JUNE 10, 2008

ECMC, KALEIDA CONSOLIDATION NEEDS FACTS, OPENNESS

I remember my mom used to lick the tip of a pencil before she would make a list on a small piece of scrap paper that I would take to the butcher for our weekly meat order. When the meat order was filled the butcher would pull a pencil from his ear, lick the tip and begin to tally up our order. I always associated the habit of licking the tip of the pencil as an act of getting down to business. These days you don't see people doing that anymore. Everything is high tech and computerized.

When I was a kid we also had two newspapers in town. I delivered the Courier-Express for six years, so I was partial to their philosophical slant. It was nice because with two newspapers you always had the opportunity to discern between the two slants. We don't have that privilege anymore. We're a one-horse town. In this morning's editorial page, the Buffalo News accused the ECMC and Erie County elected officials of dragging their feet and throwing obstacles by filing a lawsuit in the path of a bill that would work towards a merger of two health care giants in WNY - ECMC and Kaleida.

Well, that sounds good, if you buy into it. But the truth is, there is a proposed bill in Albany that at this time has nobody jumping on to sponsor it. It was a bill put together by Kaleida and the State Department of Health with little or no input from ECMC, a proposal that would ultimately put ECMC under a new governance structure. All this hullabaloo is the result of recommendations of the Berger Commission stating that Erie County has too many hospital beds for the amount of people, calling for reductions and mandating mergers.

It sure makes sense, but it didn't make sense when the commission decided St. Joseph's had to go even though it was financially healthy. The same goes for ECMC. We're not only healthy, we're wealthy. And for Kaleida to come in leering at our wealth is borderline unconscionable to me. Kaleida has stated through their NEWCO chairman that their intent is to be fair and equitable in their negotiations. All I have to say then is simple: put it in writing.

Well, if that's the case, bring ECMC to the table. I'll bring a whole bunch of scrap paper, a box of sharpened #2 pencils and these two entities can get together in a room and bang out a business deal that's good for the entire region's healthcare future. This thing is vitally important to us. And remember, the Berger Commission, the State Department of Health and Kaleida may have the very best of intentions, but they are not hired by you, the electorate, as we, your elected officials, are. This deal is too important for us not to have a say.

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