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Calling for more transparency from RMCH

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Dear Editor,

We received news that the hospital, RMCH, will be applying for Critical Access designation.  We look forward to learning more about how this designation will impact our community and the care that RMCH provides.  Importantly, we would like to see how the community can support the hospital leadership in this transition.

We hope that CEO Whitaker will organize town halls with the community.  These would be an opportunity to encourage honest dialogue and questions.  The trust of the community has been badly worn, and dialogue can be a path to healing and understanding.

It is important to operate health care entities with standards of transparency and commitment to community involvement.  Gallup Community Health is an example of such an organization, and benefits from it, as evidenced from their rapid organic growth to 13 providers and the over 2000 patients they have served in the first six months of operation.  These are providers who either moved here from other parts of the country, or would have left our community long ago except for their desire to work at Gallup Community Health.

We believe our rural community hospital can similarly thrive, but only if it operates with similar standards of transparency and commitment to community involvement.  We hope the leadership will reach out to local health care groups that have shown a willingness to work with the hospital, in the interest of deep listening and cooperation.

We would like to work together for the success of our hospital. Hopefully the hospital will look outward to see that  collaboration is critical for the hospital’s success, regardless of Critical Access designation.

 

Sincerely,
Community Health Action Group
Leanne Gillson
Brett Hartline
Frederic Held, MD
Caleb Lauber, MD
Connie Liu, MD/PhD
Kathy Mezoff, MD
Jean Philips, JD
Sara Pikaart, RN
Terrence Sloan, MD
Gwen Wilson, PA
Pam Yardley