Letter: Cardiac Program at Community Medical Center 'Unnecessary'
A letter to the editor written by Deborah Heart and Lung Center CEO
Editor's note: Below is a letter written by Joseph P. Chirichella, President and CEO of Deborah Heart and Lung Center, who states that a cardiac program at Community Medical Center in Toms River is unnecessary. Manchester Mayor Michael Fressola came out in support of the Community program, as has the Township Council.
To the Editor:
Recently, the local news has carried stories about Community Medical Center’s push to petition the state for a cardiac surgery license. Community’s reasoning is that Ocean County has no cardiac program and, as such, one should be approved at its hospital in Toms River.
While Deborah understands Community’s desire for a cardiac surgery program, Deborah is only a short drive away and health dollars are scarce — and becoming scarcer. Spending money on an unnecessary program — the cost of which will eventually be passed along to patients and taxpayers — makes no sense when there are two high quality cardiac surgery programs just a short drive from Community, especially when these programs already provide excellent care to residents of Ocean County. Everyone wins from a collaborative mentality and Deborah believes that Community should collaborate with its hospital colleagues rather than spend needless money lobbying for its own program.
Despite what Community officials have publicly said, travel to Deborah is not a hardship for residents of Ocean County. Deborah is located just six miles from the Ocean County border and just 32 minutes from Community to the west, along lightly trafficked roads — almost the exact same distance Jersey Shore Medical Center sits from Community to the north. This means that no resident has to drive far for cardiac surgery now — with the distance less with each mile the resident lives from Community.
In fact, Deborah is so convenient to Ocean County that its residents make up over half of all patient visits at Deborah. However, we don’t think that Ocean County residents choose their high tech healthcare provider based on who is a few minutes closer — rather, we believe that they choose us based on our excellent care. This year, Deborah was named one of the Top 50 Cardiovascular Programs in the United States by Thomson Reuters and continued our patient satisfaction scores in the 99th percentile nationwide. We believe this — and not the drive of a few miles — is why so many Ocean County patients chose Deborah.
For those patients that want to be close to a loved-one during a hospital stay, Deborah offers on-site, low-cost and sliding scale hotel-type accommodations and free parking. Given that the majority of Deborah’s patients are Ocean County residents, Community’s claims of hardship based on distance seem out of place.
Asking Community to collaborate for best patient care makes sense from a financial standpoint as well. Maintaining a high quality cardiac surgery program requires an investment and a certain steady volume of patients to support the cost of the physicians, personnel and equipment at an effective rate. National and state trends show a sharp decline in the number of patients undergoing cardiac surgeries, as heart centers throughout the country are treating complex cardiac problems with less invasive measures. Fewer cases mean higher cost-per-case for overhead. Deborah’s costs, as recently published by the Medicare program, are the lowest of any cardiac surgery center in New Jersey and lower than Community’s costs. Adding another program will simply add cost to the overall system.
Finally, it is well accepted that quality is higher when there are fewer cardiac programs performing more surgeries. This is why the number of cardiac surgery licenses is limited in New Jersey and why — with the decline in demand — no new programs should be approved.
Deborah’s view is that rather than compete for a shrinking pool of patients and potentially reduce the quality of services for all patients, Community should collaborate with Deborah to send those patients who require the complex care provided at Deborah — such as open heart surgery, high risk catheterizations, implantable defibrillators, to name a few — to Deborah for treatment, and then work to return them home to their home hospital — Community — for more routine care. We think this makes perfect sense and will continue to work with Community to provide the highest quality care for ALL patients.
