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1-22-99
Rambling Thoughts
This Friday A.M., as I was going through the Metro Section of The Advocate, my eyes caught
this HEAD LINE: "HIGH
BID on DIXON MEDICAL PLAZA $404,500.00, about HALF of APPRAISAL".
When I read that, I instantly remembered something in The Advocate pertaining to Ascension
HOSPITAL. It was 1-20-99
Metro Section: "ASCENSION HOSPITAL $170,000 in the RED". My first thought was:
is this the actual loss, or is it a rounded
off figure?
Right below the $170,000.00, the first sentence in the article reads: "The Ascension
Parish Hospital Board learned Tuesday
the hospital lost $193,623.00 during December". Subtracting $170,000.00 from the
$193,623.00 means that there was
$23,623.00 profit at the end of November. That causes another QUESTION - were there losses
in October and November? If
there were, that would indicate a trend. Divide 11 months into $23,623.00 equals $2,152.00
average PROFIT.
The Hospital Management Company also told the Board that all five psychiatric patients
from the hospital's Kentwood UNIT
had been transferred to Gonzales, which should save the hospital considerable money. He
said the Kentwood UNIT would be
closed at the end of the month.
If that does not RAISE a question when you read the name Kentwood unit: maybe you do not
know where Kentwood is
located. Depending on the ROUTE one takes to get to Kentwood - less than five miles from
the Mississippi State Line on I-55.
How many patients could the Kentwood UNIT SERVICE. HOW many BEDS? How many EMPLOYEES? Was
the person in
charge at the Kentwood unit from Ascension Parish?
Did you notice that there was something omitted in this article, as there is also an
ASCENSION HOSPITAL at the Baton
Rouge General Hospital. Is that UNIT included in this REPORT?
Now, back to DIXON at Denham Springs. About 7 or so years ago, the Baton Rouge Business
Report Magazine ran a
series of articles by Kelly King Alexandre as to how a friend of Governor Edwards had
leased Dixon Hospital at Denham Springs
made millions of dollars through Federal MEDICAID money doing what it looks like Ascension
Hospital is doing now.
It seems like there are still some Hospital Management people that are in hopes the money
will return. Kentwood is DAIRY
COUNTRY. There are more Dairy Herds in Tangipahoa Parish than any other parish. Any Dairy
Farmer in Tangipahoa Parish can
tell these management teams that once a milk cow has ceased to give milk, there is no more
milk until the cow has another calf.
Do not look for the U.S.Government to father a new calf so you can get more milk again.
O.W.Stevens
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©1998