Council Members Speak At Save Lakewood Hospital Meeting

[cameron karslake]

It is hard to gauge the purpose of Anderson's and Marx's presence at the SLH meeting last Sunday.

It's not like there is a big decision in the near future for them to make anymore. They already made their decision. The time for due diligence is past for them. When pressed, both of them repeated the same, tired reasons for voting the way the did last December. "The Hospital was losing money, we followed every procedure laid out in the City Charter, there were no other systems interested" and on and on.

I can only think they came to find out what the group is up to and to report back to city hall about about the group's methods and goals. After the Dem Club meeting, where all the votes went SLH's way, they probably figured it was time to stop ignoring the group. A simple case of too little, too late.

[Lori Allen _]

I can only think they came to find out what the group is up to and to report back to city hall about about the group's methods and goals.

Agreed.

[Bridget Conant]

Why would they reach out now to constituents when they basically ignored them during this debacle?

They just want to try and influence the vote.

Good luck, council people. I think the rest of us know where you stand and what you did and didn't do for the citizens of Lakewood.

[T Peppard]

Do you have a source you can cite for this statement. If it were true it would have an impact on the LFD operations. The ER saw 80 patients last Thursday and volume has been up by 25% on weekends since April and the Phyiscian Assistant time is being extended on weekends. .

I was also in attendance at this meeting. Councilman Anderson and Councilwoman Marx adamantly presume that our city will have a full-service 24 hour ER. THIS IS ABSOLUTELY NOT TRUE. I just left a Cleveland Clinic ER and learned details that warrant concern about our ER. Our ER will not remain with 24 hour service for much longer. They are already in discussion about closing it earlier in the evening because the numbers are so low... well below the CCF minimum to keep a freestanding ER open. It is a ghost town and there are NO GUARANTEES THAT IT WILL REMAIN OPEN IN THE MASTER AGREEMENT.

Our councilmembers are jeopardizing the lives of Lakewood residents. Our city has over 3000 elderly within walking distance of the hospital. It deserves more than a "GLORIFIED" URGENT CARE! Why is this so difficult for our leaders to understand? They should compare the number of patients beginning in October 2015 of last year and January 2016 of this year... it is a snowballing issue that only hurts our city. I will vote against the ordinance to right this injustice.

Have you considered why many folks don't speak out publicly on this issue? Weren't you at the council meeting where Mrs. Graham, a true leader and fighter for Lakewood, showed us the letters sent to businesses making them remove their SLH signs and causing them to be wary of speaking out about saving the hospital? Many either work for CCF, work for Lakewood City Hall, work for Lakewood City Schools or some affiliate and none of them want to lose their jobs! Kudos to those who have spoken out, but many cannot because the well-being of their family may be in jeopardy.

So, to answer your question... Yes, Scott. This is absolutely true and I am utterly disgusted after what I learned firsthand last evening. CCF will move along as any successful business will do... you and our city leaders should be ashamed of yourselves. You have access to that information. Why don't you reference it? I will not jeopardize the lives of those I spoke with. They had no idea I was from Lakewood or that I was a part of SLH. ...from the mouths of babes "you mean the "GLORIFIED URGENT CARE", "GHOST-TOWN", "TRANSFER IN & OUT", "PLANS TO CLOSE EARLY BECAUSE THERE ARE ONLY ONE OR TWO INTAKES PAST 9PM" , etc...

You have access to those records. Please do your job to serve our city.... reference and compare the numbers from August, September and October of 2015 with January February and March of 2016. I look forward to the figures.

[Bridget Conant]

Speaking out in this city carries a penalty - a visit by police, intimidating anonymous post cards mailed to your home, comments deleted on city connected Facebook pages, letters to businesses to remove signs, and frivolous lawsuits that attempt to silence protest.

This is America, not Nazi Germany.

Speak up louder - tell them we aren't going to be silenced.

[Dan Alaimo]

It is hard to gauge the purpose of Anderson's and Marx's presence at the SLH meeting last Sunday.

It's not like there is a big decision in the near future for them to make anymore. They already made their decision. The time for due diligence is past for them. When pressed, both of them repeated the same, tired reasons for voting the way the did last December. "The Hospital was losing money, we followed every procedure laid out in the City Charter, there were no other systems interested" and on and on.

I can only think they came to find out what the group is up to and to report back to city hall about about the group's methods and goals. After the Dem Club meeting, where all the votes went SLH's way, they probably figured it was time to stop ignoring the group. A simple case of too little, too late.

Considering that it came right after the last meeting of the Dem Club, I suspect that they have a newfound respect for the pro-hospital effort, and were curious. They saw a very large turnout and perhaps heard some things about the hardship the hospital closing has brought that might have been new to them. There wasn't much they could learn at this point that they could turn around and use to the opposition's advantage.

[T Peppard]

Do you have a source you can cite for this statement. If it were true it would have an impact on the LFD operations. The ER saw 80 patients last Thursday and volume has been up by 25% on weekends since April and the Phyiscian Assistant time is being extended on weekends. .

I was also in attendance at this meeting. Councilman Anderson and Councilwoman Marx adamantly presume that our city will have a full-service 24 hour ER. THIS IS ABSOLUTELY NOT TRUE. I just left a Cleveland Clinic ER and learned details that warrant concern about our ER. Our ER will not remain with 24 hour service for much longer. They are already in discussion about closing it earlier in the evening because the numbers are so low... well below the CCF minimum to keep a freestanding ER open. It is a ghost town and there are NO GUARANTEES THAT IT WILL REMAIN OPEN IN THE MASTER AGREEMENT.

