LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Every day I see the faces of patients who rely on the care provided at Saint Francis Healthcare by more than 2,700 caregivers and staff. As Market CEO of our two Saint Francis Hospitals in Memphis and Bartlett, I witness the daily impact our care providers have on our patients. Serving this community makes us very proud.

Unfortunately, our mission to meet the needs of many patients is at risk. Since February, we have been trying to reach a fair agreement with Cigna regarding access to our hospitals and other providers, including physicians. In these negotiations, we are working in good faith on the terms of a contract that covers the care we provide to patients with Cigna commercial health insurance plans in Memphis.

Cigna has had plenty of time to come to a mutually beneficial deal, but its unwillingness to propose a reasonable agreement will be detrimental to our patients’ access to care. Cigna’s position is untenable as the contract Cigna has demanded would slash payment rates by millions.

We diligently invest in our hospital system to expand our health care delivery services at every opportunity for improvement, whether that means attracting top talent to work in our hospitals or advancing cutting-edge technologies to enhance treatment options for patients. We will not compromise on our commitment to excellence as we care for our community. Cigna’s proposed rate cuts are simply making it impossible for us to find a fair deal, despite our best efforts.

If we don’t reach agreement by Dec. 31, our hospitals, outpatient centers and physicians will be considered out of network. Patients with Cigna commercial health plans who utilize these facilities and seek care from these doctors would have to pay more out of their own pocket to access the care they need and trust. Patients are the ones who will suffer the consequences by having little, or even no, access to the quality care on which they rely. How is that fair? How is that reasonable?

What we want is very simple and aligns with what our communities should expect and deserve: uninterrupted access to high-quality, trusted care for themselves and their loved ones. What we want is fair. What we want is reasonable.

Audrey Gregory, Memphis Market CEO, Tenet Healthcare

Wisdom of Electoral College

While the controversy over the ballots in Georgia and Florida persists and the Democrats have claimed they won’t accept the results if it doesn’t go their way, this should be a reminder of one of the reasons why we have an Electoral College to elect a president. The founders did not want more than a few hundred ballots to count in Washington when electing a president (among other reasons). I think we should give them credit for such good insight. Of course, the Democrats were complaining about the Electoral College as being one of the reasons why Hillary Clinton lost and moaned that we should do away with it. I’m sure they would prefer paper ballots for every individual in America. It would be unmanageable, unverifiable, and it would create a messy political controversy every four years that would make the current political instability a joke.

Shep Fargotstein, Memphis

Less crime a big incentive

Memphis and Shelby County have been trying to encourage businesses to build or move to the area. We have the EDGE, PILOT, TIF, IRB, IDB, FTZ and ICED programs. It’s good to encourage businesses to move here and should be pursued.

We have the Orpheum, Memphis in May, Beale Street, Graceland, the Memphis Zoo, the Grizzlies, UofM basketball and football, the Peabody, the Redbirds, and Shelby Farms. We have many things that make many cities drool.

Why is it that we have to beg companies to settle in Memphis? It’s known companies always research an area before building or moving here. How many of these deciders will want to move to an area where the crime rate is bad and even the head of the Chamber of Commerce was killed?

Rule No. 1 for a government is to protect its citizens. Why is it so hard for the local politicians to understand that? They want to throw money at these companies to entice them to move here. Doesn’t it make sense to push a small part of those funds to an area that would benefit Memphis and Shelby County exponentially?

All of the wonderful things in and around Memphis are rendered null and void because of the lack of insight of the politicians to take care of their one job.

Bill Dickerson, Memphis