Good afternoon,
Monday’s column about the state’s rejection of an emergency center in Sussex County brought a response worth considering.
The reader passed along his story of being taken to Beebe’s emergency room in the dead of winter and waiting three hours because his case was not considered to be serious.
Going to an urgent care center was not an option, since he needed a surgeon.
The reader also cited traffic snarls in the Lewes area that increase ambulance times to the Beebe emergency room.
“Wouldn’t a facility out of the beach area make sense?”, he wondered.
It’s worth noting that Beebe’s wait times were among the lowest among hospitals in the state, according to figures from ProPublica. The exception was broken bones.
His arguments make sense and lead to the question of whether a health care campus, like the one in Milford, would be a long-term solution for Sussex County.
That ship may have sailed, with Beebe’s expansion plan already underway.
Also passed along was a report from the Caesar Rodney Institute that questions the need for state-approved certificates of need for health care facilities.
Their argument is that the free market does a better job of sorting things out.
Economic news and media bias
Finally, yesterday’s column on a dip in recreational vehicle sales led to claims of media bias.
It is true that the media is focusing on signs of a slowdown as the stock market shows volatility and some industries report economic “headwinds,” the latest cliché creeping into earnings reports.
Today’s news of stronger-than-expected earnings at Lowe’s and Target will dampen speculation.
Then again, the president is looking at measures, such as cutting the payroll tax, that typically comes during a downturn.
Feeding the narrative are talk shows that have devoted airtime to speculation that the liberal media is stirring up recession talk.
Here’s to a cooler Wednesday. One guide to the weather is Bernie’s Water Ice in the Hilltop area in Wilmington and whether it turns off the pizza oven.
No final decision has been announced, although Bernie’s at last report was learning toward water ice only on a day when a heat advisory remains in effect.
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