I have been upset for some time about HCA's takeover of a number of Colorado hospitals. HCA is owned by the Frist family, whom Sen. Bill Frist represented in the Senate. Health care is a mess; hospitals are making fortunes, and Bill Frist's is one of them. Rather than using his expertise on health care to improve it while he was in the Senate, he used it mainly to enrich himself and his family. Although he was Senate leader, he is remembered mainly for his provide-medical-care-at-any-cost argument to keep Terri Schiavo alive. Frist is an example of what is wrong with the American health care system, and he was a leader in the Senate. What is good for his wallet is not necessarily good for the country.
Now, Frist's for-profit HCA plans to take over many of Colorado's not-for-profit hospitals, creating concerns that the hospitals will no longer be run for the public benefit.
On the other hand, a Catholic-conected hospital systsem, SCL, plans to expand in Colorado, raising questions about whether the hospitals taken over will provide for the full range of women's health services that they provide now, since the Catholic church opposes contraception, abortion, etc.
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