Just a few miscellaneous things of note:
- The City’s Planning and Growth Department is considering combining the Planning Commission (PC) and Zoning Commission (ZC). The PC considered it at their September 16 meeting, and the ZC is going to discuss it at their October 1 meeting. The ZC agenda gives this explanation for the request:
Request by Staff that the Zoning Commission discuss the merits of combining the Planning Commission and Zoning Commission and determine if there is potential to create more efficient service delivery. This request is being made due to the potential reduction of a part-time position in the Planning and Growth Management Department, which represents an estimated 20 hours per week of duties. Those responsibilities would be re-assigned to existing staff reducing staff support to both commissions.
The ZC meets at 3:00 p.m. Thursday in City Council chambers.
- Speaking of the Zoning Commission, they are also scheduled on Thursday to consider allowing cell phone towers to be erected at Expo Gardens, Columbia Middle School, and near Von Steuben Middle School. However, the Journal Star says this item “will be postponed as officials representing AT&T Mobility gather more information requested by the city’s Department of Planning & Growth Management. The commission will be asked to take up the matter during its Nov. 5 meeting.”
- I’ve been seeing ads for OSF St. Francis Medical Center lately that say they OSF is “preferred 2 to 1” over all the other hospitals in the area. If you go to their website, they will even show you the survey results with colorful little graphs. It reminded me of Maggie Mahar’s film “Money-Driven Medicine,” which I saw on the PBS show “Bill Moyers Journal.” She talks about the differences between “consumer-driven” and “patient-centered” health care. One of the things she mentions is why competition among hospitals doesn’t improve health care:
Typically, 4 or 5 hospitals within a 5 mile, 10 mile, 15 mile radius will all buy the same technology because they’re competing with each other…. One time Dr. Donald Berwick called a hospital in Texas and said, “We’ve heard you have a very good procedure for treating a particular disease. We’d like to learn more about your protocol so other hospitals can use it.” And the hospital said, “We can’t tell you that. It’s a competitive advantage in our market that we’re better at treating this disease and it is very lucrative. So this is proprietary information.”
…A physician takes an oath to put his patient’s interests ahead of his own. A corporation is legally bound to put its shareholders’ interests first. And this is part of the inherent conflict between health care as a business, part of our economy, and health care as a public good and part of our society. Health care has become a growth industry. That means higher health care bills. That means more and more middle class people cannot afford health care in this country.
It’s a thought-provoking film. It’s enough to make me look at those OSF ads in a different light. It makes me wonder why a fundamentally charitable institution like a hospital would want to compare itself to other hospitals. I mean, can you imagine St. Jude stating it was preferred 2 to 1 over the Salvation Army and Easter Seals? It’s a very strange marketing campaign.
I think OSF has strayed from it’s charitable beginnings. Has anyone else heard the rumblings that they are looking to buy Proctor?
“I think OSF has strayed from it’s charitable beginnings.’
Why would you suggest that?
With the loss of jobs at Cat and the downturn in the economy (cough cough), there is a real danger in Peoria losing at least one of its hospitals. Like a house of cards, if that happens, that means more jobs lost, and more businesses failing, and more jobs lost… We could end up with only ONE hospital… OSF would want to be THAT hospital.
WMBD-31 news reported last night that Whittier being one of the locations for a cell tower was back on the table. Can anyone else verify that. or was it just a misstatement (screw-up)?
OSF has already bought several of the medical clinics surrounding Proctor, like HeartCare Midwest. It is now an OSF affiliate.
Consider the number of ‘charities’ out there competing for your dollar. Doesn’t OSF have the right to ‘compete’ like these other organizations?
BTW – OSF utilizes the latest medical technology, equipment, etc. This costs money.
I would think that a FIRST CLASS hospital would be more of a draw than a [supposed] ‘first class museum’! Of course a first class museum will only cost US $100 plus million………………….!
I believe the monies owed to OSF from the state of Illinois is outrageous. Talk about charitable! OSF sees all kinds of low income patients and they must wait for the state to repay them….. and wait….. and wait!
competition is the way things get better. If there is no competition, there is no incentive to improve. Human nature is what it is, always has been, always will be. The utopians would like to change human nature, but it’s not going to happen.
Some info surfaces on Brent Lonteen. See my blog today.
You are right Mouse, no competetion what the incentive to do better. Classic exapmple #150 escept its taken them too many years to “get it”.
Golly, The Mouse, maybe I am just too naive but I don’t think that self interest, or competition need be the motivation for people to want the world to be better. I suppose if “better” means getting more of other people’s money, you may have a point.
