I have created this blog as I and many of my colleagues are very concerned about the future of healthcare in Wake County. This area has enjoyed an incredible growth of quality healthcare provision. Part of this successful growth is attributed to a very productive relationship between Rex Hospital and UNC. The teamwork and collaboration between one of the nation's leaders in tertiary healthcare (UNC) and Rex has effected an elevation of healthcare quality and access to tertiary level care in our region. This has led to Rex being recognized as a top 50 hospital in the nation in 2011, and with excellence in nursing care (top 6% in the nation). The proposal by Wake Med to purchase Rex is not in the best interests of healthcare provision in Wake County. I do not know WakeMed’s motivations, but I am concerned that it is trying to sever the Rex/UNC relationship to strengthen its position in the Triangle – i.e. so it does not have to compete against an organization that has outperformed them in quality measures, financial measures, physician relations, employee satisfaction and most importantly, patient satisfaction.
This offer by Wake Med is likely not viable on many levels, however appears to have raised discussion regarding selling Rex to raise funds for the state. Selling Rex to ANYONE is going to be very detrimental to healthcare provision in Wake County. If the partnership between UNC and Rex is dissolved, the overall quality of care available to the community would diminish. Selling Rex is not a long-term solution for the state’s budget challenges. As a physician, any proposal that would break a healthcare partnership that has proven success, is committed to the health of our community and has an exciting vision for the future of our healthcare, simply makes no sense. As a healthcare provider who is directly involved in healthcare in this area, time has come to speak up and stand up for our patients and our community's health. The UNC Rex partnership is successful and one that many regions in the country can only dream to have for their patients and in their community.
I heartily agree with all you have said. I believe that the Rex-UNC partnership has significant advantages for Rex, UNC Health Care System (UNC-HCS) and our community:
ReplyDeleteREX
Rex became a member of UNC Healthcare eleven years ago, entirely
voluntarily and after a careful search for the best possible fit.
That fit has turned out to be excellent in terms of culture,
complementary strengths, and mutual respect. Rex has enjoyed being
better able to solve financial, technical, regulatory and medical
problems because it is now part of a larger system with a strong
partner. The fact that UNC is an academic medical center has not
only given Rex's staff and patients access to the latest
innovations in medical care, but it has also instilled in them a pride that
Rex is a part of the great mission of UNC Healthcare to educate
health professionals, increase medical knowledge, and serve the
undeserved of the whole state.
UNC
I believe that UNC also benefits from this relationship. As a
large, successful community hospital, Rex provides UNC access to a
wider patient base and greater bargaining power. It also provides UNC staff experiences and practices different from an
academic hospital. It has been delightful to watch the two-way flow
of talent and ideas between the leaders and staff of both
institutions. The stability of Rex and its respected place in the
community, the improved access to the Wake County market, the
financial advantages of a rational increase in size, all enhance the ability of UNC-HCS to meet its important mission.
COMMUNITY-Local
Wake County and its environs have for over one hundred years had a great treasure in Rex Hospital. It has grown in size and in the services it provides as the area has grown, and it has always maintained its commitment to quality and compassionate service. But it is facing the financial challenges that all of healthcare is facing and needs to be thoughtful and proactive in its alliances. UNC-HCS is the partner it chose, and this relationship has worked to the advantage of the community for 10 years. The people of Raleigh and Wake County have benefitted greatly from having two strong options for its medical care, Wake Med and Rex. The competition has previously been a healthy one,
giving patients and prospective employees choices and different
advantages and keeping both organizations on their toes. I cannot
see any advantages for patients in a plan (selling Rex to Wake)
that results in limits their choice to a WakeMed East, WakeMed West,
WakeMed Farther West and WakeMed North plus a small Duke Raleigh. This lack of choice will diminish the quality of health care available to residents of Wake County and its neighbors.
COMMUNITY-State
As you know, when a very sick person in North Carolina has nowhere
else to go, he or she goes to UNC-HCS. This is a great service for the
entire state, which also benefits from the trained healthcare
professionals that make their homes throughout the state in
communities large and small. As the support by public money for
North Carolina's major public medical center decreases, it would be
counterproductive to take away the support for the system happily provided by Rex.
