Polls show that healthcare remains a top concern among Granite State voters, and changes to the state’s healthcare system resulting from new federal and state legislation are likely to heighten those concerns.
What is the current state of New Hampshire’s healthcare system? On this episode of Up To Speed, we ask John Skevington, CEO of Catholic Medical Center and a 17-year veteran of HCA.
We explore the challenges and innovations in the Granite State’s hospital sector, from rural access and freestanding ERs to the impact of HCA’s for-profit model. Topics include the acquisition of CMC, nursing shortages, declining birth rates, and the role of AI in the healthcare industry.
It’s all here in this episode of “Up To Speed,” sponsored by Legislative Solutions.
A few highlights:
How well matched are the healthcare resources and the healthcare needs in New Hampshire?
SKEVINGTON: “I think there’s always room for more access. What HCA has done over the last 10 years is to provide that access. We’re a rural state, very spread out, with 1.4 million people, about a million of whom live south of the lakes region. And it takes a long time to get places.
“Look at emergency room care, for example. Since the (COVID) pandemic and with the challenges in primary care, patients going to emergency rooms are looking for more convenient care. What we’re trying to do is to provide care that is close to people. Look at the freestanding emergency rooms we’ve set up in Seabrook, Dover, and now Plaistow.
“Those have been winners for patients in those communities. The patient satisfaction is high, the wait times and length of stay are extremely low.”
How has the transition of Catholic Medical Center to a for-profit hospital been going, and what kind of feedback are you getting from the community?
“There’s been a lot of change, we’re getting to know all the folks at CMC, who are fantastic, by the way. We are so proud to be a part of this community. And I’ve been really just blown away by what CMC really means to Manchester, particularly the west side of Manchester. We’ve started to capitalize this facility in a way that was not able to be done under the previous ownership.”
What do you say to the argument that HCA’s for-profit model for healthcare is fundamentally flawed? That healthcare should be a community good, and therefore it should not be a for-profit model?
“There’s a famous saying in nonprofit health care: ‘No margin, no mission.’ As an investor-owned entity, you can actually do both. I mentioned that the (non-profit) foundation is being stood up. That’s going to continue to carry on those philanthropic activities that CMC was known for, in addition to the tax dollars we are generating.
“And HCA is very active in the communities that we serve. Parkland and Portsmouth have been HCA facilities for 40 years. We’re not going anywhere in this state. We’re making an investment, and that means being part of the community as well. And so in addition to those other entities, HCA and CMC are going to contribute to the community, just like some of our nonprofit colleagues do here in the state.”