This evening, I will be addressing the elephant in the room, which is Huntsville Hospital's
acquisition of Crestwood Hospital.
First of all, I would like to say this, the healthcare industry has already gone through
a major upheaval to the point that citizens around the country no longer trust the healthcare
industry, not because they're not great physicians and healthcare workers, but because healthcare
has become so politicized, so controlled by powers that are outside of us.
So I am here today to first of all say to the citizens of Huntsville, I will always
be an advocate for the patients and the citizens of this community.
Our task dollars support Huntsville, the city of Huntsville, as well as Huntsville Hospital,
and Councilman Kline, no disrespect, I know you stated that Crestwood would still be able
to keep the name, but that's just basically a patch because we know who will actually
be controlling the robotic arms in this regard.
The question that I have in regards to any acquisition and merger that is not mentioned
in the news is whether or not they have filed with the FTC or the Department of Justice
to make sure that they are not violating any antitrust laws, because federal law supersedes
state law and state law supersedes city law, and many of you may not know this, but when
a public hospital takes over a private hospital covered by a municipality, if one of your
family members gets injured or dies, your maximum suit is $100,000, you may not know
that.
So, I wanted to read something that I actually found and it stated that for hospital acquisitions
that reduce the number of independent hospitals in a community, excuse me, federal antitrust
review is common, and large hospitals deal with the pre-merger notification requirements
under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act, as well as notifying the Federal Trade Commission as
well as the DOJ.
But ultimately, I know that Jeff Sam said that he's giving us a choice, but it appears
that it's like a random maze.
You just never told us where the exit door is.
A choice means that I can choose outside of you, not within the confines of what you have
actually controlled.
So, I suggest that moving forward for our council so that we appear to be a part of
this city and the choices that are made is maybe create a suggestion box, maybe ask us
how we feel about these types of things.
Think about the doctors that are now going to be controlled by this system.