(Photo by Sue Vliet)
George Hinton, chief executive officer of the Milwaukee-based Social Development Commission, writes that Ascension Wisconsin’s plan to cut medical services at St. Joseph’s Hospital will harm people who need health care the most.
As CEO of Milwaukee County’s community action agency, an advocate for people living in poverty, I cannot sit in silence as nonprofit health care systems like Ascension Wisconsin abandon people who need health care the most.
Last week, a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article revealed Ascension Wisconsin’s plan to cut critical medical services at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Sherman Park. Now, there is additional reason for concern. Ald. Bob Donovan announced that Ascension Wisconsin may downsize services at St. Francis Hospital on the city’s South Side.
This action will hurt people who experience poverty and anyone else looking for health care in the impacted communities.
Ascension Wisconsin’s reduction of medical service will affect all Milwaukee residents. Health care cuts with no collaboration among other health care systems could create a crisis in our community.
If other systems follow Ascension Wisconsin’s lead, restrict access to patients or eliminate beds, we could see patients sitting in hallways, waiting for beds as a worse-case scenario.
We recognize the fact that it is challenging to provide health care for people unable to fully pay for services. However, hospital systems strategically select the communities they serve. Profitable services are often placed in affluent communities where people do have the right insurance to pay for service. In other words, hospitals move where the money is. This flexibility also gives systems the ability to support hospitals in lower-income areas.
There is an obligation to support basic health care needs with inpatient and outpatient services.
Not-for-profit hospital systems are obligated to provide appropriate safety nets for all populations in the community.
This is the true spirit of a not-for-profit organization. They don’t pay taxes.
Every move like this undermines stability in our communities. In addition to a lack of health care, this action frequently comes with job cuts — many are family-sustaining jobs.
All health care systems that make money from our community must think carefully about how they treat those with fewer resources.
Since we don’t have socialized health care in this country, this is everyone’s responsibility.
Thank you to George Hinton and to SDC for taking leadership on this critical issue. Neighborhoods without accessible quality healthcare are not sustainable. If ever there was a time for advocacy on the part of community based nonprofits serving children and families in Milwaukee, this is it! Engaging in advocacy IS NOT mission drift – in this instance, it’s a powerful way to advance the missions of any nonprofit organization committed to the well-being of children and families and the strengthening of Milwaukee’s neighborhoods. And the law is very clear on this: advocacy is an allowable activity for tax exempt nonprofits. Let’s hope that they join the effort that SDC has begun!
This closure makes me so sad and plain angry. People in this community will DIE because of the changes. It takes a long time to transfer critically ill patients to other Milwaukee hospitals to receive the care they need. So as they close all medical services people will be impacted. Furthermore, patents will die alone because of this. It takes at least 40 minutes from St. Joe’s on the bus to get to surrounding hospitals, this will greatly impact how family will be able to visit their loved ones. Ascension’s mission is published on their website as follows ” Mission
Rooted in the loving ministry of Jesus as healer, we commit ourselves to serving all persons with special attention to those who are poor and vulnerable. Our Catholic health ministry is dedicated to spiritually-centered, holistic care which sustains and improves the health of individuals and communities. We are advocates for a compassionate and just society through our actions and our words”. This move is directly in discord with their mission and their first value which is “Service of the poor: Generosity of spirit, especially for persons most in need”. I don’t believe anyone making these decisions can say that they are following anything except the money trail.