The Gazette. Learn something new today and every day.

Medical mall will siphon rural areas’ services

The Gazette Opinion Staff

Jun. 18, 2010 12:55 am

That was an excellent point of view by Dr. Carl Aschoff (June 13 guest column) on the bad idea otherwise known as the medical mall. The only way to pay for this is to siphon off more health care dollars from surrounding counties. Way too much of that has happened already.

To pay for this monstrosity, even more outpatient surgeries that should be performed in community hospitals will be recruited back to Cedar Rapids. Already, every day, we see octogenarians traveling from rural areas to receive services that could and should be offered in their own communities.

Good luck with this risk; people choose to live in rural areas for a reason. Put a solid marble facade on it while you are at it.

Dr. Brian Meeker

Vinton

Opinion content represents the viewpoint of the author or The Gazette editorial board. You can join the conversation by submitting a letter to the editor or guest column or by suggesting a topic for an editorial to editorial@thegazette.com