Our councilmembers are jeopardizing the lives of Lakewood residents. Our city has over 3000 elderly within walking distance of the hospital. It deserves more than a "GLORIFIED" URGENT CARE! Why is this so difficult for our leaders to understand? They should compare the number of patients beginning in October 2015 of last year and January 2016 of this year... it is a snowballing issue that only hurts our city. I will vote against the ordinance to right this injustice.

Scott,

Have you had a chance to cite those numbers? Aren't you remotely concerned that our proposed ER is really a glorified urgent care that WILL NOT remain open 24 hours, if it remains open at all? How many elderly have had to take a taxi to Fairview when they could have previously walked or taken the bus to Lakewood? The councilmembers that attended the SLH meeting have a moral obligation to inform their constituents - the proposed ER is not FULL-SERVICE - and there are absolutely NO GUARANTEES in the new master agreement that it will remain open.

While I am glad Councilwoman Marx and Councilman Anderson attended the meeting and do hope they can attend more, I wish they would not speak such falsehoods about a guaranteed ER to the people. I also hope they watch all the informative videos posted by Kevin Young. Maybe they will find the courage to begin to stand with us? That just might bring some harmony to the table.

[Bill Call]

Mr Gilman has always been very responsive. Current usage numbers and profitability of the Lakewood facility would be very helpful,

[Bill Call]

Just a few years ago the Hospital had about 38,000 ER visits per year. That was before the secret "decanting plan".

[Bridget Conant]

At 38,000 visits per year you would average 104 visits per day.

They do not expect to be able to treat as many as they previously could,with a hospital attached, but regardless, the Clinic needs a certain volume to justify the facility remaining open.

Unfortunately, like most everything else involving the Clinic and its operations, we aren't privy to the figures or details. We do not know what they consider sufficient usage to keep the facility open and likely never will.

At any point, the Clinic can decide it's not making enough money to justify keeping the "ER" open.

And that's yet another way we've been duped and screwed. Our "leaders" made no attempt to get any promise from the Clinic to provide services. We are at the mercy of the mighty Clinic.

Thanks, Summers.

[Lori Allen _]

Bill,
I would not put a lot of faith in Gilman. He has yet to answer previous questions he was asked here on the Deck and it appears he has now taken over Butler's position as the mayor's new mouth piece. Isn't it a shame that Summers lacks the courage to come on the Deck and speak to his citizens himself? He has to hide behind his employees. Summers=Failure!

[todd vainisi]

I have great faith in our Fire Chief and he has been very patient while you (allegedly) misquote him and accuse him of coming here and lying to us, Lori. When you did that to him earlier in the month, I felt embarrassed to be involved in any of these threads. Chief Gilman has answered all sorts of questions we have posed in these threads.

Please treat our public servants who comment or try to answer questions posed on the Deck with respect. They are owed the same respect as any of the other posters. You seem to grant our sanitation workers a blanket of approval - I think the man tasked with keeping our community from burning down and coordinating life saving emt/medical assistance should get at least the same benefit of the doubt that you grant to the folks handling curbside pickup.

Bill,
I would not put a lot of faith in Gilman. He has yet to answer previous questions he was asked here on the Deck and it appears he has now taken over Butler's position as the mayor's new mouth piece. Isn't it a shame that Summers lacks the courage to come on the Deck and speak to his citizens himself? He has to hide behind his employees. Summers=Failure!

[Patrick Wadden]

I have great faith in our Fire Chief and he has been very patient while you (allegedly) misquote him and accuse him of coming here and lying to us, Lori. When you did that to him earlier in the month, I felt embarrassed to be involved in any of these threads. Chief Gilman has answered all sorts of questions we have posed in these threads.

Please treat our public servants who comment or try to answer questions posed on the Deck with respect. They are owed the same respect as any of the other posters. You seem to grant our sanitation workers a blanket of approval - I think the man tasked with keeping our community from burning down and coordinating life saving emt/medical assistance should get at least the same benefit of the doubt that you grant to the folks handling curbside pickup.

Bill,
I would not put a lot of faith in Gilman. He has yet to answer previous questions he was asked here on the Deck and it appears he has now taken over Butler's position as the mayor's new mouth piece. Isn't it a shame that Summers lacks the courage to come on the Deck and speak to his citizens himself? He has to hide behind his employees. Summers=Failure!

[/quote


Todd, good post and I felt the same way when I read the comments regarding Gilman's posts.

[Lori Allen _]

Chief Gilman has yet to name the exact posts and posters that he claims lied here on the Deck, among other requests that he left unanswered regarding the hospital. He needs to stop hiding behind the Hippa law and release the requested public records information that we have requested. Since so much time has gone by, he need not answer. His silence says it all.

[Dan Alaimo]

I have great faith in our Fire Chief and he has been very patient while you (allegedly) misquote him and accuse him of coming here and lying to us, Lori. When you did that to him earlier in the month, I felt embarrassed to be involved in any of these threads. Chief Gilman has answered all sorts of questions we have posed in these threads.

Please treat our public servants who comment or try to answer questions posed on the Deck with respect. They are owed the same respect as any of the other posters. You seem to grant our sanitation workers a blanket of approval - I think the man tasked with keeping our community from burning down and coordinating life saving emt/medical assistance should get at least the same benefit of the doubt that you grant to the folks handling curbside pickup.

Bill,
I would not put a lot of faith in Gilman. He has yet to answer previous questions he was asked here on the Deck and it appears he has now taken over Butler's position as the mayor's new mouth piece. Isn't it a shame that Summers lacks the courage to come on the Deck and speak to his citizens himself? He has to hide behind his employees. Summers=Failure!

[/quote


Todd, good post and I felt the same way when I read the comments regarding Gilman's posts.

I'm with you guys on this one.