Rural MAGA town loses only medical center

[Grokmaster]

Whoopsie! FAFO magats

Curtis Medical Center to close after 30 years, citing inflation and uncertain federal funding

Citing inflation over the past few years combined with uncertainty of future federal funding, Community Hospital has made the decision to close Curtis Medical Center.

www.knopnews2.com

There is a major hospital within 45 minutes of Curtis.
The closest major hospital to Curtis, Nebraska, is Community Hospital in McCook, located about 45 minutes away. Other nearby options include Tri Valley Health System in Cambridge and Lexington Regional Health Center, though both are further than McCook.

• Community Hospital in McCook:
  A full-service hospital with emergency care, surgery, rehabilitation, and obstetrics services.

 

[QP!]

Poor example. The US constitution requires postal delivery to every town in the US.

Article I, Section 8, Clause 7 requires Congress to establish post offices and postal roads. So, by law the government has to establish and maintain these.

On the other hand, there's nothing about having to establish medical services or hospitals along the same lines.

When it comes to profit, package delivery services usually outperform the US Post Office in efficiency. If the government ran healthcare, the same thing would happen. Quality would decline and costs would rise.

It is not a poor example but as always you are able to understand the point and that leads you to say something stupid.

The Postal example is good as it explains how CERTAIN parts of a service can be very profitable (dense cities) while other parts are very unprofitable (rural) but overall the service can be delivered at break even in a non profit model.

Stating the above is not impacted by the Constitution requiring Postal service. That has nothing to do with the math i am speaking about above and raising it has zero value here. I am not arguing both Postal and Health care are required by the Constitution and my sole point is that with services like Postal and Healthcare, to be successful you need to take a non profit model and look at the service Nationwide or State Wide, knowing you will make more money in the dense cities and lose money in the Rural areas, but over all may break even, and THAT IS OK.

If you do not do that, then instead you just look at all the unprofitable areas (in both Postal and Healthcare) and want to cut service or close them.

 

[T. A. Gardner]

It is not a poor example but as always you are able to understand the point and that leads you to say something stupid.

The Postal example is good as it explains how CERTAIN parts of a service can be very profitable (dense cities) while other parts are very unprofitable (rural) but overall the service can be delivered at break even in a non profit model.

Stating the above is not impacted by the Constitution requiring Postal service. That has nothing to do with the math i am speaking about above and raising it has zero value here. I am not arguing both Postal and Health care are required by the Constitution and my sole point is that with services like Postal and Healthcare, to be successful you need to take a non profit model and look at the service Nationwide or State Wide, knowing you will make more money in the dense cities and lose money in the Rural areas, but over all may break even, and THAT IS OK.

If you do not do that, then instead you just look at all the unprofitable areas (in both Postal and Healthcare) and want to cut service or close them.

Except the US Post Office doesn't operate at a profit. Last year they lost $9.5 billion. UPS, FedEx, DHL, et al., operate at a profit. So, while the USPS does have a Post Office in Curtis, it isn't a money maker and overall, the USPS is losing its ass operating. Maybe healthcare should be run more like UPS or FedEx than the USPS.

 

[QP!]

Except the US Post Office doesn't operate at a profit. Last year they lost $9.5 billion. UPS, FedEx, DHL, et al., operate at a profit. So, while the USPS does have a Post Office in Curtis, it isn't a money maker and overall, the USPS is losing its ass operating. Maybe healthcare should be run more like UPS or FedEx than the USPS.

Terry honestly get off Magat media.

The USPS went from profitable to losing tons of money (on paper) when Congress forced on it ACCOUNTING RULES NO OTHER COMPANY USES AND THAT WOULD MAKE MOST PROFITABLE COMPANIES DECLARE LOSSES.

This was done deliberately, in the way the GOP does so they could then target it for break up and sell off the profitable routes to lobbiest friendly companies who have wanted out the USPS out of the most profitable routes.

Accounting Rules Driven by Congress Cost U.S. Postal Service Billions (on Paper)​

... its $11 billion in red ink is a pension-driven mirage.

Unlike virtually all private companies and government agencies, the postal service is required to fund huge cash reserves to prepay workers’ retirement health care benefits 75 years into the future. Most other retirement programs require far smaller reserves on hand.

The postal service is self-funded. On paper it has experienced significant losses since 2006 when Congress ordered it to hoard retirement funds.

“Before the 2006 law, it was coming out ahead,” ...

