Hopeful approach to hospital deal SENECA JOURNAL EDITORIAL TODAY Wednesday’s announcement of an agreement in which Oconee Medical Center (OMC) will turn over operations of the hospital to Greenville Health System (GHS) did not come as a surprise. Since the first announcement that Oconee was “exploring a formal arrangement” with GHS on January 27, it has been apparent that the situation was headed in this direction. Now, we will be watching for what happens once Greenville takes control of the hospital Oct. 1. We are hopeful that this will be good for Oconee County and the surrounding area. The 32-page document does seem to back president and CEO Jeanne Ward’s contention that any agreement would have to allow OMC to remain a local hospital, where Oconee patients can get most of their care here at home rather than forcing people to travel to Greenville for services. We are hopeful that not only will we keep specialties already in Oconee County, but others will be coming to the area as well. We are hopeful this change will not mean a loss of jobs in Oconee County. Ward said Wednesday the agreement will be “good for economic development.” Hopefully, that means OMC employees will remain employed and the hospital will continue to be a good corporate citizen. While we understand GHS is a large hospital citizen, we are hopeful the Oconee campus can keep that community hospital flavor. Mergers have led us to lose that community feeling in so many areas. OMC has been a big part of the community, and we hope it will continue along those lines with Greenville in control. We are encouraged the agreement does honor previous commitments to provide for indigent care, bad debt, charity care and Emergency Medical Services, as well as property for an aquatic recreation facility, a coroner’s office and sheriff’s substation. The agreement basically offers things both sides want. Oconee gets relief from $90 million in debt — $82 million of which is long-term debt — and two representatives on the GHS board of trustees. Greenville gets control of a hospital in an area an hour away from its main campus. OMC officials have said they can no longer operate independently with the continuing changes in the healthcare industry. They have said Greenville is the most logical partner, and it is the partnership they feel most comfortable about. We hope they are right. This 50-year lease has two renewal options that could keep this agreement in place for the next century. Most, if not all of us, will be gone from this earth in the 50-100 years that this lease and contribution agreement could last. By then, people will have long forgotten the two boards that voted unanimously Wednesday to begin this process. They will only remember whether or not the county was better because of it. We are hopeful the boards made the right decision.
Posted on: Thu, 26 Jun 2014 16:23:43 +0000
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