As a critical care physician, I am extremely proud to be part of the team of first responders in our area. When a person is injured or medically unstable, emergency technicians rush to the scene, begin the resuscitation, then speed to the emergency department where nurses, respiratory therapists and doctors institute the next treatment phase within minutes, then notify the cath lab, trauma, or the critical care teams who immediately use their experience to provide definitive treatment. All members of these teams drop everything and rush to the aid of the patient, whether a wealthy patron or a homeless person, whether it is 2 p.m. or 2 a.m.
This is how it is done. Which is why we should all agree to support our area hospitals. Mercy, Southwest Memorial, St. Mary’s, Community, St. Mary-Corwin, Parkview, and San Luis Valley: all of these hospitals need reliable reimbursement from both Medicare and Medicaid or they will falter.
Rep. Scott Tipton is not adequately supporting our hospitals. With his votes to repeal the Affordable Care Act on Jan. 13, 2017, his vote for the failed AHCA (Trumpcare) on May 4, 2017, and his vote Dec. 19, 2017 to eliminate insurance mandates in the ACA, he clearly signaled he is willing to decimate the vital support that Medicaid gives to rural hospitals like ours for political purposes.
I ask you, if you like your community hospital and want it to remain robust and healthy, support Diane Mitsch Bush in November.
Gus Hallin
Durango