 

[QP!]

If USPS was allowed to simply REPORT in the same way ALL OTHER COMPANIES REPORT they would have continued to MAKE and SHOW a profit.

 

[QP!]

The Postal Service may need a bailout. But it’s actually making tons of cash​

The House of Representatives on Saturday approved legislation for a bailout for the US Postal Service, which, on paper, has been posting huge losses for years. But in reality, the agency is generating billions in cash.

Virtually all of the agency’s financial problems stem from a unique, arcane accounting system that no other business or government body follows and that doesn’t accurately reflect real costs. (“Utterly absurd,” as one lawmaker calls it.)...

...
The USPS booked positive cash flow of nearly $2 billion in the nine months ending June 30, up from $1.3 billion in the same period a year ago. It had positive average annual cash flow of $3 billion over the previous three fiscal years.

That positive cash flow came despite a large reported net losses — $7.5 billion the most recent nine months, up from a net loss of $5.9 billion in the year earlier period...

...The biggest drag on its finances is a unique rule that requires the USPS to prepay for workers’ retirement benefits for decades into the future. In 2006, Congress passed a law to require the the agency to pre-fund 75 years worth of retiree health care benefits in the span of about 10 years.

“There’s no other entity on Earth that does anything like that. When I talk about it, people say it’s utterly absurd,”...

 

[EdwinA]

I understand that, but the implication is that there is an obligation on the part of the federal government, to have a tax/spending policy that allows a small, rural town to have something they otherwise wouldn't have.

They do, they just have to travel a few miles, is all. Have you ever left your city? You should take a weekend drive around a couple hundred miles out and see for yourself what is involved in choosing to live outside the cities.

Is there any real difference between taking the time to drive 30 miles down a highway and being stuck on a freeway moving 2 mph?

 

[Into the Night]

He's so full of shit it's a wonder he hasn't been flushed down a sewer yet.

That'll just clog. There isn't a plunger big enough. You'll have to snake the drain.

 

[Into the Night]

They do, they just have to travel a few miles, is all. Have you ever left your city? You should take a weekend drive around a couple hundred miles out and see for yourself what is involved in choosing to live outside the cities.

It won't show them. We have a couple of farms near the city here that cater to city dwellers. They come out to pick their pumpkins to give a lobotomy to, the Christmas trees, ride hay rides, do the corn maze, etc. One of 'em even has a cinema set up in a barn.

They have no clue. They only come out for the 'dude' experience during the holidays.
Of course, these farms are making hay (the money kind!) off of these people. Nuthin's free.

During the rest of the time, they operate as a normal farm, sowing and raising crops (mostly sweet corn and hay), and setting aside a bit of acreage for the pumpkin and Christmas tree 'dude' experience.

Is there any real difference between taking the time to drive 30 miles down a highway and being stuck on a freeway moving 2 mph?

In the case of this town, the nearest freeway is 40 miles away. Rural backroads in this area average 50-70mph.

 

[Into the Night]

There is a major hospital within 45 minutes of Curtis.
The closest major hospital to Curtis, Nebraska, is Community Hospital in McCook, located about 45 minutes away. Other nearby options include Tri Valley Health System in Cambridge and Lexington Regional Health Center, though both are further than McCook.

• Community Hospital in McCook:
  A full-service hospital with emergency care, surgery, rehabilitation, and obstetrics services.

That hospital provides air ambulance service to Curtis as well, using the Curtis municipal airport as it's base.

 

[Into the Night]

It is not a poor example but as always you are able to understand the point and that leads you to say something stupid.

The Postal example is good as it explains how CERTAIN parts of a service can be very profitable (dense cities) while other parts are very unprofitable (rural) but overall the service can be delivered at break even in a non profit model.

Stating the above is not impacted by the Constitution requiring Postal service. That has nothing to do with the math i am speaking about above and raising it has zero value here. I am not arguing both Postal and Health care are required by the Constitution and my sole point is that with services like Postal and Healthcare, to be successful you need to take a non profit model and look at the service Nationwide or State Wide, knowing you will make more money in the dense cities and lose money in the Rural areas, but over all may break even, and THAT IS OK.

If you do not do that, then instead you just look at all the unprofitable areas (in both Postal and Healthcare) and want to cut service or close them.

No one is talking about closing any post office. A post office is not a healthcare facility, Kewpie.
The government has no business running a clinic in Curtis.