What if “better” means happier, healthier and, well, just more human? (notice the alliteration?)
I suppose there ARE two kinds of people in the world: Those that think human beings are naturally evil and those that think human beings are naturally good.
Uh, Merle….. Did you mean you were going to post something (because I don’t see it) or do you mean read the comments from 4 days ago?
MAWB – wouldn’t you rather watch my show than read Merle?
I prefer The National Parks series…. are you stalking me?
Just remember reading it was a favorite movie and is on WAOE now. Much more entertaining than second hand gossip.
I think Merle just wanted his stat counter to go up….
I think Merle is slipping a bit.
Yes, KCdad, you are very naive. Are there two kinds of people? Maybe. But the reality is, all people are capable of both good and evil. Some are a lot more good than evil, and some are a lot more evil, but both tendencies are there, in all people, and that is never going to change. I think you know what I meant by better. Improvements in treatment, new ideas, etc., come from competition. It’s a fact that you utopians have difficulty accepting, but it’s the way things are.
I am more apt than Kcdad to appreciate the value of competition because I am more wary of than opposed to capitalism. I think all systems of government bear watching for the very reason you mention, Mouse–the good and evil tendencies of people. Capitalism does offer the “opportunity” for the wealthy to give away a consdierable amount of money to charity, etc. However, I do not believe that Americans should have to compete for health care–with the “haves” being the winners of the competition and the “have-nots” being the total losers or at the mercy of charity where health care is concerned.
Sharon brings up an interesting point. One of my concerns with the current health care system is the level of treatment afforded those who can ‘afford’ it [and those who can’t].
One example: How do most of the health care plans of those who post on this site match up with the care given our politicians/wealthy?
Were any of you stricken by cancer, would your health care plan allow you to travel to any institution, anywhere in the country for treatment options?
Of course this is all the more reason I appreciate OSF!
If any of you wanna pick on someone, go knock on CAT’s door………………………….
I can remember playing wiffle ball with my friends and strato-matic football with my brother… not really caring who won as long as we had fun…
Toss each other big fat gopher balls, hope the other guy can knock it over the neighbors house! Yeah… it surely was competition what made us better hitters and better people… not because of we cared about each other and truly wanted to see the other do well.
What a sweet pitcher of kool-aid you have bought into.
SHARON: “Capitalism does offer the “opportunity” for the wealthy to give away a considerable amount of money to charity”
SURE, if they get a tax break, or can hide in a shelter or in a trust or 401C3 or whatever it is…..
wow…
kc… I have all of the seasons back to 1983 except a few this decade. Strat RULES!
Kcdad: I do know a few people who give a considerable amount of money to charity–without worrying about tax breaks and sheltering their money, etc. You do have to admit–I know you don’t 🙂 –there are “cheerful” givers and that many charitable organizations depend on the giving of the wealthy and the not-so-wealthy.
STEVE: I didn’t know it was still around… (my friend Freddy Wang had the baseball, I had the football. We played the 67 / 68 season Gale Sayers, Leroy Kelly, Tom Matte, Don Perkins, Elijah Pitts)
“I do know a few people who give a considerable amount of money to charity…”
Sharon…
I am sure you are being sincere… but are you trying to say these people you know are wealthy people “throwing away” their money with no regard to the tax exemptions and reductions involved in those donations?
If you are saying these are hard working middle class people giving to charity and really sacrificing in their giving I totally believe you. I would be interested in what you or they consider considerable amounts…
Kcdad–You’re right–more the hard working middle class people giving to charity. However, I do believe (whether intended or not or sincere) the giving of the wealthy to charity still does help people in need–even if a tax break is involved.
I wonder if the amount the wealthy gives to charity is more or less than the amount that they get from the people they “help”.
You know, a guy makes a million dollars paying his workers slave wages and then pays for the company summer picnic….
Yes, KCdad, you are very naive. Are there two kinds of people? Maybe. But the reality is, all people are capable of both good and evil. Some are a lot more good than evil, and some are a lot more evil, but both tendencies are there, in all people, and that is never going to change. I think you know what I meant by better. Improvements in treatment, new ideas, etc., come from competition. It’s a fact that you utopians have difficulty accepting, but it’s the way things are.
“Improvements in treatment, new ideas, etc., come from competition. It’s a fact that you utopians have difficulty accepting, but it’s the way things are.”
Well, that is one way of looking at it….
On the other hand, improvements come from the NEED for them, something that people NATURALLY discover and respond to. Necessity is the mother of invention, NOT competition.
You have a very negative view of other human beings, and yourself apparently.