CMH (aka Death Valley)

OK, I’m going to go after a sacred cow today. Columbia Memorial Hospital, AKA Death Valley is starting to piss me off.

First it was their arrogance by running ads by locals whose lives were saved by CMH. One was a letter written by a woman in Gearhart and newest one is by Skip Hauke. In both letters they thank the doctors, yet no mention of the nursing, radiology or administrative staff that made it possible for the doctors to assess the problems. In Skip’s case, they packed him up and sent him off to a real hospital. Basically, the ad shows that CMH is only a triage center with a heliport.

The fact that they run these ads tells me there is a problem. Their image in the community is poor. They clean house by eliminating staff or making it difficult for staff to work there. I often hear people saying things like, “don’t get that done here. Go to Portland where the doctors know what they are doing.”

This is sad because our community needs trust worthy health care. It is said that many doctors work here because they aren’t good enough to work in a better environment. There are a few who are here because they love it here and feel their financial rewards are sufficient. These doctors could work anywhere, but choose our laid-back life style. There are others that are a step away from becoming a camp doctor.

It is the responsibility of the hospital to have comprehensive health care, yet Dr. Park is the one who is trying to bring in specialists. His building houses a renal unit, and endocrinologist, a pharmacy and physical therapy. I don’t know his plans for his new building, but I’ve heard of a chemo unit. The hospital should have attracted this sort of health care years ago.

My advice is to stop running ads to convince us you do good things, and get out there and do good things. It is bad when you have to go to a hospital that is known as Death Valley.