WASHINGTON CO. MEDICAL LEADERS SHARE INSIGHT ON HEALTH CARE AT FORUM
The top officials in medical care in Washington County gave their thoughts on where the field stands locally at today’s (Wednesday) Washington County Chamber of Commerce State of Health Care Forum.
Representatives from Baylor Scott & White Health and Washington County discussed their respective operations and how citizens are cared for in present day, as well as what can be expected in the future.
Jason Jennings, president of Baylor Scott & White – College Station Region, said inflation is affecting hospitals and clinics like everywhere else, but the issue is compounded with medical insurance and Medicare rates not accounting for those increases.
Jennings gave recognition to the staff at Brenham’s hospital, which he said is in the top 5 percent in the country and top in the Baylor Scott & White system for patient satisfaction. The hospital and clinics in Brenham, as well as the College Station hospital, also earned a Magnet designation from the American Nurses Credentialing Center, a designation that only 10 percent of hospitals and healthcare systems in the nation have.
Dr. Eric Alford, regional medical director of Baylor Scott & White – Brenham, said rural health care is in a scary place, citing the reduction of services at St. Mark’s in La Grange as an example. Despite that, he is very confident about Washington County’s offerings.
Dr. Alford announced that a new Baylor Scott & White clinic opened in February at 2111 South Day Street, between Brenham National Bank and Norman’s Pharmacy, and will have a ribbon cutting later this year. He also gave a reminder about the Highway 290 clinic’s walk-in Saturdays, where from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., patients can be seen without an appointment.
Dr. William Loesch, internal medicine physician at Baylor Scott & White – Brenham and the Washington County health authority, focused on mental health and how taking care of it has taken on a new look after COVID-19. He said often times, primary care physicians are the “de facto treaters of mental health” because they uncover the illness while attempting to treat another issue.
Dr. Loesch said there is still a lot of growth to be had when it comes to the availability of ways to address mental health in Washington County, but compared to other counties of similar size, the county is doing “exceptionally well.”
Washington County EMS Director Kevin Deramus talked about the EMS department’s goal of having a paramedic available “within six minutes of everywhere in our county.” He said the reason for wanting to build new facilities, such as the proposed EMS station near Lake Somerville, stems from seeing some area counties get caught off guard by a rapid influx of new residents.
Deramus also pointed to data from the 2019 Brazos Valley Regional Health Assessment Report conducted by the Texas A&M School of Public Health. The information showed that despite Washington County not having a catheterization lab or trauma center, the county’s rates of death per 100,000 people due to heart disease, respiratory disease or stroke ranked best in the Brazos Valley and better than the state and national averages.
After their presentations, the four took submitted questions from the audience.
Washington County needs our EMS funding cut it bloated. In nearby Walker county Huntsville has about the same amount 5.6 million budget but they have an Interstate highway, a major college, 76 thousand people to our 31 thousand. Folks I am not against top notch health care,but I am very much against our tax dollars being wasted when an ambulance is emergency transport get me to the hospital safely without having to sell the farm to pay for that service. We don’t have the Interstate the people or the college to justify the wasteful spending of our tax dollars. Point A to B we don’t need a copter and if we do we can get one out of Bryan/CS . Times are tough we are going to need the police before we need ambulance in six minutes. Put it to a vote.
As someone who grew up around the Huntsville area, they DO NOT have the great quality of EMS that Washington country has. You have to wait forever and the staff is not of the same caliber and training as in Washington county. The other thing that many critics of the EMS fail to see if that much of their operating costs are funded through insurance claims even though they provide the service without billing residents of the county for the portion insurance does not pay. EMS revenue is not primarily funded by tax dollars, it is funded through service revenue. I see that there are always to or three people who constantly go after EMS without having a strong grasp of the actual facts. I suggest we all count our blessing that we have such a high quality EMS service at such a low net cost to the county and the taxpayers.