Physicians spend their entire careers listening. Our relationship with the patient is to hear them and be their guide when they are most vulnerable. For several years, we’ve listened to employers, payors, and community leaders. What we heard was concern about the escalating cost of hospital care and the need for innovative options to improve quality and patient experience. That set us on a journey which brings us to today.
The hospital centric days of the past are gone. As healthcare has changed, so too has how we deliver care and services to discerning consumers who want value, quality and choice. An increasing number of surgeries and procedures are performed in outpatient settings including surgery centers or a physician’s office, both of which are safe with proven quality outcomes. All healthcare organizations have a responsibility to modernize their approach to care just as we innovate through technology and clinical practice delivery.
As physicians, we take the oath “first do no harm,” and we carefully planned our project to ensure that success was of no detriment to others. The Blessing Health System is rich in history and as evidenced by their growth, multiple new buildings and acquisitions over the past few years, financially strong. They will continue growing and serving this community for years to come. We hope to do that as well. This is not an either or situation; we believe that with high tide, all ships rise.
We are not surprised by Blessing Health System’s opposition; no monopoly desires competition. However, we are surprised and disappointed by the unprecedented aggressive tactics, gross exaggerations, intentional misrepresentations, legal maneuvering, and fear-mongering methods they have used. This is not dissimilar from years of failed collaborative conversations. Having served in leadership at the hospital and QMG, and despite genuine and continuous efforts by QMG physicians and leaders, the efforts are futile because they don’t listen….to patients, physicians, employers or the community. Their response to growth not engineered or controlled by them is seen as a threat despite their published strong financial position. Blessing cites patient choice to justify their competitive physician recruitment; we agree that choice is important, vital even when it comes to exorbitant hospital fees. Blessing has gone to concerning lengths to divert attention from the actual need for surgical expansion to protect their high prices and monopoly.
This project has great support by top employers, business leaders, informed citizens and most importantly patients. We are excited to revitalize and drive economic development with the Quincy Mall. Through this significant investment, the physicians of QMG will establish our community among the most innovative for advanced medical care.
Independent physician groups like QMG attract hard-working skilled physicians who practice their craft, work with capable intelligent colleagues, and who thrive in an efficient infrastructure managed by professionals. Healthcare reform and transformation are upon us and QMG physicians are leading the way.
At the end of the day a physician and patient are in a room working together to improve the patient’s health. QMG’s proposed surgery center is for patients. It is also for 117 physicians (including our interventional cardiologist arriving this summer) who are investing in their community, and providing the best and most cost-effective care available.
This is QMG at its best; physician led services that are patient-centric, cost-effective and forward thinking. This is Quincy at its best; a blend of the old and the new; a mix of today and tomorrow, with an eye toward a very bright future of expanded healthcare services.
Todd Petty, MD
General Surgeon
Chairman Board of Directors
Quincy Medical Group