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I've used their services, and like them very much. Until this last run with EMMC, I found personal service much better there. They are however, one that sub contracts outs. I didn't realize that until I got my co-pay bill, one for the hosp. and one for the doctor.
I don't live in Maine right now, but it's a possibility in the future...
I know that the project won't be finished until 2017, and eventually they do plan on bringing on more staff physicians, and thus more clinical and administrative staff, as well. Hopefully, all will have access to an affordable health insurance package, ad not have to fish around for a more expensive private plan ( although there are no indications that this would actually happen)..
Do you have an opinion about St. Joseph's in Bangor?
St. Joseph Hospital was recently taken over by Covenant Health which is a small Catholic healthcare group who also took over St. Mary's in Lewiston and have another facility in NH. Originally, the Felician Sisters ran this hospital and under the direction of Sr. Mary Norberta, grew to be very competitive in the healthcare market. Unfortunately, most of the nuns are of retirement age and the Order is not getting much for new recruits, so they had decided the best course for St. Joseph to continue the mission was to find an organization who closely matched their philosophy as near as possible. They continue to enjoy a reputation for service - they have a fairly large following of patients loyal to them for the personalized care they tend to give. They continue to score high on various patient satisfaction surveys (such as Avatar Hospital Surveys) and the last I knew, they were considered a "Tier one" facility. Naturally, as with any organization, they also have their "I'll never go there." group, but for the most part, that's few and far between because they have a good reputation for patient care (and for being "nice"). They are a nonprofit facility.
They've partnered with places such as Jackson Lab to provide less expensive healthcare coverage for the lab's employees. They continue to try and forge partnerships as this is the way of the future if they want to stay competitive in the market. The loyalty to the Felician Sisters is fairly well proven in the longevity of many of its employees. There are some who have worked there for literally decades. The new CEO seems to be a great fit, and the majority of long-term employees seem to feel that Sr. Norberta has picked a good organization to give 'her baby' to going forward in the new world of healthcare.
Since they are smaller, they obviously don't have all of the services that EMMC does; however, they do offer quite an array of programs. Currently plans are in the works to expand the ER and to add sort of a 'walk-in' care to the Emergency Room which I'm sure will increase the traffic a great deal. In a 24/7 world, many people work all hours of the day and night and it behooves the hospitals to try and provide less expensive service during off hours as well. Every hospital who wants to add a service or expand is required by the state to file a Certificate of Need where they have to plead their case for why a service is needed. Certain services are restricted if there are two hospitals within a 50 mile radius wanting to offer the same kind of service. They can be refused a CON if it's a particularly expensive service.
If St. Joseph is able to line their ducks up right, they'll be around for a long time (which is good for me because I like the smaller facilities).
Last edited by cebdark; 02-07-2013 at 12:57 PM..
Reason: typo
St. Joseph Hospital was recently taken over by Covenant Health which is a small Catholic healthcare group who also took over St. Mary's in Lewiston and have another facility in NH. Originally, the Felician Sisters ran this hospital and under the direction of Sr. Mary Norberta, grew to be very competitive in the healthcare market. Unfortunately, most of the nuns are of retirement age and the Order is not getting much for new recruits, so they had decided the best course for St. Joseph to continue the mission was to find an organization who closely matched their philosophy as near as possible. They continue to enjoy a reputation for service - they have a fairly large following of patients loyal to them for the personalized care they tend to give. They continue to score high on various patient satisfaction surveys (such as Avatar Hospital Surveys) and the last I knew, they were considered a "Tier one" facility. Naturally, as with any organization, they also have their "I'll never go there." group, but for the most part, that's few and far between because they have a good reputation for patient care (and for being "nice"). They are a nonprofit facility.
They've partnered with places such as Jackson Lab to provide less expensive healthcare coverage for the lab's employees. They continue to try and forge partnerships as this is the way of the future if they want to stay competitive in the market. The loyalty to the Felician Sisters is fairly well proven in the longevity of many of its employees. There are some who have worked there for literally decades. The new CEO seems to be a great fit, and the majority of long-term employees seem to feel that Sr. Norberta has picked a good organization to give 'her baby' to going forward in the new world of healthcare.
Since they are smaller, they obviously don't have all of the services that EMMC does; however, they do offer quite an array of programs. Currently plans are in the works to expand the ER and to add sort of a 'walk-in' care to the Emergency Room which I'm sure will increase the traffic a great deal. In a 24/7 world, many people work all hours of the day and night and it behooves the hospitals to try and provide less expensive service during off hours as well. Every hospital who wants to add a service or expand is required by the state to file a Certificate of Need where they have to plead their case for why a service is needed. Certain services are restricted if there are two hospitals within a 50 mile radius wanting to offer the same kind of service. They can be refused a CON if it's a particularly expensive service.
