The article about the Greenbay Packers was totally fascinating to me. As a childhood Packer fan, I knew that the team was "owned by the fans" but I had no idea to what extent this made them such a successful franchise. I agree that I think it would be hard to remove an existing team owner and replace them with a non-profit, owned by the fans system like Greenbay has, but would it be worth a try? I think the idea that the fans own the team and the general manager has the leeway to make decisions of their own would be a great idea for franchises all over the country. This system obviously does not affect the salaries of Greenbay players or employees, so what is there to lose?
It was interesting to read the statistic that 60 percent of community hospitals are non-profit, I had no idea. So it makes since when they talk about polls conducted within a community, that a majority of the population does not know whether or not their community hospital is for-profit or non-profit. Reading the fundamental purposes of both for-profit hospitals and non-profit hospitals, there is a glaring difference. To do good is so very important and the way I read the for-profit purpose, is that the employees, including doctors, are not required to do good, but make a profit for their boss. To not focus on healing the sick and encouraging good health within a community, but to make sure that community pays up when they come in for an x-ray or ultrasound. I too agree that more education needs to be done in the communities and neighborhoods about what exactly non-profit healthcare is and how much it can help an area.
The article about the hospital in Michigan being purchased by a for-profit healthcare system shed a new light on the subject for me. I do understand that this purchasing of non-profit facilities by for-profit organizations will help those facilities modernize their equipment and structures bringing better care to their patients. Another good point made in the article was that this type of purchasing is happening where the uninsured are the minority by a lot. It makes since to expand for-profit hospitals in this sense. I recently read an article about a Vancouver Washington Medical Center integrating (being bought) by a large non-profit organization PeaceHealth based in Bellevue. The CEO was interviewed, and his take on it was very interesting. He explained that because his hospital in Vancouver is doing so well, it only makes sense to continue the success in the future and the possibility of them succeeding over time without becoming a part of the non-profit healthcare system is slim to impossible. Though they will be now affiliated with the Catholic PeaceHealth system, little will change for their staff and patients, they will all still be well taken care of. Here is the link.
I think it's great that you found an article that showed the reverse of "Merger in Michigan". In the Northwest, nonprofit hospitals seem to be dominant. The Vancouver Hospital CEO essentially said, "if you can't beat em', join em'". I'm really skeptical that a for profit business would join with a nonprofit if they were really doing as well as he stated.
ReplyDeleteOur region doesn't have near the urban populations of some other areas. The article from our reading this week seemed to focus more on inner city hospitals where there are large populations of poor and under insured persons. Nonprofits in the Northwest probably don't have as many "free" cases as those of inner city hospitals. It would be interesting to see the statistics of for profit vs nonprofit hospitals for our region and see if they compare to the article.
I am a little bit confused about the merger of SWWMC with Peace Health. They are both nonprofits, and the smaller has been bought by the larger, right? From the CEO's interview it sounded like the biggest changes that would occur were those concerning job redistribution and collaboration. This reminds me of the fact that there are so many nonprofits that are serving the same population, and share the same overall goals, yet have not merged, a point brought up during class discussion. I think this is the greatest deterrent of merging, and if these hospitals can work through it as smoothly as possible, the impact of that example could be huge.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed the Greenbay Packer article as well. I do not really follow the NFL but the reading this article really made me want to support this team. The fact that they give sixty cents on the dollar to charity is enough to make me root for them in the Superbowl. I think that making giving easy for Americans and relating it to things they already love is a great way to get people involved in your cause.
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