Image Credit: Ballad Health / Facebook
The Tennessee Conservative [By Jason Vaughn] –
According to our source, Ballad Health Care, who runs a monopoly as the sole healthcare provider in some areas of the state, is now actively blocking Certificates of Need (CONs) which means competition is not being allowed to enter the market.
Ballad Health is a chain of hospitals, headquartered in Johnson City, Tennessee with a service area spanning 29 counties, some of which are in Kentucky and North Carolina.
Our source from Johnson City tells us that the monopoly Ballad Health has in the region has led to a decline in the quality of health care stating that the medical center located there recently received a 1 star rating from Medicare and wait time for any procedures are “unacceptably long.”
In addition, our source tells us that the nurses and other staff at the Med center are difficult to retain due to chronic understaffing, underpaying and other concerns. The center has travel nurses that help fill some of the vacancies but their presence “does not support the local economy.”
Recently, cardiologist Dr. Jeff Schoondyke has been attempting to open a Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory in the area but has been denied up until this point.
The doctor has asked that input letters be sent to the following email address prior to September 9th, which will be used to oppose the “unfair market advantage” that has “taken the region out of the free market and turned healthcare into a government-controlled monopoly.”
Send the input or letters to: CONSupport@karingheartscardiology.com
Suggestions for input include:
• Based on your experience, you would like to see…
• Improved access and availability to necessary services and procedures
• A choice regarding your healthcare
• Lower cost options for necessary services and procedures
Danielle Goodrich of Tennessee Stands said, “As Republicans we must stand against this type of authoritarian and tyrannical power. We must dissolve this COPA. Return the power to the people as it says in the party platform. Stand against unelected, unaccountable government as health departments, health officers, and CEOs of healthcare monopolies became unelected policy makers. We must return it to a free-market system and allow competition to regulate the market. Not the government and a healthcare monopoly. We must allow the consumer to pick the winners and losers. We must walk it back to capitalism and away from socialism.”
Background of Ballad Health
Ballad Health was created in 2018, when Mountain States Health Alliance and Wellmont Health Systems agreed to merge together. Due to the merger, it became the sole hospital organization in some sections of Appalachia.
The Federal Trade Commission had reservations about the merger as portions of Appalachia would only have a single healthcare provider. However the company merged without FTC approval because the Tennessee Attorney General and the Tennessee Department of Health gave clearance for the hospital systems to merge under a Tennessee state law passed in 2015 that allowed hospital merges to occur if the systems could get a “certificate of public advantage” or COPA clearance, arguing that a merged hospital system could work if the area people had greater advantages under a merge despite fewer competing hospital options.
Alan Levine is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer for Ballad Health. Prior to assuming his role with Ballad Health, he worked in several healthcare-related organizations throughout the southeast. He is most notably remembered for his work with Health Management Associates in Broward Co., FL which was featured on 60 Minutes in a story called “The Cost of Admission” which explored the for-profit company that “pressured doctors to meet quota for admitting patients, all in the name of profit.”
About the Author: Jason Vaughn, Media Coordinator for The Tennessee Conservative ~ Jason previously worked for a legacy publishing company based in Crossville, TN in a variety of roles through his career. Most recently, he served as Deputy Director for their flagship publication. Prior, he was a freelance journalist writing articles that appeared in the Herald Citizen, the Crossville Chronicle and The Oracle among others. He graduated from Tennessee Technological University with a Bachelor’s in English-Journalism, with minors in Broadcast Journalism and History. Contact Jason at news@TennesseeConservativeNews.com
4 Responses
And here is the problem with unilateral UNconstitutional law by the executive branch instead of the constitutional branch of the legislative.
This Monopoly should of Never Happened!! And needs to be reversed. The Community and patients suffer the most from the lack of choice in their health care with NO alternatives. Either go to Balad and pay their price or Die???? I guess Nashville was paid off to push this monopoly through??? Just a thought!!!
Cannot get quality care at Ballad Health. Services has been reduced and have to come to Johnson. city from Norton Va even for pneumonia. Almost all services in Wise County has been transferred to Johnson City. Seems Ballad believes that the most simple illness or condition must be treated in Johnson City. I’m surprised Norton hospital is still open since the Wellmont Hospital and Dickenson hospital have been closed. Most people I know in VA are going to Pikeville Ky. Better hospital and much closer than traveling to Johnson City. I now travel to Knoxville or Chattanooga for treatment and surgery. The cleaniness of the hospital has really gone downhill too
This monopoly should have never been allowed. I had to leave my position in January due to a family emergency. Now I am not eligible to be rehired. This is the only hospital in the area and that means I will probably have to move to find a RN position.