Hits and Misses
MISS: John Lewis is an authentic American hero. A longtime Atlanta-area congressman and a towering figure in America’s civil rights pantheon, he announced last weekend that he is being treated for pancreatic cancer that is now at an advanced stage. Pancreatic cancer that has reached this point is notoriously hard to treat, but we hope that Lewis is able to beat the odds. America needed people like Lewis at the height of the civil rights movement in the 1960s, and it needs his wisdom now just as urgently.
MISS: The saga of disgraced Bishop Michael J. Bransfield, who used to lead the Catholic Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston in West Virginia, keeps getting more and more sordid. Deposed after allegedly sexually harassing priests and using church funds to maintain a sumptuous lifestyle, it now appears that the Wheeling mansion Bransfield used to live in might have been sold quietly to conceal the extent of his lavish tastes. The Washington Post reported Monday the 9,200-square-foot house was sold in June to a Wheeling resident for just $1.2 million, despite the fact that Bransfield poured $4.6 million into its renovation. Officials say selling the mansion privately cut down on commissions that needed to be paid to real estate agents. But, as the Post noted, “it also had the effect of keeping the public from taking the full measure of Bransfield’s extravagance and excess.” The public should have had that opportunity.
HIT: Washington Hospital, Monongahela Valley Hospital and Washington Health System Greene are all participating in a unique statewide initiative that could help them and other rural hospitals stay afloat. It was announced last week that the three medical centers are among eight in this portion of the state participating in the Pennsylvania Rural Health Model, which alters the way rural hospitals are funded. Rather than being paid on a fee-for-service basis, they are paid a fixed amount on a consistent basis by insurers that include Highmark, UPMC and Medicare. The model’s proponents say a steady revenue stream will allow officials at the hospitals to focus on wellness programs rather than fret about “heads in beds.” This will be tried for five years, and we all should be rooting for its success, given the importance of rural hospitals in the communities they serve.
MISS: It’s been well-established that the opioid epidemic has hit the hardest in communities already dealing with economic deprivation, and that fact was further reinforced by a study published Monday in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine. It found that deaths among working-age people due to opioid abuse increased markedly in counties where automotive factories have closed. The increase in deaths was highest among non-Hispanic white men aged 18 to 34. Atheendar Venkataramani, a professor of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and lead author of the report, emphasized the need for communities to prepare for spikes in drug abuse when economic shocks hit. “Major economic events, such as plant closures, can affect a person’s view of how their life might be in the future,” he said. “These changes can have a profound effect on a person’s mental well-being and could subsequently influence the risk of substance abuse.”