Sorry,"may I add...."

Youkillme is the smartest person in the room. And my I add that another misconception about healthcare is that the free market will solve anything. Healthcare is not a commodity that can be readily traded. There is not another commodity that a person has a more profound interest. One mistake and you are dead.

The shortage of E.R. beds in this community was just fine with Javon as long as he was the only game in town. Now, all of a sudden it is a big problem that will be solved two days before St. Mary's opens. It is hard to misconstrue arrogance, greed and insensitivity.

How childish of Mercy & waste of money at same time. More I think about this idea more I believe it to be intentional simply because of Dean's decision to build a hospital. If anything this hurts Mercy because it looks silly. Anyone who thinks otherwise is blind or stands to gain somehow. The projected completion date is a dead giveaway.

But now that St. Mary's WILL be in town, we won't HAVE to go to Madison. Also, since my most recent experiences in the ER at Mercy was such a nightmare, I look forward to being able to have a choice.
I am a St. Mary's "cheerleader" and Javon Bea will see the impact, regardless of his attempt to counter it.
I know most of the caregivers, doctors, staff, nurses all go into the field with a dream to help others, (the money ain't bad either...) but when the higher brass treat their employees with such crappy regard, PATIENTS "draw the short stick" in care.

I have had 3 experiences at the Mercy ER and inpatient at the hospital over the last 18 months and all of them were positive. Comparatively, I have had situations where a close family member was hospitalized in Madison and I know from experience how stressful and draining it is driving back and forth trying to offer support and manage the care of a loved one hospitalized a distance away. I feel thankful for the great care and specialized services here at Mercy.

great... now "MERCYless" can charge $300 for a pillow an $500 for the h2o mug!

I think that mercy does am outstanding job and I am glad they are competing against St. Mary's. they need to compete just like any other business. I don't hear anyone telling MacDonald's that they shouldn't put a restaurant on every corner. Is that necessary?

Good for you Mercy and Javon for fighting for the people of Janesville to help keep health care in town instead of driving to Madison and potentially dying enroute!

McDonald's doesn't sell burgers to make money, they do it to feed the hungry...All BS Bea. And you wonder why Mercy has such a bad reputation

MRI machines cost well over a million dollars. Let's ASSUME the Janesville area has one and that the area requires 120 tests on a daily basis. Now we're going to have 3 MRI machines to do these 120 tests. To pay for the machine the doctors will have to suggest more MRIs or charge more for each test. Duplicating services in the health industry does not lower cost, it increases it.

Keep building them all over the country. We also need many more doctors, nurses and other health care techs. It's about time the nation's health care industry has the capability to serve the entire nation. Next - Bring on single-payer universal.

Amen LoveinIt!! Mercy WON'T need the extra room. Dean has come to town...I refuse Mercy 100%!

Do you remember a week or so back an article ran about paramedics/ambulances when coming in from the East side of the county will now probably go to St. Mary's ER. Hummm so Mercy saw that article and realized they needed to place a ER in that area to compete with St. Mary's. How sad this reflects on the Mercy orgainization. All the current improvemnets that Mercy is doing ie: at the hospital and the clinics does not make one a great care facility..It's the people and staffing.

Chelleandlou, they think we are idiots because we have done nothing to prove them wrong. We still let the insurance companies dictate what the best health care is for us so that they may have increased profits. How we can make laws protecting us against shady auto mechanics but not health care insurers/providers is and will always be beyond me. There is no elected voice for us in this battle because we can't compete with the money that is thrown at the prostitutes that are making and have made our laws. Liberals AND conservatives are guilty.

Hospital wars...really? lol. Lets hope they continue this competative battle with health costs.

Zeussmom may I please add passion to your list? In my previous post I mentioned Mercy's HR department. Specifically I am referring to the lack leadership they provide toward character, ethics, creativity, diversity, and individual development of their employees. A high self-worth can help make an employee passionate about their job. I know of at least one department where the director runs over the HR department and they allow themselves to be run over by his bully mentality. This bully director makes everyone in the department miserable. Many have left Mercy due to this and in exit interviews HR is told the reason they are leaving and guess what, the director is still in place.

Mercy, you wont be so short of rooms when Dean opens up, I promise you.

Secondly, those people who fought Walmart opening by their house, now they get ambulances too, what joy.

Mercy really needs to concentrate more on people (the best and brightest) as opposed to buildings. They can build the best facilties in the world, but if the people there lack the training and compassion it is a waste of money!

what is soo wrong w/more competition?This IS needed in health care!

I have to agree on your HR department assessment.

The poor public image Mercy is developing is really too bad. The Sisters of Mercy that worked there must be rolling in their graves. From the egotistical Bea to the laughing stock HR department, Mercy is turning itself in to a joke. I know there are caring and dedicated employees at Mercy, but it is sad how Mercy leadership is dragging the hospital down.

Bea's new comments confirm what most of us thought all along. This is nothing but a desperate grab for some of St Mary's patients. Bea can deny it all he wants, but he looks more foolish each time he does.
"Misconstrued" my left foot.

