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Airport exercise shows St. Joseph's importance
Editorial
Practice make perfect. We hear this phrase often, and applied to emergency responses, it's crucial. Last week's exercise at the Buffalo- Niagara International Airport provided local police and fire departments, hospitals and other vital personnel an opportunity to test their preparedness. According to police, fire and hospital officials, there were successes and areas needing improvement.
Our local hospital, St. Joseph, can be categorized as successful. The Harlem Road facility was prepared to handle "victims" of an airport emergency within minutes. The training was almost put to the test the next day when a bus crashed in Lancaster. The word is that the staff responded to the emergency as if it were second nature. Keeping this in mind, we would like to reinforce our belief that St. Joseph Hospital, targeted for closing by the state, must remain open.
Why should a hospital with a state-of-the-art emergency department and situated so close to an international airport, a major interstate highway and popular shopping mall be forced to close? This short-sighted recommendation came last November from the "Berger Commission," also known as the New York State Commission on Health Care Facilities in the 21st Century. It's lack of vision and misunderstanding of its duties continue to linger as a dark cloud over our town.
The commission was directed to make recommendations that would reduce the number of hospital beds in New York State to help curtail Medicaid costs. How St. Joseph Hospital and its Medicaid patients, who make up less than two percent of its customers, give reason for the recommendation remains mystifying. Since it opened in 2005, the emergency department has treated more than 65,000 patients, and traffic has increased by 20 percent this year. These numbers don't indicate a hospital in trouble.
The hospital and its parent Catholic Health System continue to fight the recommendation for closing in New York State Supreme Court. We wish them the best and urge our readers to express their support.
Call, write, fax or e-mail your elected officials in Albany and urge them to support (A5382/S2942). You can also contact Governor Spitzer and other key legislative leaders, such as Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno and encourage them to use their political influence to support this bill and preserve St. Joseph Hospital, one of the best-prepared and equipped hospitals in Western New York.
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