Nurses: Is profit placed ahead of care?

When I read the recent Viewpoints by the nurses and MultiCare (TNT, 3-6), I had to respond to a few of the main points that appear to be among the factors responsible for the overinflated, inefficient health care system that we all contend with in the United States.

After having major surgery and being married to a nurse, I am very much aware of the staffing issue in our hospitals.

Linda Dean and Anita Wolfe, writing for MultiCare, claimed that it would cost $13 million to cover a fully staffed facility (they admitted another 120 nurses would be necessary). Christine Himmelsbach, of the nurses’ union, said MultiCare “pulled in $65 million in profits in 2014 alone.”

I have to wonder where the future of our health care system was going. Will it be “profit vs. care” or a system that actually puts an individual’s care first?

Dean and Wolf claimed that their “healthy” operating margin is “dedicated to reducing the cost of care and improving their facilities,” but any facility costs would be included in deducted costs before those “healthy” profits are calculated.

As a taxpaying citizen nearing retirement, I am very concerned about our health care system.

This story was originally published March 8, 2016 at 9:38 AM with the headline "Nurses: Is profit placed ahead of care?."