, who view the hospital as a corporate asset rather than a vital community asset?
– What can the Belfast City Council do, to protect hospital services that the community needs & relies upon?
– What is the impact of privately-owned & operated urgent care facilities in a community with a local hospital?
Guest(s):
Mike Towey, former Director of the Speech Language Pathology Department at Waldo County General Hospital; employed at WCGH for 40 years.
FMI:
Beckers Hospital Review
www.beckershospitalrev
and
www.beckershospitalrev
Pam’s Story (illustrates expertise that can be developed & sustained at a small hospital, & how innovation at WCGH was essential to her successful recovery):
www.mainehealth.org/ma
MaineHealth proposal for Waldo County Healthcare Inc. 12/15/08:
www1.maine.gov/dhhs/si
About the host:
Rhonda Feiman is a nationally-certified, licensed acupuncturist practicing in Belfast, Maine since 1993. She primarily practices Toyohari Japanese acupuncture, using gentle and powerful non-insertion needle techniques, and also utilizes Chinese acupuncture and herbology. In addition, Rhonda is a practitioner of Qi Gong and an instructor of Tai Chi Chuan in the Yang Family tradition.
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