I was a patient at Hutcheson Medical Center in September of this year and a patient in the intensive care unit there a few years ago. For both of my stays at Hutcheson, I was treated in the most professional and compassionate manner possible. Everyone from the nurses, lab technicians, radiology technicians, housekeepers and doctors provided top of the line services.
It seems that all of the information about Hutcheson Medical Center that makes the news is negative and none of the positive side of Hutcheson gets reported. Negative accusations of sup-par patient care like the ones by Susan Goodman are plastered all over the news. According to Ron Glass, bankruptcy trustee, the hospital has been inspected on several occasions in the last few months and passed all of them. The inspections show that there are no patient care issues, but this does not seem to get reported. Every time a negative article comes out in the news Hutcheson loses more patients. I do not know where the push to shut the hospital down instead of finding a buyer to keep it open is coming from, but there is definitely an effort by some to close the doors.
I realize that there are good hospitals in Chattanooga, but some insurance plans do not pay for out of state hospitals and some patients do not want to use the hospitals there. Northwest Georgia needs Hutcheson Medical Center and based on the treatment provided by Hutcheson Medical Center and its staff, I will not hesitate to go there if the need arises.
Jeff Smallwood
Flintstone