An editorial, “A piece of Heart..”, opens “When Lancaster Regional Medical Center announced two months ago that it would sell a stake in the hospital to some doctors, the innovative though controversial move was believed to be a first for Pennsylvania….Critics say doctors who are part of such ventures have an incentive to send more patients merely to gain more professional fees. This also helps to protect their investment, critics say.”
WATCHDOG: Under normal circumstances we would agree with the critics. However, given the dominant market position of Lancaster General Hospital, which enables it to extract higher payments from insurers, which in turn leads to higher premiums for the insured, and given the irresponsible and secretive manner in which LGH employs its vast profits, revitalizing Regional and Heart of Lancaster hospitals is in the public’s interest.
