Editor,
May I suggest a book for those students who have a social consciousness to help them understand the erosion of American democracy? The book is Gangs of America by Ted Nace - the subtitle is a summation: The Rise of Corporate Power and the Disabling of Democracy.
Large corporations, many times, only care about the billions of dollars they can get from the public, not what they can give to the public. One such conglomerate that is hurting New Mexicans is a health care "service" company headquartered in Nashville, Tenn., named Ardent.
A few years ago, the company came to Albuquerque, and turmoil has resulted ever since. Its modus operandi is to purchase hospitals all over the United States, cut services and intimidate employees, thus harming patients. Ardent purchased St. Joseph's hospital and changed the name to Sandia, then purchased Lovelace Healthcare and its five hospitals, and began a concerted effort to line the pockets of the leaders in Nashville.
Recently, Ardent decided to close Lovelace's Gibson hospital in 2006 and close the optical department. Plans are in the works to close the Behavioral Health department soon. Ardent will tell you they are seeking "cost effectiveness," when actually they want to save money for the company with little concern for the patients or employees and their families.
Want to sink your teeth into this problem of inadequate health care for babies, young people, students, the disabled, senior citizens, and the physically and mentally ill? You could contact Ardent's Corporate Executive Officer in Nashville, David Vandewater, who appears to be bent on making things miserable for thousands of New Mexican consumers. You could also contact your politicians, the media and Bill Frist, the Senate Majority Leader, who also has many health-related interests in Nashville. Good luck to those of you who care about this corporate power in our state and what they are doing to our people.
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Fred Belk
Daily Lobo reader
