TOLEDO, Ohio — When most people hear the word “healthcare,” they think of doctors, nurses, patients, and the facilities that house them all.
But for residents of Northwest Ohio, understanding what healthcare means has taken on new meaning in the last decade or so.
Many people equate healthcare with concert events. Some associate health care with sponsorship of major sporting events or redevelopment projects in dilapidated buildings. Others equate healthcare with bright green bright buildings, which can be disappointing to local residents.
In 2012, more than 50 Sylvanian residents signed a petition to remove the lights at Flower Hospital. The petition stalled at the Sylvanian City Council. The lines between healthcare nonprofits and nonprofits are becoming somewhat blurred.
“I think it’s natural for hospitals, doctors, and nurses to wonder if they’re in the healthcare business or are they in the healthcare business,” said David, professor of medical management at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Mr Ash says
He said there are many paths to good health, but healthcare is just one of them. Other paths are primarily social.
“Developing communities, becoming an employer, providing education, expanding the economy, these are all alternative paths to health, and in many cases more important than healthcare,” says Ashe, a licensed medical doctor. said Mr. “But I know that hospitals vary in how actively they take responsibility for other pathways to health.”
Promedica then and now
Randy Austra, former CEO of ProMedica, used to say he spends 30% of his time focused on healthcare and the other 70% on building community.
He focused on social determinants of health such as food security, access to work, educational opportunities and quality of life. Promedica has a department and team dedicated to this effort. But Promedica is not the same company it was a few years ago. Did it get too big?
“Well, you might say so,” said Oustra, who retired from the nonprofit in October 2022. It’s a risk assessment. ”
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WTOL 11’s Jeff Smith interviews Randy Wustra, former CEO of Promedica.
Promedica appointed Arturo Polizzi as its new CEO in November 2022, succeeding Austra, who announced his retirement the previous month. Promedica said he made a profit of $23.7 million in the first quarter of 2023. But this he stemmed from his $346.4 million operating loss in the fourth quarter of 2022.
WTOL 11 requested interviews with Polizzi and Promedica spokeswoman Tausha Moore. both declined. “We are committed to positioning our organization for long-term financial stability and success and are not in a position to focus on all of these at this time,” Moore said in a statement to WTOL 11.
But after several months in that position, Oustra believes the organization is heading in the right direction.
“They will continue to do what they can for their communities and social determinants. They just need to pause now,” Oustra said.
Mercy Health and its mission
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Headquartered outside of Toledo, the leadership of Mercy Health in northwest Ohio says some of the things they do for their communities aren’t always said enough.
There may not be concerts or sports sponsorships, but there are long-standing investments in the campus of Mercy Health St. Vincent Medical Center, the new Perrysburg Hospital and Cancer Center, and several satellite branches offering medical options. there is
“I don’t know if there is a clear line where that responsibility begins and ends,” said Bob Baxter, president of Mercy Health Toledo. “We try to frame it in terms of good support to the community and create some priorities from there.”
Baxter isn’t indifferent to what’s happening at ProMedica post-pandemic, and medical businesses across the country.
On the other side of the country, for example, in California, 52% of the state’s nearly 400 hospitals now have negative operating margins, according to a recent report by Kauffman Hall and Associates. This figure is almost double the 28% in 2019.
“When a bridge collapses, everyone goes to great lengths to tend to the wounded and rebuild the bridge at great expense,” Baxter said. “But we pay less attention to a study published three years ago that said just a few bucks could prevent a bridge from collapsing. is a kind of
Baxter also touts Mercy’s efforts for zip codes around St. V (43608, 43610, 43620) and the work done to improve infant mortality. He said 12% of infant deaths in Lucas County occurred in those zip codes in 2018, according to Toledo-Lucas County Health Department statistics. However, in 2022 that figure has dropped to 5% for him.
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Still, will future investments by Promedica and Mercy Health be needed to improve life in Northwest Ohio post-pandemic?
Toledo Mayor Wade Kapuszkiewicz told WTOL 11 in a statement: They are two of our city’s top five employers. So their approach is working and we need to continue it. ”
And they continue to do so. Mercy Health is currently helping transition services to communities around the now closed McLaren St. Luke’s Hospital and has also provided employment to 400 former St. Luke’s Hospital employees. And Promedica is overseeing the transformation of downtown Toledo’s Jefferson Building to make way for California-based tech company Bitwise.
WTOL 11 contacted the Toledo Clinic regarding this matter, but did not receive a call back.
Health management professor David Ash also said that if health care is not about providing social determinants of health to various communities, then city governments or other organizations need to “pick up the ball.” Stated.
But health care faces a more fundamental crisis, he warns, and people really want to work that much. Even before the pandemic, burnout was trending among doctors and nurses, he said.
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