One of the many items that the regional media/left complex has attempted to indoctrinate us to believe is that non-profit hospitals are somehow better than for-profit hospitals.
We are supposed to believe that the non-profit hospitals are inherently virtuous whereas the for-profit hospitals are abjectly evil. We are to believe that the non-profit hospitals deliver better care because they are not concerned with profit.
It was very interesting that the US News and World Report rankings were recently released.
Mission Hospital in Asheville is owned by HCA and is for-profit. It has been the target of the regional mainstream media and Governor Josh Stein, among other progressive/ socialist forces.
What were the results of the US News and World Report rankings? Mission Hospital placed #7 in the state of North Carolina. That means it tied with Cone in Greensboro and Novant’s flagship hospital in Charlotte.
In addition, Mission Hospital ranked ahead of Wake Forest Baptist and Novant Forsyth in Winston-Salem; and also ranked ahead of several hospitals in Raleigh and Durham, right in Stein’s back yard.
I have pointed out previously that there is no major difference with regard to the manner in which non-profit hospitals and for-profit hospitals behave. They all act very similarly. There is no basis for targeting for-profit hospitals more than non-profit hospitals; nor is there any basis for creating the impression that non-profit hospitals are somehow superior, either in practical or ethical terms.
Exactly !!! Thanks for that analysis, TC.
You’re welcome, Fred. There has definitely been a target placed on Mission Hospital because it’s private. It’s pretty shameful.
None of these hospital systems are virtuous.
Firms that do not maximize profit (and necessarily minimize costs), maximize something else (and do not minimize costs well ever).
Prima facie, I look at NGOs and non-profits with a jaundiced eye. Profit motive is honest and is advanced by treating the customer right.
That “something else” the hospital systems maximize is administrators’ compensation packages.
But J. Sobran, your thoughts on this topic are on target. Thanks…