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Healthcare Industry

Working hard to understand our opposition, we have spent a great deal of time looking and attempting to understand this very rapidly changing industry. Our findings and opinions follow...

National Healthcare

The United States has a population of 325,700,000 people and in 2017, health care spending grew at a rate of 3.9 percent to $3.5 trillion, or $10,739 per person, according to reporting by Health Affairs. They also report...

Hospital spending (4.6 percent) — reached $1.1 trillion in 2017 and represented 33 percent of overall health care spending. Growth in expenditures for hospital care slowed from growth of 5.6 percent in 2016 to 4.6 percent in 2017. The deceleration in hospital spending in 2017 reflected slower growth in use and intensity of goods and services, due primarily to slower growth in outpatient visits.

News and developments across the county - and beyond - are recorded by, Beckers Hospital Review.

See this 2019 infographic (using 2017 data) and see the changing scene of US Health Care Spending: Who Pays?

October 16, 2017 - It is very complex. Look for a very important keyword, "legislation", it is in there...

Need help with general health industry terms and acronyms? See this Medical Dictionary... "Health administration or healthcare administration is the field relating to leadership, management, and administration of public health systems, health care systems, hospitals, and hospital networks. Health systems management or health care systems management describes the leadership and general management of hospitals, hospital networks, and/or health care systems. [Ref.]

The great paradox of American health care, according to Elizabeth Bradley and Lauren Taylor, is that "Although American per-capita spending on health far exceeds that of any other country on earth, the results achieved fall well short of other nations that spend much less."

New York State Healthcare

The current Utica hospital story began long ago as state legislation granted major healthcare funding back in 2006. It was part of the "Health Care Efficiency and Affordability Law for New Yorkers."

Consider, "The law authorizes the state to appropriate or bond up to $1 billion for projects that support the mandates of the Commission on Health Care Financing in the 21st Century, also known as the Berger Commission." Read New York State's Commission on Health Care Facilities in the 21st Century.

One way to gauge a region's healthcare is number of doctors per 100,000 residents, and the number of hospital beds available. One study looks at the average cost of owning a home relative to those two figures, see 10 Best and Worst Cities for Healthcare Access for Your Money. Another survey offers other data and another look, see The Best States for Healthcare Access, where New York State is ranked 22nd.

Learn more about NYS healthcare, by reading Healthcare in New York State: 10 things to know. For greater insight, see Kaiser Family Foundation: NY State Health Facts. A very important figure in New York healthcare policy is Assemblyman Richard N Gottfried.

Oneida CountyRegional & City Healthcare

January 18, 2019 - In 2015 (four years ago!) here's where Oneida County ranked in this Report on "health outcomes" and "health factors"...

Utica, NY - The City created a two-year "Community Needs Assesment" plan, see Utica Community Needs-Assesment, 2-Year Action Plan 2015. Much like Oneida County's past CNA plans, not listed are "abandoning our current hospitals" and "bulldozing an entire downtown neighborhood" stated goals.

Bulldozing downtown, to create a 5th tax-exempt hospital district, seems like an awefully poor and very slow solution to improving things.

How does Oneida County healthcare compare to other counties? This group compares the notes, the New York State Association Of County Health Officials (NYSACHO).

August 25, 2017 - Where is the Population we are trying to care for?

March 14, 2018 - Does a very expensive new building (less money for new equipment) improve Oneida County poor health outcomes?

September 13, 2017 - Looking at older "needs assessments", none of Oneida County's reports called for abandoning our hospitals and building a new one as a solution for increasing population health...

April 5, 2017 - Our hospital buildings are old, and hallways are narrow, and a crack was spotted in a foundation wall... but where are the studies with hard facts and figures?

April 27, 2016 - Oneida, Herkimer, and Madison County healthcare; where are the hospitals now...

Hospitals

Look at our research on Utica-area Hospitals & Hospital Campuses.

Get to know the American Hospital Association where, "Nearly 5,000 hospitals, health care systems, networks, other providers of care and 43,000 individual members come together to form the AHA." To get a feel for the industry review; Medical Construction & Design, Health Facilities Management, and Healthcare Design magazines.

Learn about Utica-area hospitals and managing entities, as we try to unravel the Downtown Utica Hospital Concept.

Where are hospital facility in the spectrum of care?

February 25, 2018 - Today a Wall Street Journal article titled, What the Hospitals of the Future Look Like carries a subtitled, "The sprawling institutions we know are radically changing—becoming smaller, more digital, or disappearing completely. The result should be cheaper and better care."

We ask, "Why is MVHS seemingly ignoring the research and advice offered in this article?

Hospitals have competition from Ambulatory Surgery Centers, as well as "Community Health Centers" for example Utica Community Health Center, which is a member of CHCANYS. Here is an article about Hospital Consolidations and healthcare affordability.

To Build A New Hospital?

At some point, MVHS (who has very little money) was told something like, "Yes, go ahead and start planning for a new hospital, the money will be there..." When was it, who said it, why, and who did they tell? Again, what study stated the area needed a new building? Did it start over Funding hopes, or maybe over this Smoking Gun?

After a decision to look into a new hospital, and where to place it, officials had to consider project assumptions and constraints such as; cost and scheduling, staffing, contractual factors (unions, etc.), technology, Funding, government regulations, Risks, scope expectations and feasibility, market and economic factors, organizational structure, culture, and religious affiliations. [Ref.]

Our group is not opposed to investing in the region's healthcare, and not against a new hospital! It is just the Downtown Utica location... selected by politicians! We're 4,000+ Strong At #NoHospitalDowntown and say: Just Build IT At St. Luke's!... it is part of the already existing Oneida County Medical District

No Studies, No Reports, thus we remain #NoHospitalDowntown

Our research is ongoing, please check back. Our research is ongoing, please check back.