Regarding how MWH came up with the $60million value for its free or reduced services, I doubt we will be receiving an answer any time soon. We all know how numbers can be created. Perhaps the Advance could obtain a copy of the health care services report MWH claims to have done in 2022. That should tell us something.
Another question MWH should answer is whether they plan to bill insurance or medicaid for the services of the residents and at what rate. This could be a big moneymaker since residents are low cost labor. What then will they do with the profits?
I would like to peel back the onion on that $60m number too. I did look at the IRS worksheet but couldn't connect the dots. Looking at only public information for the financial profile of the organization $60m feels like a lot. It would be nice if MWHC gave the public more transparency on this.
I may have understood what the MWHC representative was trying to say but I found it humorous that they pointed to their EMTALA obligation in treating regardless of ability to pay as a community benefit. I suppose it is but it certainly isn't a unique feature to MWHC.
In 1986, Congress enacted the Emergency Medical Treatment & Labor Act (EMTALA) to ensure public access to emergency services regardless of ability to pay. All hospitals are required by law to treat ER patients regardless of ability to pay. Including for-profit institutions.
Mike Fletcher's slide on "Daycare: Access & Construction Mitigation" feels like it was thrown together 5 minutes before the meeting because it was so poorly researched. There's no data to back up his assertion that alternative childcare was readily available.
Of those 19 child care centers Mike identified many are outside of Fredericksburg city limits, and most do not have enrollment availability. Location matters. Some of those centers would add an additional 50 minutes of driving time for parents per day.
We have 2 kids enrolled at Kid's Station. When it was announced they were closing I put together a spreadsheet listing all area daycare options. Then I called each one to get cost and availability data. I calculated the time/distance from the current location during peak drop-off and pickup hours. I did a qualitative assessment of quality for each site we visited. I can tell you with high confidence that current location of Kid's Station is one of the highest quality daycares in the region with more experienced teachers, and lower staff turnover. It is also one of the lowest cost (possibly due to subsidized commercial lease of building.) Our 2nd choice was lower quality and would have cost 30%+ more a year in tuition.
Mike's assertion that "daycare does not belong on a hospital campus" is ridiculous. I would love to see the research on that. He claimed the ambulance sirens and helicopters overhead are disruptive and unsafe. I won’t get into the fact that on-site daycare is very common on world-class hospital campuses and most experts agree proximity to where a person lives and works is one of the top criteria for childcare sites.
Let’s also consider this. Representations from MWHC have guaranteed that the children will be perfectly safe during construction. At the same meeting, MWHC representatives stated that ambulance sounds are harmful. How can both things be true? When noise is as loud as 100 dBA (like a jackhammer or stud welder), it can take repeated exposures of as little as 1 hour per day to damage your hearing.
MWHC proposes putting up a chainlink fence and privacy screen with no sound abatement. At a minimum, they should be using a prefabricated noise barrier. OSHA recommends organizations take steps to prevent hearing loss when noise exposure is above 85 dB averaged over 8 hours. The average construction job site will have noise exposure 45 dB above the maximum acceptable noise exposure level. A jackhammer is 130dB, pile driving is 170dB. That sounds at least a little disruptive. Certainly a bit more disruptive than an ambulance going by.
So help me understand why the construction workers will be required to wear earplugs but MWHC and KinderCare think the children playing in the playground just feet away is perfectly acceptable? Never mind the risk of heavy machinery and operator error.
The irony isn’t lost on me that MWHC, a non-profit dedicated to community health is proposing a careless approach harmful to health outcomes. MWHC as a health organization does know hearing damage is irreversible, right? They know the research showing the increased rate of cardiovascular diseases for individuals adjacent to construction sites. They know about the cognitive impairment, and sleep disturbance observed in children. According to the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, every 5 dB increase in a 24-hour average noise level was associated with a 34% increase in heart attacks. That's not a public health benefit. I don't want that for the children or staff of Kid’s Station. Â
MWHC identified 19 child care centers in the vicinity. Were there also figures for the cost per child for enrollment, and whether MWHC would assist with enrollment and extended transportation costs for MWHC employee children?
Very confusing ….the single use residence is going to be apartments for visiting doctors? I don’t think I understand. Also troubling that the hospital is not willing to put the kids station promises in writing.
Thank you, Adele and the Fredericksburg Advance, for keeping us informed on all community news!