If St. Joseph is able to line their ducks up right, they'll be around for a long time (which is good for me because I like the smaller facilities).
Couldn't give you credit, but thanks for the post--good information.
I wonder, if at some point in the future, if St. Joseph's will be co-opted by EMMC, A similar situation happened in my home town of Burlington, VT, where Catholic Fanny Allen Hospital was essentially taken over by the dominant Medical Center Hospital of Vermont ( now known as Fletcher Allen Healthcare), which is the big teaching hospital for the University of Vermont College of Medicine. Of course, at the time, Fanny Allen offered basic med/surg inpatient beds, and an ER, but no subspecialties, and their physician staff was getting on in years..
I did notice that Bangor is a medical hub of sorts, and the physicians (from both hospitals) are from all over the US, including Hawaii, with many Duke Med School alumni. Kind of surprised, but perhaps I shouldn't be..
Couldn't give you credit, but thanks for the post--good information.
I wonder, if at some point in the future, if St. Joseph's will be co-opted by EMMC, A similar situation happened in my home town of Burlington, VT, where Catholic Fanny Allen Hospital was essentially taken over by the dominant Medical Center Hospital of Vermont ( now known as Fletcher Allen Healthcare), which is the big teaching hospital for the University of Vermont College of Medicine. Of course, at the time, Fanny Allen offered basic med/surg inpatient beds, and an ER, but no subspecialties, and their physician staff was getting on in years..
I did notice that Bangor is a medical hub of sorts, and the physicians (from both hospitals) are from all over the US, including Hawaii, with many Duke Med School alumni. Kind of surprised, but perhaps I shouldn't be..
Well, never say "never" but I doubt there will be a co-op relationship. They do cooperate a little better since the rivalry of Sr. Norberta and a former CEO named Norm Ledwin is over with. It was a rough patch there for a while. He once said to her that she should come work for him to which she replied "You couldn't afford me." Naturally, being a nun, her salary went to the order in CT and she was paid a stipend of some ridiculously low amount per month. Sr. Mary Norberta was a force to be reckoned with. Personally, I love her spunk. She is a brilliant woman IMHO. I'm convinced that were it not for her, EMMC would have swallowed SJH up whole, and it probably would be a giant nursing home now instead of an alternative to one gigantic hospital.
Well, never say "never" but I doubt there will be a co-op relationship. They do cooperate a little better since the rivalry of Sr. Norberta and a former CEO named Norm Ledwin is over with. It was a rough patch there for a while. He once said to her that she should come work for him to which she replied "You couldn't afford me." Naturally, being a nun, her salary went to the order in CT and she was paid a stipend of some ridiculously low amount per month. Sr. Mary Norberta was a force to be reckoned with. Personally, I love her spunk. She is a brilliant woman IMHO. I'm convinced that were it not for her, EMMC would have swallowed SJH up whole, and it probably would be a giant nursing home now instead of an alternative to one gigantic hospital.
Thanks for the link; I'll assume that since SJH is still operating, that relations between EMMC and SJH are much better than they were in 2001...
Yes they are and I hope it continues as they get closer to the massive changes sweeping US healthcare. The article is spot on about how "competition" has shaped the course of healthcare services though.
The shenanigans that went on then have gone on all across the country, and IMHO, have poorly influenced the way healthcare operates now. The standardizing of care (such as the nosy questions Zymer had to put up with when he went to have his work-related injury checked) is just another way to jump through hoops to get paid rather than to be able to place the majority of focus on the injury itself. This is not to say that providers don't give the best care they possibly can - for the most part they do; however, it's a foregone conclusion to me that asking that particular block of questions that have little relevance to the actual chief complaint (other than possible adverse reactions to medications, etc.) wastes time and "time is money" right? This is why many physicians work for a hospital now instead of hanging out a shingle on a single practice. They're being eaten alive by paperwork, laws, rules, litigation, etc. and all they want to do is practice.
What went on with those two hospitals clearly illustrates (to me anyway) why healthcare 'competition' is probably the worst thing that could happen. It's also why I strongly believe that while competing for my shopping dollars or other business may be appropriate in a for-profit outfit, providing my healthcare should never be.
Last edited by cebdark; 02-08-2013 at 11:28 AM..
Reason: typo
Yes they are and I hope it continues as they get closer to the massive changes sweeping US healthcare. The article is spot on about how "competition" has shaped the course of healthcare services though.
The shenanigans that went on then have gone on all across the country, and IMHO, have poorly influenced the way healthcare operates now. The standardizing of care (such as the nosy questions Zymer had to put up with when he went to have his work-related injury checked) is just another way to jump through hoops to get paid rather than to be able to place the majority of focus on the injury itself. This is not to say that providers don't give the best care they possibly can - for the most part they do; however, it's a foregone conclusion to me that asking that particular block of questions that have little relevance to the actual chief complaint (other than possible adverse reactions to medications, etc.) wastes time and "time is money" right? This is why many physicians work for a hospital now instead of hanging out a shingle on a single practice. They're being eaten alive by paperwork, laws, rules, litigation, etc. and all they want to do is practice.
