What's missing from this article? There is not a single mention of the fact that Partners Healthcare is a nonprofit organization, and the parent of two of the best hospitals in the country (along with a number of other smaller units.) How does Partners (and Brigham and Women's Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital, it's two big members) raise money from
the philanthropic community with this kind of news? It's part of the problem that hospitals all over the country have in making the case for philanthropic support: they are treated in the media (and sometimes behave) like for-profit companies, and the general community gets confused.In the whole current debate about healthcare reform, I have heard only one comment - on the radio the other day - that mentioned that most hospitals in the U.S. are non-profit. And hospitals are mentioned, for the most part, in the same breath as the other "villians" in the healthcare meltdown, big pharma and the insurance companies.
This is a real shame. I have always felt that medical care is a right, and the provision of it is a mission best served by nonprofit hospitals, and that those hospitals deserve the support of the philanthropic community. But how do we best make the case for that support? If you're interested in further thoughts on this issue, e-mail me, and I'll send you a copy of an article I wrote on this subject.
