Hospitals across Southern California are reporting extremely high patient volumes, even higher than during the pandemic.Many hospitals are operating at or above normal capacity
In these situations, and indeed always, it is imperative that health plans meet their obligations to states to support their members' ability to receive the care they need. Removing hospitals from the network will shift the burden of care to remaining hospitals, which already face challenges with limited emergency department and inpatient bed capacity.
In Orange County, CalOptima Health, the county organized health care system established to operate the Medi-Cal managed care program that serves more than one in four Orange County residents, announced on Feb. removed three major safety net hospitals from its network. This decision means up to 940,000 residents will have fewer care options, resulting in thousands of vulnerable and underserved people who rely on these hospitals. This would have a devastating impact on CalOptima members.
Restricting Medi-Cal enrollees' access to health care providers and hospitals creates dangerous barriers to emergency and acute care, causes harmful delays in care, and impairs health outcomes (medical, psychological, and functional). performance) may be adversely affected.
This decision will have a disproportionate impact on the communities served by the four hospitals: West Anaheim Medical Center, Garden Grove Hospital Medical Center, La Palma Intercommunity Hospital, and Huntington Beach Hospital. But hospitals in nearby areas will undoubtedly be affected, and more people will seek treatment in already crowded emergency departments. The ripple effects caused by CalOptima Health's activities could place significant strain on the entire health care system, increase wait times for critical health services, and impair patient outcomes, and could already occur in the immediate aftermath of an emergency. This will cause stress to nervous medical workers. It intends to close emergency department services provided by another hospital in Orange County.
A significant number of these concerns were articulated by affected patients and their physicians during the most recent Orange County Board of Supervisors meeting. More than 300 residents have signed an online petition asking CalOptima Health to reconsider its harmful decision.
One worried patient said: “I've been to Garden Grove Hospital many times before. I'm away from home and need to be able to go back. I've received great care here. My 90-year-old grandparents also went to Garden Grove Hospital. Without CalOptima Health at Garden Grove Hospital, it would have been very difficult for me and for them.”
There is no doubt that this concern weighs heavily on the minds of Orange County's most vulnerable patients, keeping them up at night worrying about whether they will receive the care they need, exactly when and where they need it. There's no room for that.
Many unhoused, low-income residents who rely on care in these facilities experience barriers to adequate transportation and are often asked to travel outside their communities to meet their most basic needs. I am. Additionally, CalOptima Health admission-required patients seeking emergency care at these hospitals will have to be transported to other hospitals in the network, increasing ambulance wait times and delaying ambulance treatment. The impact on the county's emergency management system would also be significant. patient. This situation is made worse by the fact that two of Orange County's three trauma hospitals are located within just 11 miles of the soon-to-be-decommissioned hospital.
We stand firmly in solidarity with the hundreds of patients and doctors who bravely voiced the above concerns. For Orange County residents, this decision significantly increases the risk of adverse outcomes, possible avoidance of needed treatment, delays in treatment that could lead to permanent disability, or worse, death. .
We urge CalOptima Health to respect the values and needs of our members and to fulfill our mission to serve their health with excellence and dignity. Each And most importantly, continue to expand care options rather than further restrict them. This is a critical time for us to come together as a community to protect access to critical health services for those most dependent on them.
George W. Green is President and CEO of the Hospital Association of Southern California (HASC). Mr. Green leads the Hawaii Medical Association, a position he has held since 2009. He previously worked for the American Hospital Association. Green received his J.D. from the University of Tennessee and his bachelor's degree from Clemson University in South Carolina.
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