Manatee County should not establish health clinic for its employees, compete with private market

Manatee County on-site clinic will compete with local doctors:

It has come to my attention the county intends to directly compete with the good doctors of Manatee County in providing on-site healthcare to Manatee County employees. In full support of the views of the board of directors of Manatee County Medical Society, I would like to express my personal unhappiness with such a decision.

The physicians of Manatee County have a long history of providing all citizens the finest healthcare. We have done this through innovative, cutting-edge technology while still maintaining a hometown feel.

Our ability to provide such services has required both personal and financial investments. Removing a sector of patients available to our local physicians will negatively impact our ability to continue such services and limit our abilities to invest in new technology.

As a physician who provides extensive after-hours care through hospital-based work, including nights, weekends and holidays, I find this proposal particularly worrisome. Having a completely different set of healthcare providers during an emergency could create a very dangerous situation for the patients by negatively impacting the continuity of care provided to them.

All of the above factors will force our local physicians to reconsider whether we wish to participate in the county plan.

I strongly encourage the Board of County Commissioners and its administration to put a stop to any plans of Manatee County entering the business of providing or governing healthcare. The healthcare system is already strained enough through federal and state interference; let's not add the county.

Manuel E. Rodriguez, MD, Past President, Manatee County Medical Society

Bradenton

This story was originally published January 28, 2016 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Manatee County should not establish health clinic for its employees, compete with private market ."