Volume 60, Number 3 - Summer 2009

 

To the Editor:

As the leading provider of inpatient hospital care to local residents, St. Joseph Health System-Sonoma County applauds Dr. Richard Kirk’s call for area hospitals to share equitably in the care of all patients, regardless of patients’ ability to pay [Sonoma Medicine, Spring 2009]. 

We also appreciate the vital role district hospitals play in meeting medical needs throughout our region, as Dr. Kirk highlighted in his article. Thanks to our district hospitals, residents of the communities they serve receive high quality services close to home.

Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital is very pleased to partner with our district hospitals, not only through the level of trauma and emergency services we provide, but also as a hospital that takes pride in treating all who need care. Memorial and its sister hospital, Petaluma Valley Hospital, account for about 55% of the total number of indigent patient care days spent in Sonoma County hospitals, according to the latest comparative data available from the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development. We at St. Joseph Health System-Sonoma County take our mission of caring for the uninsured quite seriously. 

Throughout the three-state St. Joseph Health System, we have seen an 18% increase in charity care and write-offs for bad debt as the recession has further strained health care consumers, businesses and our industry. In response, we have taken difficult cost-saving steps internally to ensure we can continue our mission of providing care for all.

Gary Greensweig, DO, FAAFP

Chief Medical Officer

St. Joseph Health System–Sonoma County