Regarding how MWH came up with the $60million value for its free or reduced services, I doubt we will be receiving an answer any time soon. We all know how numbers can be created. Perhaps the Advance could obtain a copy of the health care services report MWH claims to have done in 2022. That should tell us something.
Another question MWH should answer is whether they plan to bill insurance or medicaid for the services of the residents and at what rate. This could be a big moneymaker since residents are low cost labor. What then will they do with the profits?
I would like to peel back the onion on that $60m number too. I did look at the IRS worksheet but couldn't connect the dots. Looking at only public information for the financial profile of the organization $60m feels like a lot. It would be nice if MWHC gave the public more transparency on this.
https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-tege/990_schhws040508.pdf
I may have understood what the MWHC representative was trying to say but I found it humorous that they pointed to their EMTALA obligation in treating regardless of ability to pay as a community benefit. I suppose it is but it certainly isn't a unique feature to MWHC.
In 1986, Congress enacted the Emergency Medical Treatment & Labor Act (EMTALA) to ensure public access to emergency services regardless of ability to pay. All hospitals are required by law to treat ER patients regardless of ability to pay. Including for-profit institutions.
Mike Fletcher's slide on "Daycare: Access & Construction Mitigation" feels like it was thrown together 5 minutes before the meeting because it was so poorly researched. There's no data to back up his assertion that alternative childcare was readily available.
Of those 19 child care centers Mike identified many are outside of Fredericksburg city limits, and most do not have enrollment availability. Location matters. Some of those centers would add an additional 50 minutes of driving time for parents per day.
We have 2 kids enrolled at Kid's Station. When it was announced they were closing I put together a spreadsheet listing all area daycare options. Then I called each one to get cost and availability data. I calculated the time/distance from the current location during peak drop-off and pickup hours. I did a qualitative assessment of quality for each site we visited. I can tell you with high confidence that current location of Kid's Station is one of the highest quality daycares in the region with more experienced teachers, and lower staff turnover. It is also one of the lowest cost (possibly due to subsidized commercial lease of building.) Our 2nd choice was lower quality and would have cost 30%+ more a year in tuition.
Mike's assertion that "daycare does not belong on a hospital campus" is ridiculous. I would love to see the research on that. He claimed the ambulance sirens and helicopters overhead are disruptive and unsafe. I won’t get into the fact that on-site daycare is very common on world-class hospital campuses and most experts agree proximity to where a person lives and works is one of the top criteria for childcare sites.
Let’s also consider this. Representations from MWHC have guaranteed that the children will be perfectly safe during construction. At the same meeting, MWHC representatives stated that ambulance sounds are harmful. How can both things be true? When noise is as loud as 100 dBA (like a jackhammer or stud welder), it can take repeated exposures of as little as 1 hour per day to damage your hearing.
MWHC proposes putting up a chainlink fence and privacy screen with no sound abatement. At a minimum, they should be using a prefabricated noise barrier. OSHA recommends organizations take steps to prevent hearing loss when noise exposure is above 85 dB averaged over 8 hours. The average construction job site will have noise exposure 45 dB above the maximum acceptable noise exposure level. A jackhammer is 130dB, pile driving is 170dB. That sounds at least a little disruptive. Certainly a bit more disruptive than an ambulance going by.
So help me understand why the construction workers will be required to wear earplugs but MWHC and KinderCare think the children playing in the playground just feet away is perfectly acceptable? Never mind the risk of heavy machinery and operator error.
The irony isn’t lost on me that MWHC, a non-profit dedicated to community health is proposing a careless approach harmful to health outcomes. MWHC as a health organization does know hearing damage is irreversible, right? They know the research showing the increased rate of cardiovascular diseases for individuals adjacent to construction sites. They know about the cognitive impairment, and sleep disturbance observed in children. According to the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, every 5 dB increase in a 24-hour average noise level was associated with a 34% increase in heart attacks. That's not a public health benefit. I don't want that for the children or staff of Kid’s Station. Â
MWHC identified 19 child care centers in the vicinity. Were there also figures for the cost per child for enrollment, and whether MWHC would assist with enrollment and extended transportation costs for MWHC employee children?
Very confusing ….the single use residence is going to be apartments for visiting doctors? I don’t think I understand. Also troubling that the hospital is not willing to put the kids station promises in writing.