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(Memphis 10/21/09) "If it wasn't for The MED, I would not be alive today," says Vicki Browder, the well-known victim of a dramatic house explosion earlier this year.
Call her The MED's posterchild. When her house exploded, she went to The MED, but believe it or not, it wasn't the first time this hospital saved her life. Doctors there patched up head trauma from a bad bike crash in 2001. They did it again after this year's explosion, and once more when pneumonia ripped through her lungs.
"Three times," says Browder. "From the motorcycle accident, to the burns, to the pneumonia. I'm living proof."
So, for patients like Browder, funding the MED is no question. The MED announced Wednesday that if it doesn't get an annual increase of revenue of $32-millon within the next few months, it will have to shut down it's emergency room, ambulances, and MEDPlex. The cuts come in an effort to save trauma and burn centers that are unlike any other in the Memphis region. The hospital has been short on cash and threatened cuts before, but nothing like this. Call them drastic, but the hospital board says these cuts are not scare tactics.
"We have cried wolf before and managed somehow to survive," says MED Board of Directors member Gene Holcomb. "We can't sit back and wait until we run out of money and then announce that tomorrow we're shutting the doors, that is not responsible."
The MED says Arkansas and Mississippi owe millions in unpaid bills for indigent care, the county hasn't increased funding in over 15 years, and the state takes a huge cut from TennCare patients. The final decision to cut services rests on Shelby County Commissioners, like Dr. George Flinn who says, "I will just not let the medical community down because this is essential to the people in Shelby County."
The ink runs red next February -- a fate Browder can't fathom.
"There should be no question," says Browder. "Hands down they should get the money."
The MED says there's a 50/50 chance it'll get the money it needs. Reached by phone last Wednesday, Congressman Steve Cohen said the Federal government won't likely be able to chip in enough cash in time, leaving the immediate solution up to the county and state. A final board vote to approve the recommended cuts will come in a week and will have to be approved by the County Commission.
- The MED needs $32-million in additional annual funds
- The MED could cut emergency room, ambulances, MEDPlex
- County, state and federal funding needed to save services
(Memphis 10/21/09) "If it wasn't for The MED, I would not be alive today," says Vicki Browder, the well-known victim of a dramatic house explosion earlier this year.
Call her The MED's posterchild. When her house exploded, she went to The MED, but believe it or not, it wasn't the first time this hospital saved her life. Doctors there patched up head trauma from a bad bike crash in 2001. They did it again after this year's explosion, and once more when pneumonia ripped through her lungs.
"Three times," says Browder. "From the motorcycle accident, to the burns, to the pneumonia. I'm living proof."
So, for patients like Browder, funding the MED is no question. The MED announced Wednesday that if it doesn't get an annual increase of revenue of $32-millon within the next few months, it will have to shut down it's emergency room, ambulances, and MEDPlex. The cuts come in an effort to save trauma and burn centers that are unlike any other in the Memphis region. The hospital has been short on cash and threatened cuts before, but nothing like this. Call them drastic, but the hospital board says these cuts are not scare tactics.
"We have cried wolf before and managed somehow to survive," says MED Board of Directors member Gene Holcomb. "We can't sit back and wait until we run out of money and then announce that tomorrow we're shutting the doors, that is not responsible."
The MED says Arkansas and Mississippi owe millions in unpaid bills for indigent care, the county hasn't increased funding in over 15 years, and the state takes a huge cut from TennCare patients. The final decision to cut services rests on Shelby County Commissioners, like Dr. George Flinn who says, "I will just not let the medical community down because this is essential to the people in Shelby County."
The ink runs red next February -- a fate Browder can't fathom.
"There should be no question," says Browder. "Hands down they should get the money."
The MED says there's a 50/50 chance it'll get the money it needs. Reached by phone last Wednesday, Congressman Steve Cohen said the Federal government won't likely be able to chip in enough cash in time, leaving the immediate solution up to the county and state. A final board vote to approve the recommended cuts will come in a week and will have to be approved by the County Commission.
