HCfANC’s own Jonathan Michels authored this letter for the editor of the News & Observer, printed on April 10th.
Regarding “NC hospitals cut staff, expenses as coronavirus spreads,” (April 3):
The coronavirus pandemic lays bare the ways in which our expensive, inefficient and profit-driven health care system has left our communities defenseless against public health crises.
During 13 years as a front-line health care worker, I have been laid off twice. While hospital executives continued to rake in millions in salaries and bonuses, those health care workers still employed were made to care for more patients with fewer resources. Believe me when I tell you that hospitals are setting communities up for heartache by eliminating essential workers in the midst of a deadly pandemic.
Instead of allowing hospitals to siphon money out of the system by targeting patients who can pay for expensive procedures or avoiding those without the ability to pay, we need a national health program like Medicare for All. It would divert resources to where the needs are: maintaining safe staffing levels and services that produce healthy outcomes.
Jonathan Michels, Durham
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