COMMUNITY-Coworkers
I'm not able to speak for the employees at UNC, but I know that the
employees and physicians at Rex are proud and content to be a part
of the UNC-HCS and believe in the work that we are doing together.
As I have said, we all had a choice about which hospital we wanted
to work in, and we have chosen Rex. It is possible to purchase a
building and contracts, but I don't think you can purchase morale
and dedication and the magic that is the Rex Healthcare family.
Thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to explain why I
believe the sale of Rex Healthcare would be a very poor decision.
I agree with what you have said here. I don't understand how having one system in Wake County benefits or will benefit the state let alone Wake County. Rex has been present in Raleigh for well over 100 years. During this time we have never turned anyone away from the door. We have terrific outcomes for our patients, we provide care to Medicare patients through the Rex Senior health Center in SE Raleigh, we provide free prostrate screenings every year at the Senior Health center, we participate in the Save Our Sisters program, do a lot of free education for the public, offer free mammagrams for those who cannot afford it. We have a Mobile Mammography bus that goes out to serve in the community, not only in Wake County, but beyond as well. We also support the Open Door Clinic and Alliance medical Ministry. There are so many things that are specific to Rex that are not always readily known. I am proud to be associated with Rex.
ReplyDeleteAs a Rex employee, I have to agree with you. Everyone I work with is proud to be a part of UNC Healthcare, even the NC State fans.
ReplyDeleteThe issue of charity care has come up several times in the WakeMed rhetoric. This issue is a matter of geography not philosophy. The Wake County commissioners chose the location of WakeMed years ago. The location drives the charity care numbers. No one is turned away at Rex. We all know that; everyone knows that.
ReplyDeletePlease don't allow Wake to take over Rex.
ReplyDeleteWe are happy with the way things are.
We worked hard to get here and here is where we will stay.
I recently signed a letter to UNC’s special committee reviewing WakeMed’s offer to purchase Rex Healthcare and urged them to decline the offer. I was compelled to sign that letter and speak up here, on Dr. Patel’s blog, for a number of reasons, all of which center around my belief that Rex Healthcare is stronger as a part of the UNC Health Care System.
ReplyDeleteI should note that I am a physician and the current Chairman of Rex Hospital’s Medical Executive Committee, so I have a unique understanding of the benefits of the UNC / Rex partnership.
Over the past decade the teamwork and collaboration between UNC, one of the nation’s leading academic medical centers in tertiary and quaternary care, and Rex has elevated healthcare quality and access in our region by:
• Providing Wake County residents with access to the type of advanced care provided only at academic medical centers.
• Enabling Rex’s patients to participate in life-saving clinical trials, or have access to other specialty services such as:
o The specialty children’s clinics located on the Rex campus;
o UNC’s gynecologic oncology clinic at Rex; and High-risk pregnancy care.
• Giving Rex physicians access to UNC specialists to consult on difficult cases to ensure the best minds are collaborating on patient treatment plans. This benefit is particularly important in our oncology service.
• Opening three additional healthcare sites in Wake County for residents to easily access care.
Unlike many of my colleagues who signed the recent letter and who are community physicians, I practice exclusively within the walls of Rex Hospital. I have the privilege of working with many Rex co-workers daily. I am continually impressed by the organizational culture of Rex Healthcare and doubt that it can be matched by most institutions. That culture and atmosphere of family translates into excellent patient care. Excellent co-worker satisfaction leads to excellent patient and physician satisfaction. If the partnership between UNC Health Care and Rex were to be dissolved, I can assure you that the quality of care delivered would diminish and that patient, physician and co-worker satisfaction would decline.
As a pathologist, I see the benefit of research between Rex and UNC. Rex, as the leading cancer facility in Wake County, is able to provide important tissue samples from a number of cancers to researchers at UNC. These samples are crucial to UNC researchers who are looking for new cancer treatments and cures.
I reaffirm my call for the UNC special committee to respectfully decline WakeMed’s offer to purchase Rex Healthcare. UNC Health Care and Rex Healthcare are stronger together, for our patients, our employees, our physicians and the people of North Carolina and we need to keep them this way.
Please join me in supporting a continued UNC / Rex partnership by sharing your feelings with the special committee reviewing WakeMed’s offer at http://unchealthcare.org/specialcommittee or posting a comment on www.uncrexpartnership.com.