Forum shares the blame for fiddling while Rome burned

Forum shares the blame for fiddling while Rome burned
EDITOR:
While defending his hospital's charitable care in an April 15 article, Forum CFO Douglas Wormer blamed the uninsured, labor contracts, managed care organizations and government reimbursement for Forum's current economic crisis. However, he never mentioned how he and his colleagues addressed these issues as they unfolded in front of them over the last several years.
As a result, questions of who was responsible for financing capital projects that didn't generate revenue for the hospital, ill advised loans, and raising the daily cost of care when Forum's major payers were lowering its payments for patient care, were left unanswered.
The point is that the "blame game" is counterproductive. In addition, it obscures the efforts local agencies initiated during this same period to actually reduce health care costs. For instance, a half a dozen community entities came together to provide a free and low cost prescription drug program for seniors long before Medicare's current drug program. One prominent agency for the elderly works tirelessly, in the face of state budget cuts, to help scores of ailing seniors remain in their homes and out of nursing homes, and out of hospitals. Several years ago over two dozen health care related agencies worked together to articulate possible solutions to some of the major health problems of the community in response to a regional health study.
As a result, this community and its agencies are ready to take the next step and implement a focused patient education outreach program aimed at impacting preventable ER visits and hospital admissions. We realize that health care illiteracy, as detailed in a recent Joint Commission On Accreditation press release, results in poor care and poor outcomes, and costs the health care system billions of dollars. A comprehensive patient aid to help seniors understand and take their prescriptions more safely and report adverse drug reactions before they lead to ER visits has been available for more than four years. All that's needed now is a new hospital system with a new approach that embraces this long standing commitment.
DAVID POWELL
Youngstown
Government demands and inaction drive up fuel costs
EDITOR:
As a businessman involved with the oil industry, I would like to address some of the issues that are influencing the soaring gasoline and diesel fuel prices. I think there are several opportunities for our elected officials to help to stabilize the consumer cost of these fuels before the economy heads into a recession.
First, it is important that consumers understand that crude oil is traded on the commodities market, and that the current traded price is not based upon true cost, but speculation. In today's market, fear of supply interruptions due to unrest in the Middle East and other factors are driving the prices sky high. Our government has done nothing to stabilize this "fear factor." The major oil companies are experiencing record profits because they are pricing their fuels based upon the speculative cost, not the real cost of a barrel crude, which is currently about $25 per barrel. Why isn't our government more aggressively addressing this issue?
Secondly, most consumers are unaware of the effects that EPA mandates have on the cost of gasoline and diesel fuel. Approximately 30 to 50 cents per gallon is attributable to new cleaner fuel requirements such as seasonally required reformulated gasoline and the introduction of ultra low sulfur diesel fuel. The refining, shipping and transportation infrastructure is unduly stressed by the addition of these fuels, making all gasoline and diesel more costly. In addition, shortages may be experienced as refineries struggle to meet deadlines. If our lawmakers would take steps to postpone or eliminate these EPA requirements, this could help offset the influence of the volatile crude market and possibly bring stabilization to the marketplace.
In summary, it is time for our government to be more proactive on this issue in these hard times. It is time for lawmakers to re-examine their own laws and regulations, and to make changes that will help stabilize gasoline and diesel fuel prices, and thus bring stabilization to our economy.
PAUL A. LYDEN, vice president
Lyden Oil Company
Youngstown
Dueling tobacco-related petitions could be confusing
EDITOR:
Ohio voters who go to the polls Tuesday may find signature gatherers asking them to sign a petition. They are being paid by tobacco companies seeking to amend the Ohio Constitution to allow smoking in restaurants, bars, bowling alleys and other public places. This constitutional amendment would turn back the clock in the 21 Ohio cities that have already taken steps to remove secondhand smoke from public places and workplaces.
Secondhand smoke causes lung cancer, heart disease and lung disease in nonsmokers. The U.S. Centers for Disease control and Prevention reports that workers exposed to secondhand smoke are 34 percent more likely to get lung cancer. Ohio's Constitution should be used to extend protections to Ohioan -- not deny those protections to certain categories of Ohio workers. It should be used to discriminate so that certain workers -- like workers in offices, where smoking is less likely to occur -- have more protections than the 534,000 Ohioans who work in the state's hospitality industry.
Public health advocates will start collecting signature on May 3 to put a state law on the November ballot protecting everyone's right to breathe clean indoor air in public places and at work. The tobacco industry knows most Ohio voters support clean indoor air, so they are trying to confuse the voters with their own petition drive. We urge voters to say "no" to this tobacco industry ploy and decline to sign the election-day petitions.
MATTHEW A. STEFANAK
Health commissioner
Mahoning County Board of Heath
NEIL H. ALTMAN
Health commissioner
Youngstown City Health District