Real Life of an MSW

I love the op-ed section of the paper. I believe we all need to write at least one letter on something we’re passionate about in our lifetime. In saying that, I applaud this reader

Re: “Catholic health care restrictions lead WA legislature to eye changes” [Feb. 6, Local News]:

I am a family physician who has practiced in dozens of different health care settings — from large hospitals to free clinics, from urban to rural. I can say firsthand that there is nothing more demoralizing and destructive for front-line health care than being owned by a corporation that doesn’t care about the community.

From 2014-2015, I worked on Vashon Island when CHI Franciscan acquired the Vashon Island Health Center. CHI Franciscan’s disconnected management and profit-centric business practices decreased the quality of affordable care we were able to provide, and the clinic lost many longtime staff and providers who were unwilling to provide care that did not meet our previous standards.

The Keep Our Care Act has an apt name. If Washington state lawmakers are unable to gain adequate oversight of mergers and acquisitions of health care entities here in our state, we will continue to “lose” quality care in many ways — including pregnancy care, death with dignity care and gender-affirming care.

As trite as it sounds, corporate health care mergers emphasize profits over people, as already demonstrated by increasing multimillion-dollar administrative salaries and eroding care for patients.

Kjersten Gmeiner, MD, Seattle