 

[EdwinA]

It won't show them. We have a couple of farms near the city here that cater to city dwellers. They come out to pick their pumpkins to give a lobotomy to, the Christmas trees, ride hay rides, do the corn maze, etc. One of 'em even has a cinema set up in a barn.

They have no clue. They only come out for the 'dude' experience during the holidays.
Of course, these farms are making hay (the money kind!) off of these people. Nuthin's free.

During the rest of the time, they operate as a normal farm, sowing and raising crops (mostly sweet corn and hay), and setting aside a bit of acreage for the pumpkin and Christmas tree 'dude' experience.

In the case of this town, the nearest freeway is 40 miles away. Rural backroads in this area average 50-70mph.

I drive about 50 miles one way to see my doctor every 6 months. The 5-7 miles downtown from the suburbs of the metroplex takes longer to drive than the 40 or so to the suburb, sometimes 4 times as long.

 

[Into the Night]

I drive about 50 miles one way to see my doctor every 6 months. The 5-7 miles downtown from the suburbs of the metroplex takes longer to drive than the 40 or so to the suburb, sometimes 4 times as long.

Curtis, of course, is not a suburb of anything. It's just a small rural town off the beaten track (2024 population 807).
People driving by on I-90 don't even know it's there.

It formed as a freight stop and switching yard for the railway, but has grown to be more a farming community.
It does have a retirement center, and the town is currently trying to get a pool funded.

In other words, a good, wholesome, town.

 

[EdwinA]

It won't show them. We have a couple of farms near the city here that cater to city dwellers. They come out to pick their pumpkins to give a lobotomy to, the Christmas trees, ride hay rides, do the corn maze, etc. One of 'em even has a cinema set up in a barn.

They have no clue. They only come out for the 'dude' experience during the holidays.
Of course, these farms are making hay (the money kind!) off of these people. Nuthin's free.

During the rest of the time, they operate as a normal farm, sowing and raising crops (mostly sweet corn and hay), and setting aside a bit of acreage for the pumpkin and Christmas tree 'dude' experience.

In the case of this town, the nearest freeway is 40 miles away. Rural backroads in this area average 50-70mph.

I drive about 50 miles one way to see my doctor every 6 months. The 5-7 miles downtown from the suburbs of the metroplex takes longer to drive than the 40 or so to the suburb.

Curtis, of course, is not a suburb of anything. It's just a small rural town off the beaten track (2024 population 807).
People driving by on I-90 don't even know it's there.

It formed as a freight stop and switching yard for the railway, but has grown to be more a farming community.
It does have a retirement center, and the town is currently trying to get a pool funded.

In other words, a good, wholesome, town.

Looked it up on a map; it's not any further away from medical care than I am.

 

[RB 60]

In the case of this town, the nearest freeway is 40 miles away. Rural backroads in this area average 50-70mph.

Lots of back roads in my rural area. Ain't no way I'd drive 50 - 70 MPH on any one of them despite having a car that handles extremely well. Driving a steady 40 mph would result in suicide.

 

[EdwinA]

Curtis, of course, is not a suburb of anything. It's just a small rural town off the beaten track (2024 population 807).
People driving by on I-90 don't even know it's there.

It formed as a freight stop and switching yard for the railway, but has grown to be more a farming community.
It does have a retirement center, and the town is currently trying to get a pool funded.

In other words, a good, wholesome, town.

House prices were higher than I would think there. Somebody must be buying them, allowing for bargaining down from the list prices. I would imagine utilities cost a lot more as well. Where I live, the minimum water bill is $58 higher than in the city, for instance. Had a well for awhile, for the gardens and stock, but it isn't producing much any more. Switched over to drip irrigation and hydroponics, which cut costs fairly well, but is a bigger pain in the ass and had up front costs that offset a big chunk of the savings.

 

[domer76]

Whoopsie! FAFO magats

Curtis Medical Center to close after 30 years, citing inflation and uncertain federal funding

Citing inflation over the past few years combined with uncertainty of future federal funding, Community Hospital has made the decision to close Curtis Medical Center.

www.knopnews2.com

The local ranchers and farmers most likely got fucked, too.

 

[domer76]

If the President has control over this, why were these communities losing healthcare facilities during the Obama and Biden years?

Access to adequate healthcare has always been a problem for rural America. Places like mine, Idaho, suffer from greater suicide and poor health outcomes simply from the lack of accessible services. That, combined with that tough, independent, self-reliant bullshit that those communities cling to.