What is it with CEOs, Presidents, Senators, Congressmen/women, Governors, etc. thinking the general public are IDIOTS? Seriously, not competitive....that's the funniest thing I've ever heard. Apparently, it doesn't take any common sense to run Mercy Health System.

to answer jd's question, mercy east is mostly getting a facelift. it is mostly decorated in 90's styling and color, the nursing stations and rooms aren't adequate for all the new computers, etc. it is definitely needed and overdue. yes, the front is being bumped out and some additional exam rooms are being added, but it is still just a clinic. As far as the north side facility mercy is about to build, I think the ER and helipad that is planned is shady unless there is a more complete facility there. in other words, many things people are brought to an ER for via ambulance and chopper need additional services like radiology, operating rooms, etc. until that site develops to something that supports most scenarios of a true emergency SO YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE TRANSFERRED TO THE MAIN HOSPITAL i find it to be a decent idea. I'd personally much rather see more specialists hired and stationed there (endocrine, pulm, etc) or a specialized branch of care like a burn unit, peds building, or stroke center.

Of course it's probably a profit grab as others have pointed out, but I do have a question on an issue that confuses me a little: there is Mercy Hospital and then there is Mercy East on E Milwaukee St and Wright Rd, I get that Mercy hospital would have beds tied up due to being level 2 and no real room to expand, but what's going on with the huge renovations, remodeling and expansion at Mercy East? It's just a clinic right? But couldn't it be upgraded to be a hospital or 24 emergency department with the improvements? Or would that just not work or not be feasible? If anyone has info on that, that would help me understand what exactly is happening there, and if these new locations (based on the drawings new clinics as well?) what would happen to East? What's the sense of having a nice facility on Milwaukee and Wright and then another one on Deerfield about a mile away? Is there REALLY that huge of a demand for medical services?? Is this guy really saying Mercy and the soon to be New Dean/St. Mary's Hospital between the two of them won't be able to adequately serve the area's needs?

The big picture is that Janesville has lots of bars, fast food joints, and smoke shops so people can be unhealthy and then need the abundance of medical facilities being built. I'm sure Dean and Mercy see this area as huge potential.

"misconstrued"....yes, I believe Bea misconstrued the publics intelligence.

Not competitive...
HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA...Javon, you are sooo funny!

Seems to me this issue was headlined in the gazett two or so weeks back. They can't staff the emergency room they have now.

And we wonder why medical expenses are so high? Sorry, I am not fooled by the claim that this is not competitive.

The only reason this is being built, is because they want to cut into St. Mary's business. A clear profit grab in my opinion.

Why was this story written? And why on Earth was it front page, above the fold in the paper edition? Here's why it was written: "Bea said Wednesday that earlier comments he made about Mercy’s facility not being a competitive response to St. Mary’s Janesville Hospital might have been misconstrued."

Here's what happened. A boatload of commenters on the previous article (http://www.gazettextra.com/news/2011/jun...) called a spade a spade and pointed out that this is a naked money grab, not driven by medical necessity or improving care or decreasing costs. Nothing more, nothing less. If things were 'misconstrued,' then there are 3 options.

#1) The Gazette wrote something factually wrong. In this case, they should print a retraction/apology/correction. Nope, the Gazette's reporting was fine.

#2) Javon Bea should write a letter to the editor explaining his position and why the majority of the public is wrong in calling this an unnecessary profit grab.

#3) Mercy should take out an advertisement to argue that this will enhance "healing. in the broadest sense." and they made the decision for "you."

But by no means should the Gazette have stamped this with editorial authority and put it on the front page of the paper.

Here's a generic version of what happened: Businessman announces plans to expand. Public calls it a profit-grab that will not improve services. Businessman disagrees.

Is anyone surprised that Javon Bea wants people to think that this is not a competitive profit grab? This is a "dog bites man" story. It's not news; call the Gazette when the man bites the dog.

And I'm not anti-Mercy/pro-Dean. I think Dean St. Mary's is wasteful and unnecessary, also. But owners of both companies are arguing for the medical necessity of their expansions, and are saying that the competition will bring down prices. This is dubious, at best. If I were cynical, I would say they were colluding. Regardless, they are following the timeless strategy of "If you repeat a lie enough times, eventually it becomes the truth."

Javon Bea does not want people to think that this is a money grab meant to line his coffers while hurting the public. There is nothing newsworthy about that. Generally, I think the Gazette does a good job with content selection and also has a transparent process/guide with which they are consistent. However, they got this one wrong. Make him buy an advertisement or write a letter to the editor; don't dress it up as news. Hopefully the public isn't fooled.

I'm sorry. I have a hard time believing that after the Dean/St. Mary's Hospital, new Edgerton hospital and the expansions at Mercy, that we need more medical options. For the most part, population in S. Wisconsin is stagnant if not losing people at a slow trickle. Of course, lets see if your health insurance goes down.

If they've owned the land since '99, why hasn't anything been built yet? The timing isn't just coincidence.

Yeah right, not competitive.