<DIV>The author of this article is incorrect.. Gritman WILL NOT serve the poor and indigent like LHS. It will not serve those on Medicaid and medicare. It will only serve those with private care, who already have lots of quality options for good care. It is the most disabled, and without private care that need LHS back open. Give up on the poor elderly, and disabled, it appears so of Moscow's liberal leaders. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Garfield County did it, but that county obviously cares. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Best,</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Donovan J Arnold</DIV> <DIV>CNA</DIV> <DIV>Former LHS Employee<BR><BR><B><I>Saundra Lund <sslund@roadrunner.com></I></B> wrote:</DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE class=replbq style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #1010ff 2px solid">Visionaries:<BR><BR>I just read this great article on New West & thought some of you might be<BR>interested in this piece.<BR><BR><BR>A Common Sense Vote on Latah
Health Services<BR>Time for the Flies to Get Out of the Ointment<BR><BR>By Joan Opyr, 2-06-07 <BR><BR>Today, Latah County voters are being asked to decide whether or not to<BR>approve the sale of Latah Health Services to Moscow's Gritman Hospital for<BR>$1. That's right-one dollar. Sound like a bargain? Think again. Latah<BR>Health Services is in dire straights. It costs the county $10,000 a month<BR>to operate and maintain, and it needs an estimated $1.5 to $1.8 million in<BR>upgrades and repairs. If Gritman purchases the facility, it will continue<BR>to provide home and community health care services, including adult day<BR>health. <BR><BR>In the entire state of Idaho, there are only two other "county homes." One<BR>is in Boundary County; the other is in Blaine. These facilities serve the<BR>poor and the indigent and are almost entirely reliant on Medicare, Medicaid,<BR>and hefty taxpayer subsidies. Latah County's Commissioners, in their<BR>wisdom, decided that voters
here would not be willing to fork out what it<BR>would take to keep Latah Health Services in business. I'm sorry for that.<BR>I'm sorry we're so short-sighted, mean-spirited, and tight-fisted, but I am<BR>forced to agree with the commissioners that a tax increase at this time and<BR>in this place would never fly. <BR><BR>So what do we do? Some of Moscow's developers would like to see Latah<BR>Health Services and its five-plus acres sold to the highest bidder-not as a<BR>going concern but as a property to be rebuilt, renovated, or razed to the<BR>ground and replaced with some profit-making business. They're not<BR>interested in the need for a county home, for assisted living, or adult day<BR>health. Latah Health Services is located on Palouse River Drive, and<BR>there's gold in them thar hills. Location, location, location. Developers<BR>want the land. The idea that the property might be transferred to Gritman<BR>and continue to serve long-term community interests rather
than short-term<BR>business desires is tough for the hard-hearted to swallow. <BR><BR>We need Latah Health Services. Under George W. Bush, Medicaid and Medicare<BR>have been cut to the bone. Neither program is adequately funded. There is<BR>a crying need for affordable assisted living facilities, but as long as the<BR>federal government insists upon playing Scrooge at home and Stooge abroad,<BR>there will be plenty of money for bombs but not enough for beds. <BR><BR>When you're faced with a gaping wound in the social safety net, no salve is<BR>going to cure it. Would I prefer to see Latah Health Services continue to<BR>operate as an assisted care facility? Of course, but I'm a reluctant<BR>realist. It's time for the flies to get out of the ointment. We've got to<BR>do the best we can with the money we've got. The only way to preserve Latah<BR>Health Services is to sell it to Gritman Hospital and to allow that<BR>organization - which is on a sound, solid financial footing -
to take over<BR>the facility and continue to operate it in the best public interest.<BR><BR>http://www.newwest.net/index.php/main/article/time_for_the_flies_to_get_out_<BR>of_the_ointment/<BR>OR<BR>http://tinyurl.com/3ytn6a<BR><BR>=======================================================<BR>List services made available by First Step Internet, <BR>serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994. <BR>http://www.fsr.net <BR>mailto:Vision2020@moscow.com<BR>=======================================================<BR></BLOCKQUOTE><BR><p> 
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