Thinking about our healthcare

Who doesn’t want shorter emergency room waits at local hospitals, lower cost increases in health insurance and more health inspections of local restaurants?

Those are some of the changes recommended in a new local study on health care, but whether city leaders and industry officials will take steps to remedy them remains to be seen.

The study is the inaugural project of the Western Strategies Center, the city’s first think tank that focuses on local issues.

“We want to get across the idea that even for the huge national issues, such as health care, there are things we can do locally that can have a positive effect,” said Jay Fawcett, president of the center. Fawcett started the nonprofit, nonpartisan public policy center last spring after failing to win a Democratic congressional seat in 2006.

To determine the state of health care in El Paso County and make five suggestions for solutions to the top issues, the center interviewed nearly 30 local players in health care and held round-table discussions.

Participants included hospital executives, social agencies and religious organizations that have health carerelated services, doctors, nurses, law enforcement officials and others in the field.

“They were very diligent about interviewing key segments of the health care community to gather information about what’s currently taking place before finalizing their report on where the gaps are,” said B.J. Scott, president and chief executive officer of Peak Vista Community Health Centers.

In addition to presenting study results at a public meeting Jan. 23, the Western Strategies Center will detail its findings to the Colorado Springs mayor and City Council, the El Paso County Commission, the local chambers of commerce and the Colorado Springs Economic Development Corp.

Because Fawcett’s center is not an advocacy group, it is not endorsing any of the recommended solutions, nor prioritizing them, he said. The goal of the report, Fawcett said, is to get people talking and interested in working on finding solutions.

“We’re hoping the study provides a baseline to provide the channels in the community for communication,” Fawcett said. “We have a lot in place to build on and a lot of partners for collaboration.”

The findings aren’t surprising and are a “fair representation” of the issues, said John Suits, associate administrator of business development and government affairs for Memorial Health System. Whether the report serves as an impetus for change, he said, could depend on the scope of health care reform the Colorado Legislature enacts this year.

“If we don’t see a full-blown revolution in health care for Colorado, or maybe some pieces, I think you’ll see the industry have to make changes on its own,” Suits said.

Fawcett said his policy center will follow up with health care entities in six months to see whether any action has been taken.

Among the findings in the 72-page report:

c El Paso County has a higher percentage of uninsured residents — 20 percent compared with the statewide average of 16 percent and the national average of 15 percent.

The county’s approximate 116,000 uninsured residents exceed the capacity of existing programs that service the uninsured.

c Twenty percent to 30 percent of local emergency room visits are due to mental-health and substance-abuse problems.

c Too many county residents use the emergency room as their primary source of medical treatment.

c El Paso County has 11 fulltime food inspectors, nearly one-third fewer than the 31 the Food and Drug Administration recommends for the population size. The number of complaints of food-borne illnesses contracted from local restaurants: 60 in 2005 and 178 in 2006.

c Local hospitals rate high in terms of patient care but have a lower bed capacity than comparable-size cities.

c The area has a shortage of primary care physicians, nurses and psychiatrists.

Scott said the report will be useful.

“Fixing health care is rocket science, and any information like this study that identifies some gaps, tries to lay some foundation and brings forth ideas to the community are valuable,” she said.

Of the center’s five suggested courses of action, only one — increasing funding for El Paso County Department of Health and Environment — calls for increased spending, Fawcett said.

Another recommendation is to funnel emergency room patients who have substanceabuse or mental-health problems to existing programs.

“Right now they’re either taken off to jail or the hospital. Our strategy would block that cycle and free up ER space. Anyone who’s gone to the ER knows the wait can be hours because the system is jammed up,” Fawcett said.

The study cost $150,000, Fawcett said, but his policy center only has raised $80,000 from donors to date. As a result, staff members are working as volunteers, he said.

Topics for future studies and reports include the economic impacts of an aging society, city growth and economic competition.

What: Free public meeting to discuss the findings of the health care study

When: Noon to 1 p.m., Jan. 23

Where: Penrose Library, 20 N. Cascade Ave., Carnegie Room

Information: 473-2864

To see the report: Go to www.western strategies.org (Copies of the study will also be available at the meeting)