After having an appointment with our Pediatrican, we learned the hospital decided not to renew her contract and the practice will be closed by June 1st. If she finds a new position before then, she will probably leave sooner. This is very sad to me as we’ve grown to love our Ped and the entire staff  (love you Max!) over the many years we’ve been patients.

Everyone has their own opinions and her approach wasn’t maybe for everyone. Personally, I prefer a doctor doesn’t use her script pad like it is going out of style. Some people, though, prefer to have a prescription written every single time they see the doctor. You really just have to find a doctor that fits you.

We live in a small town with very little choices. I really prefer to have a Pediatrician treating my children as that is their speciality and they won’t accidentially give you the wrong dosage of samples for  your child which causes you to have to call poison control or prescribe medication you should not take while pregnant. Plus, many of the established doctors are not taking new patients. For now, we are staying with our current Pediatrician but I’m on the look out for a new one as I don’t want an emergency situation to happen and not have an established doctor for my children.

Apparently, I’m going to have to drive at least 20 minutes north or south to find a Pediatrician. Bummer. I loved having one right in town as it was very convenient.

Which brings me to the “Clarian” issue. Since Clarian bought Tipton Hospital, things have been changing and NOT for the better in my opinion. The recently renovated OB department is gone. Even in an emergency they are not equipped to deliver a baby so you might as well just keep driving and not even bother stopping. The Emergency Room is beautiful but they can’t help you in an emergency delivery. I wonder how long before they decide to not renew the OB’s contract?

I’m sure the reason the Pediatrician’s contract was not renewed was all about the money. It doesn’t have to do with caring about the young people in our community or wanting to retain young families. Having a Pediatrician in town, I believe, is a big positive for a small town like ours. If we want to attract young families to substain our town, I believe it needs to offer services for families like an OB department, Pediatrician, etc.

Were you aware of the big price differences between hospital? One procedure may be twice as high as another hospital which just as good ratings. This is true of Tipton Hospital. At my real life job I work closely with our insurance company as we have a self funded plan, and our administrator also commented on how Tipton Hospital was much higher than other hospitals.