The changes at West Suburban Hospital which have occurred since its takeover by the Resurrection Health Care System, including a corporate plan to change its accreditation from JCHO to an accrediting agency affiliated with the American Osteopathic Association, a change in its charity care policy and staffing changes have caused me to wonder about the affiliation of this private institution with the government of the Village of Oak Park.
Any citizen who has ever had a medical emergency is aware that the Oak Park Fire Department does not give you the opportunity to choose a hospital. They simply take you there.
Yes, you can ask to be taken to a different hospital than the one serving your part of the village, but this involves:
1) You, your family or your health-care designee requesting this
2) The senior paramedic, in consultation with the hospital managing the radio network, giving permission and
3) You or your designee signing a waiver of responsibility. How many of us have the presence of mind to do this in a crisis?
I am raising the issue that
1) an Oak Park citizen or visitor may be taken to West Suburban Hospital and discover that the staffing ratio may affect their care,
2) their lack of insurance or money may put them in a financial difficulty due to the policies of the Resurrection Health Care System or
3) their values may not be respected as this hospital follows a very traditional viewpoint about dealing with issues of choice, advanced directives and right-to-choose treatment and religion/health care preferences.
The policies of the Village of Oak Park directly feed patients in an emergency to certain hospitals and given the previous points, does the Village of Oak Park have an obligation to its citizens and visitors to require the hospitals that its EMS units take patients to to meet certain standards that are recognized and accepted as standards, especially Gold Standards, such as certification by JCHO (Joint Commission of the American Medical Association, the American College of Surgeons, and the American Hospital Association for the Accreditation of Health Care Organizations)?
I am not implying that there is a right or wrong answer here. I’m simply asking that the people of Oak Park, through their village government, consider making an overt decision about this issue rather than the decision by inaction that has reflected this issue to this point.
Frank R. Vozak
Oak Park