What went on with those two hospitals clearly illustrates (to me anyway) why healthcare 'competition' is probably the worst thing that could happen. It's also why I strongly believe that while competing for my shopping dollars or other business may be appropriate in a for-profit outfit, providing my healthcare should never be.
Eventually, we, should just go to a single-payor system, and end this nonsense of services being declined ( for payment, not treatment), endless referrals, and other things that are really secondary issues. Obamacare, for all the complaints, is a step in the right direction.
I don't see what the fuss is about in regard to being asked questions about the nature of one's injury. If a woman shows up in the ER with a black eye, I hope that someone on staff would bring up the subject, and ask appropriate questions. It's pretty standard practice now anyway, and people should stop whining about it.
Eventually, we, should just go to a single-payor system, and end this nonsense of services being declined ( for payment, not treatment), endless referrals, and other things that are really secondary issues. Obamacare, for all the complaints, is a step in the right direction.
I don't see what the fuss is about in regard to being asked questions about the nature of one's injury. If a woman shows up in the ER with a black eye, I hope that someone on staff would bring up the subject, and ask appropriate questions. It's pretty standard practice now anyway, and people should stop whining about it.
They've nailed a lot of chronic domestic abuse by asking those questions. I'm reasonably sure that by asking some of those questions, they've circumvented some pretty bad cases and helped the victim get out before something worse happened. Sometimes victims won't talk until they're in that little room with one nurse. It's hard to tell the true story when your abuser is standing beside you answering the questions for you.
Do you have any experience with healthcare in countries that provide universal coverage?
The majority of reasonably healthy Canadians I've grilled about their healthcare system ( and I've come across many in my work and I ask a lot of questions about it mainly because I'm nosy ) like it. They tend to be middle class tax-paying citizens as well. There are some who are displeased about having to wait for certain services and treatments. They often come here rather than wait, but for run-of-the-mill basic healthcare, they seem pretty content with it.
This is a pretty good representation of what I've heard from Canadians I've interviewed about their healthcare system, and this quote is one I heard nearly verbatim when I questioned the number of Canadians who seek radiation therapy in Maine:
"Yes, there are those instances where a patient can wait up to a month for radiation therapy for breast cancer or prostate cancer, for example. However, the wait has nothing to do with money per se, but everything to do with the lack of radiation therapists."
And this was similar to what a family member told me about her mother's hip replacement:
"It is not a perfect system, but it has its merits. For people like my 55-year-old Aunt Betty, who has been waiting for 14 months for knee-replacement surgery due to a long history of arthritis, it is the superior system. Her $35,000-plus surgery is finally scheduled for next month. She has been in pain, and her quality of life has been compromised. However, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Aunt Betty — who lives on a fixed income and could never afford private health insurance, much less the cost of the surgery and requisite follow-up care — will soon sport a new, high-tech knee. Waiting 14 months for the procedure is easy when the alternative is living in pain for the rest of your life."
As with any healthcare (even in the good old US of A) I've heard complaints about having to wait for therapy/treatment/surgeries. I had to blow a jugular vein with the office staff myself when the my DD was scheduled for an MRI to rule out a bone tumor. Ewing's Sarcoma anyone? She was 10 years old. They were fiddly-farting around with trying to figure out if the insurance would cover it. The insurance company was balking about it and bear in mind, between our premiums and what my DH's employer pays, they make $16,000.00 per year off us alone. We are rarely sick. We are the kind of 'risk' they love. I told them I'd give them my friggin' Visa card and prepay for it myself if necessary. I was ruling out cancer in my child. Fortunately, it wasn't cancer. I'm willing to blow off a sniffle or slight fever, but not Ewing's Sarcoma. That's a veritable death sentence.
Nothing is perfect by any means, but it can't keep going on like it has been much longer.
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It was a rough patch there for a while. He once said to her that she should come work for him to which she replied "You couldn't afford me." Naturally, being a nun, her salary went to the order in CT and she was paid a stipend of some ridiculously low amount per month. Sr. Mary Norberta was a force to be reckoned with. Personally, I love her spunk. She is a brilliant woman IMHO. I'm convinced that were it not for her, EMMC would have swallowed SJH up whole, and it probably would be a giant nursing home now instead of an alternative to one gigantic hospital. 
The article is spot on about how "competition" has shaped the course of healthcare services though. 
) like it. They tend to be middle class tax-paying citizens as well. There are some who are displeased about having to wait for certain services and treatments. They often come here rather than wait, but for run-of-the-mill basic healthcare, they seem pretty content with it.
