Circling the drain...
Anyone catch the ad in the DMH Herald & Review on Tuesday? I really wish I'd bought a copy of Tuesday's paper. The title was "Is your doctor a DMH doctor?"
Tim and Ken want you to believe that DMH only has the good doctors in town. If only the TRUTH were printed in these ads instead of typical pie-in-the-sky propaganda. Which DMH employed primary doctors go to DMH, Ken? Please list their names. Do you actually think people are that DUMB to believe the obvious bull**** you are throwing out?
The answer to the question is a resounding NO. The people of Decatur, the doctors of Decatur, they know how to spot a con artist. That's why there's only ONE family doctor's office left that still goes to DMH. ONE. Did the rest all get kicked out because they weren't good doctors? No, they all left VOLUNTARILY because of the slipshod way DMH administration is running the institution. How many of DMH's family doctors still go to their hospital? NONE! Why? They're paid to stay away! That way, Ken gets to have his "hospitalists" rev up the ole self-referral machine to get every employed DMH specialist a shot at every patient who comes in the door. Can anyone say, Stark Law? Is this good quality medicine? Ask the patients who have left DMH to see their doctors at St. Mary's!!
DMH is putting out sorry ads like this because Ken and Tim have run the hospital into the ground. They are desperate. Patients are leaving; experienced nurses are leaving (and getting great jobs at St. Mary's!!) Doctors are leaving.
The only thing left for Ken and Tim to do is to follow suit. They need to leave, too. AND THEY WILL! As soon as the ongoing federal investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice concludes and the handcuffs are applied, THEN Ken and Tim will leave. The next question is, who will the feds take with them? The US DOJ investigators do NOT give up on cases like this. Perhaps some very rich doctors out there who have made their bed with Ken and Tim will someday come to the realization that their money will not do them any good when they are in Federal Prison. For the sake of their families, and Decatur's access to medical care, I hope they figure this out sooner rather than later.
posted by Watcher2300 at 5/01/2009 09:41:00 PM
11 Comments:
WooHoo! Sounds like the docs are finally wising up. My own doctor is in a building owned by DMH and his staff is paid by DMH. At the end of 2004 he posted a sign in his office that "as of Jan 1, 2005Dr. --------- would no longer see patients at ST. Mary's". Well guess what? He and one of the other doctors in the practice (there are 4 of them) now see patients at St. Mary's. These 4 doctors have a HUGE internal medicine practice, so Ken is losing lots of money just because 2of these doctors had the nerve to say enough is enough. I have been seeing my doctor for over 25 years and he is excellent. He told me he made the decision to start seeing patients at St. Mary's again because so many of his patients hated DMH and insisted on going to St. Mary's. He didn't mention that his income had dropped because he lost so many patients, but one of the nurses in his office told me that's why he did it. I love being able to get the real scoop from my nurse friends!
We have gone to St. Mary's exclusively for the past 3 years (thank you Caterpillar for giving us that option), and the difference between the 2 hospitals is dramatic. St. Mary's is CLEAN, the nurses are knowledgeable and kind, support staff is great, and no one seems as stressed as DMH employees are.
Saw a sign at St. Mary's a few weeks ago welcoming 3 more doctors to the St. Mary's staff. I am an RN who knows these docs and when I saw that sign I knew something big must be happening in the medical community if these 3 doctors would now go to SMH.
Seems like the people of Decatur have made their feelings known to their doctors and the doctors finally started listening.
Too bad for Ken and Tim that they couldn't work and play well with others. They were not able to shut down St. Mary's no matter what they did. Their egomania now seems to be biting them in the a--.
What ever happened to the DMH Cancer Center that they were going to build? Is it still in the works?
DMH would like the community to believe that the new Cancer Center is DMH owned but IT IS NOT! Cancer Care Specialists of Illinois own the land and the building and DMH is leasing space from CCS.
