The Greensboro City Council is facing a number of pressing issues.
The city is on track to shatter the all-time homicide record this year and has a major shortage of police officers. There is both a housing shortage and an affordable housing crisis. The situation with the homeless population has reached the point that even Guilford County is getting involved, just to name a few.
However, on Thursday, Aug. 10, the City Council chose to devote half of the work session held in the Plaza Level Conference Room to what was essentially a commercial for Cone Health.
Two representatives of Cone Health spent about an hour talking about how good Cone Health was for the community, in part because it is a not-for-profit corporation run by a board of trustees. They talked about how Cone Health was going provide more equitable healthcare for the people of Greensboro and increase its presence in East Greensboro.
The representatives of Cone Health said that there was currently a disparity of healthcare options in Greensboro that was both economic and geographic.
To their credit, the representatives from Cone would not agree that not-for-profit entities provided better healthcare than for-profit entities, despite being encouraged to do so by City Councilmember Nancy Hoffmann.
Councilmember Sharon Hightower did note that one of the healthcare facilities the presentation listed in East Greensboro no longer existed and she said, “There are racial disparities, but we don’t want to address that.”
She said, “We are becoming the majority population but we get the least amount of services.”
It is worth noting that Cone Health has announced that it plans a legal challenge to an Atrium Wake Forest Baptist hospital facility that was recently approved by the state for a site on Horse Pen Creek Road, not far from the new Cone MedCenter on Drawbridge Parkway, which is definitely not in East Greensboro.
After the presentation, Mayor Nancy Vaughan said that before COVID-19 the city had been considering creating a new position in city government that would be a direct liaison with the healthcare industry and maybe it was time to look at adding that position again.
Situation normal….race card played again and the possibility of hiring another government position for the city. Typical Greensboro.
Bill from Cone Health dated 7/13/2023, in the “Message from Cone Health” section, they state, “If you have not done so already join friends, family and others in getting the safe, effective, COVID-19 vaccine”. OMG, if you are a lawyer representing vaccine injured clients, there is your annuity. The clot shot is proven to be unsafe and ineffective against COVID-19 by REPUTABLE labs, not the pharmaceutical pushers of that stuff. Wake Up People!!!
Isn’t it amazing how money, power, and the appearance of a good cause can get the undivided attention of a room full of socialists? Sorry, I’m not impressed. Someone needs to remind Hightower that the term racial disparities is only used by racists. Karl Marx would be proud of this lot of idiots!
Politik-speak.
Cone Health does not provide adequate service and needs the competition. I had an emergency room visit (Wesley Long) after a major surgery (brain tumor). The surgery was performed at Duke. I was left untreated for hours and when I objected that I was not receiving any treatment for a severe issue I was given a shot and told “I am going to give you this shot and then you can go out in the waiting room because I am not dealing with this.” I was placed in the waiting room with all the homeless people for another 2 hours waiting for shift change. I was told by my Duke doctor in the future if I can make it to the Duke ER next time to do it. Cone’s reputation is horrible. They need the competition. There do need to be options in all areas of town, but blocking the competition is not going to help Cone get their act together or other areas of town gain more medical resources.
Had to pay a co pay before services were to be done,kept getting bill for same amount,It onlt took 90days to get problem corrected, so instead of building bigger might be a good idea to look at your booking-accounting dept.get some help that care about people.If I had payed that bill how long would it have taken to get a refund.
If Hightower is looking for a healthcare facility in East Greensboro, it needs to be one that operates off charity. Healthcare facilities are in business to make money. Cone calls itself nonprofit because there are no shareholders, and they allegedly pump their profits back into operating the facility. Do they? Based on cries from Hightower, the residents of East Greensboro are poor, Black, and need a facility in the area to provide healthcare. What healthcare facility will move into East Greensboro when it is clear the income will not be enough to sustain the facility. If Hightower has a plan, by all means, let’s hear it. Hightower wants to point fingers and demand results that she favors without work and ideas to make it happen.
I can assure everyone that Hoffman does not worry about healthcare for herself. The facility where she lives considers a broken toenail an emergency. If Hightower is concerned about disparity, look at your fellow council members.
As far as Atrium and Cone, competition is a good thing. Now, Cone has a monopoly.
Adding a healthcare liaison position is one of the mayor’s (and Chris Wilson’s) worst ideas to date. One single person is not going to bring together all of our healthcare systems. Not to mention that healthcare is 100% a county function. It will just be another highly paid and highly ineffective position in the executive department (not unlike the intergovernmental affairs position). If only someone would say NO to a bad idea for once. Ugh.