There is an uplifting article in The Atlantic magazine; I'm not sure if it's behind a paywall, but it can be found here.
The article addresses a real problem in America with rural health care. There are numerous small towns and rural areas that have either lost or are in the process of losing their hospitals. The culprit is capitalism. A lot of these smaller cities and towns have hospitals that are losing money; areas where employers might not offer healthcare to their workers, or insurance prices have driven out doctors.
In this case, Capitalism does the job it is designed to do. It makes the rich richer. What often occurs, and occurred in Riverton, Wyoming, is that a private equity company buys the local hospital and saves money by cutting staff and offloading treatments that can be expensive. Very often, this is prenatal and postnatal care. To deliver a child in Riverton, for example, you had to drive 30 miles to a hospital. This is what Wyoming roads look like in winter.
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| Imagine driving 30 miles in this when you're having contractions! |
However, after the service cuts, the people of Riverton decided to build a better hospital that offered more services. They used a consulting company that normally justifies private equity purchases of hospitals. Instead, they worked with a new non-profit board of directors (run by an ex-doctor from the town) to see if they could justify the cost of a new hospital.
The story tells of the hoops they had to jump through, the loan guarantees from the federal government (which were approved right before Trump took office), and its success.
I found it an uplifting story of Americans coming together. Not Republican v Democratic, but people working as a community. It made me smile.
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| Groundbreaking was in late 2024. |
A nice story
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