Results of the Poll

As Preneur walked into the board meeting the following month, he noticed Stone listening to Ida List. Dr. List, the other physician on the hospital board, was an ob-gyn and a bit of a nonconformist. She seemed to have a lot on her mind, and she was speaking urgently to Dr. Stone. As the directors took their seats, Dr. List sat down beside Preneur. "Andy," she said, "we have to talk." But the chair called the meeting to order before she could continue.

Stone's proposal was the first order of business. Ministrator announced the results of the poll of local physicians. "Of the 186 docs who are approved to admit patients to this hospital," he said, "116 responded to the poll. Of those respondents, 73 say they prefer to locate the lithotripter in the hospital, and 11 said they prefer a 50-50 partnership with Dr. Stone and his partners and putting the unit in a free-standing location." Under her breath, Ida List exclaimed, "Yes!" Ministrator continued, "The rest want to keep both options open, or they prefer some other plan."

Stone and Riddle (the latter present by special invitation) were asked to respond to Ministrator's report on the poll. Stone repeated the arguments he had offered at the last meeting in support of his proposal. "I don't agree that this kind of arrangement is unethical," he concluded. "Everyone has his own idea of ethics, obviously, but I don't see anything wrong with it. Besides, the hospital is already a partner in Outlying, and nobody is raising any questions about that arrangement. We're thinking of the patient's good here. Toledo and Cleveland have lithotripters located in situations like the one we're proposing, and they have done thousands of procedures without a disaster."

Next, Riddle rehearsed his objections to Stone's deal. His final point was the argument that some patients experience heart problems when they undergo lithotripsy. "If Mapletown gets a lithotripter, it should be placed in the hospital, where we are equipped to deal with emergencies," he concluded.

Ida List spoke next. "I think the hospital should take the high ground, both ethically and medically," she asserted. "We shouldn't be refereeing the competition between two groups of urologists. We shouldn't buy into Stone's partnership, and we shouldn't accept Dr. Riddle's offer, either. If Mapletown needs a lithotripter, the hospital should buy it and run it."

Later that evening, Preneur described the meeting to his wife, Sue. "At that point, it just degenerated into a free-for-all, with everyone insisting on their right to have their say. I just don't know what to think. Deciding about the lithotripter is hard enough, but we have to make that decision in the context of the hospital's whole situation. We're facing a lot of hard questions about the hospital's future, and nobody really knows how to jump."

"Do you mean all the worries about 'managed care' and who owns the hospital?" Sue asked. "I'm afraid so," Preneur sighed.

Поиск по сайту: