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By Nick Jacobs
The Crash of 2012
No one can really predict when "IT" will hit, but those of us living in the trenches can feel the winds blowing from all directions toward a crash in the healthcare economy. I heard Jeff Immelt, Chairman and CEO of General Electric, say that the money spent on healthcare for GE employees equals approximately the same amount of money earned through the work of their massive GE Healthcare division. GE Healthcare pays for GE's healthcare.
Clearly, everytime the prodigal son or daughter returns from California, New York or Boston, they stand by mom or dad's bedside in the Critical Care Unit of our medical center and say, "Do whatever you need to do to keep him/her alive!" Their siblings have been watching the end of life progression and are comfortable with the transition, but the visiting child feels DEEP GUILT and forces the medical system to needlessly spend tens of thousands of dollars to neither improve the quality of life or death for their loved one.
We spend two-thirds of our valuable resources on the end of life in this country, and it doesn't stop that event from happening. As Kenny Rodgers said a few decades ago, "You gotta know when to hold them. Know when to fold them." As long as we don't recognize that there is a time to live and a time to die.
It's not morbid. It's not sad. It's just what it is, and until we realize that sometimes a peaceful, unmechanized death is much more preferable than a "do everything that you need to do to keep em alive" scenario is, we will continue to squander our precious healthcare dollars on a hopeless journey to the "fountain of youth."
Or, as my old friend, Carl Bombatch used to say, "Everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to DIE."
Safety TipHospital facilities built today do not include asbestos, but many older buildings still have asbestos components in them. Steam pipes, boilers and furnace ducts were often insulated with an asbestos blanket or asbestos paper tape because of their fireproof and insulating properties. Resilient floor tiles were made from vinyl asbestos. Asbestos cement was employed in roofing, shingles and siding materials. The hazard of this carcinogen increases when the fibers become airborne, and untrained contractors can inadvertently increase risks by cutting, tearing, sawing, scraping, or sanding asbestos materials. Elevated asbestos levels can occur in hospitals where old materials are damaged or disturbed. It is best to leave undamaged asbestos material alone if it is not likely to be disturbed. Inhaling asbestos fibers is known to cause mesothelioma and other diseases. Be sure to use an experienced asbestos removal contractor when you need to get rid of old materials that might contain asbestos. |