Stop UPMC takeover
As a senior citizen, I’ve seen plenty of corporate carpetbaggers come into Washington County, extract huge profits and then leave our community high and dry. I worked in the local steel mill and when it closed down I was without a job after 20 years of loyal service. That’s what UPMC has done to so many other communities and that’s what it will do to us if it takes over Washington.
I was born at Washington Hospital and currently live five minutes away. My whole family, my neighbors and I have relied on Washington Hospital for care.
But my insurance representative told me that if UPMC takes over, I might not be able to go to Washington Hospital in the future. I have Highmark Blue Shield to supplement my Medicare. UPMC tried to stop accepting Highmark patients over a decade ago. It was forced by the state to accept Highmark, but that agreement ends in five years.
I’m not only worried about UPMC accepting my insurance, but also about its long history of shutting down services and even whole hospitals. UPMC closed down the emergency room at South Side Hospital, the intensive care unit and other services at McKeesport, and the maternity ward and dialysis services at Bedford. It closed down Braddock, Sunbury, Lancaster and Lock Haven hospitals.
If UPMC shuts down services or our entire hospital, Washington residents will have to travel a long way for our care.
UPMC has also been cutting jobs and wages. Just recently, executives announced they were laying off 1,000 staffers and giving hundreds of nurses a $13-per-hour pay cut. Meanwhile there are lots of UPMC execs making over $1 million a year in compensation.
UPMC’s behavior reminds me of how the steel mill treated us. If this giant corporation comes into our community, it will rip us apart. I’m so disappointed with the politicians who have naively bought into UPMC’s empty promises, despite the company’s history. Elected leaders should be siding with the people of our community, not millionaire corporate executives.
The UPMC takeover must be stopped.
Francis Adams
Washington