Regarding the Cancer Care Center: I happen to know a little history about Dr. Wade and his practice here in Decatur. Wade came to Decatur in the early 1980's and had his offices and outpatient program at DMH until about 1993. After Smithmier came roaring into Decatur, he and Dr. Wade entered "negotiations" to renew Dr. Wade's lease with the hospital. Short version of the story - Dr. Wade was not intimidated in the least by Smithmier's truly outrageous demands to continue using the space. Dr. Wade simply moved his practice out of DMH and off DMH property, set up what has become one of the largest oncology practices between Chicago and St. Louis on north Monroe and has never looked back. Smithmier probably expected Dr. Wade to fold his tent and leave town but the opposite happened. Wade's practice is thriving while Smithmier seems to be getting more and more desperate every day. I remember at the time that Dr. Wade mentioned Smithmier's desire to set up his truly unneeded heart program (in the space Dr. Wade was using). Well, Smithmier got his heart program but it is not the fabulous success he expected it to be. Cardiologists come and go at the heart center and patients continue to go to Springfield and Champaign for quality cardiac care while more and more oncologists come to Decatur and stay.
Who turned out to be the better businessman? Dr. Wade wins that contest!
Wade's patients can go to DMH or to the Cancer center at St. Mary's and receive care from the same doctors. Looks like a win-win for the cancer doctors and a losing situation for Smithmier.
Wonder what DMH would be like today if Dr. Wade had not left the DMH building? Seems like Wade was one of the first doctors to say NO to Smithmier and Stone and truly proved that doctors in this town do not have to bow to Ken's demands to have a successful practice.
Happy to read that more and more doctors are doing the same.
The people of Decatur and the surrounding area will be the real winners when this Smithmier created self-referral machine is finally shut down.
I have a question, actually several questions. If DMH, Smithmier, Stone, Peacock, and all the doctors involved are actually found guilty (as they should be) what happens to the actual hospital? Will it be closed? If it is closed, what happens to the employees who are left in the ruins? Will they get unemployment benefits? If they do will the people of Illinois have to foot the bill for their benefits? Seems to me the crooks responsible for this mess should have to reimburse the state for the money. What about contractors who are still doing work at the hospital? Will taxpayers have to pick up their bills too? What about medical companies who have supplied equipment to the hospital? Who will pay them? It seems so unfair that taxpayers who trusted the government to oversee hospitals, medicare, medicaid, and all other programs should have to foot the bill for the crimes committed by these crooks.
If DMH is forced to close its doors is there a program set up to come in and take over operations at the hospital or will it just disappear from the landscape?
Does the board of directors have any liability here? Any financial responsibility or liability?
If DMH does disappear will St. Mary's be able to pick up the slack?
If they are found guilty as we all know they are what happens if Smithmier and company have managed over the years to shuffle money to relatives, offshore accounts, and so on? Can the government trace this money and get it back? If so it will probably take years. Who will watch over the needs and wallets of local citizens who were and are victims of these slime balls?
Is there another case like this where administrators of a public hospital robbed and rap--- innocent patients to line their own pockets, forced a hospital to close and left taxpayers with the bill to clean up the mess while the crooks families live in luxury on money that was literally stolen from taxpayers, even if the crooks themselves do serve jail time?
So many questions. There are many of us who really would like to know the answers.
Good questions asked in previous post. Does anyone know who will foot the bill if DMH truly does go under? We the people really would like to know the answers!
Wow...St. Mary's receives $1,000,000 from generous benefactor.
http://news.mywebpal.com/news_tool_v2.cfm?show=localnews&pnpID=469&NewsID=960473&CategoryID=569&on=1
Thank you for the news flash. I did not know about this until I read it on the Decatur Tribune.
It's nice to know that the money will go to modernizing and expanding St. Mary's proposed new ER.
At DMH, that wouldn't have begun to finance the CEO's salary, let alone the actual delivery of quality medical care.
Update - A friend who works at St. Mary's says that several of the doctors there have sent Ken a letter telling him what they think of his arrogance.
I hope to get a copy of this to post.
The entire St. Mary's medical staff sent a letter expressing the umbrage they took from MR. (not DR.) Smithmier's ad. While I would happily help the FBI escort him and his friends like Locke, Sobel, etc. out of town, I'm worried our local feds are too busy trying to prosecute our governor (hub of the bug-eating, snake-snuggling "celebrity" first lady)...what a place we live in (cough).
BUSTOUT...The intentional act of driving a company into insolvency in order to extract as much of the assets as possible from the company for the use of the operator(s). A term used by "underworld operators" but they rarely admit to knowledge of the term...at DMH?
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