Joseph P. Chirichella
President and CEO
Deborah Heart and Lung Center
Alice A. Holder
11:43 am on Sunday, June 24, 2012
I disagree!!!! As a patient who needed cardiac surgery in 2010 I was grateful for the excellent care I received I received at Community Hospital before I was transfered to Jersey Shore. I live 8 miles from Community and it was much closer for my children to visit me when I was at Community. This is an area with a high volume of "seniors" and to be able to have a cardiac care hospital within 10 to 15 miles of home would be a blessing. The cardiac rehab program at Community is excellent also, a nice, caring staff who works with you to get your strength back and makes it fun. I think Deborah is worrying about losing revenues, not treating the patients.
julie wilson
12:12 pm on Sunday, June 24, 2012
I personally would rather go to Deborah than Community. I will no longer go to Community for any kind of service. It was awful. I drive to Atlantic Care in Pomona for any emergency care. If I ever have a heart problem I will go to Deborah.
sandybottom
4:42 pm on Sunday, June 24, 2012
me too i go to deborah,i would rather live then have visitors,and you where transfered to jersy shore,what does that tell you
Sara Stewart
6:23 pm on Sunday, June 24, 2012
This is about the money. Cardiac surgery is profitable. If you doubt me, google it, or just ask yourself if hospitals would fighting over the privilege of performing cardiac surgery if it were a money-loser.
Community is pulling on our heartstrings in an effort to get the license approved. We hear tales of little old ladies forced to drive for 30 miles to visit their ailing husbands, etc. Today in church the congregation was exhorted from the pulpit to sign a petition in favor of the license, as a social justice issue. I find the whole effort to be highly manipulative. Why can't Community just be honest and say they want the license for the money it will bring in? Because that would destroy the illusion that this is all about the patients.
Phil G
8:39 pm on Sunday, June 24, 2012
I have been receiving outpatient care at Deborah for 14 years, formerly as a resident of Monmouth County, and now as a resident of Ocean County. Community would have to achieve an outstanding reputation (which it does not currently have) before I would consider switching. Deborah is a first rate cardiac care facility. Community is .............?
Phil G
8:40 pm on Sunday, June 24, 2012
I have been receiving outpatient care at Deborah for 14 years, formerly as a resident of Monmouth County, and now as a resident of Ocean County. Community would have to achieve an outstanding reputation (which it does not currently have) before I would consider switching. Deborah is a first rate cardiac care facility. Community is .............?
ralph Dehner
12:02 am on Monday, June 25, 2012
Better check Community's reputation again Phil. I have had nothing but stellar care when going to community. See my other comments about Deborah.
Mark Wendell
10:49 pm on Sunday, June 24, 2012
I agree with you sir, I think Mr Fresola must have some kind of shares in CMC. I would trust the many many years of experiance at Daborh before I would consider ever going to CMC. They have enough trouble trying to run an emergency room. Deborh has served my family very well. And some geography for Mayor Fresola, Whiting is closer to Deborah than CMC. If not in miles than time, esp. in the summer and considering all the lights and intersections going to CMC.
ralph Dehner
11:59 pm on Sunday, June 24, 2012
I would never, ever go to Deborah! My father went there for a simple procedure and never woke up again. If I needed some major heart surgery I would take my chances going to one of Philadelphia's hospitals. I would go any where but Deborah. My wife, who is a doctor, would never recommend Deborah after she saw the care my father received.
Grace Peck
10:27 am on Monday, June 25, 2012
Deborah Hospital is top in it's class and the reason being is they are one of the best!! hands down.Community Hospital on the other hand is filthy and money grabbing, and I am not sure they really know what they are doing at times! I spent an entire day there last week having no other choice and while I must say the care was good (nurses were great) it lacks the expertise for cardiac care.I was in for observation and they tried to give me blood pressure meds while I had no sign of any problems with my blood pressure. Now how would they be able to tell if I had a problem if I had taken meds to adjust my blood pressure?
Deborah will not send you a bill if you can not pay!! in this day and age that says quite a bit in terms of what they really stand for!!
I have been to Deborah and had received the best in care as far as I am concerned.
As far a Mr. Freesola, he is one of the reason's I have cardiac issues!!!
I would never trust him or anything he says. Just my two cents worth.
Community hospital should concentrate on the cleanliness and care it gives before trying to branch out in other fields. i would rather see them become a better hospital than a bigger one!!
ralph Dehner
2:37 pm on Monday, June 25, 2012
Sorry Ms. Peck, but because my wife is a doctor, she and many doctors I know would never recommend Deborah to their patients. Yes, it's cheap, and sometimes even free. But I saw first hand how they treated my father and I believe he would still be alive today if he didn't go to Deborah!