Hospitals bleeding cash

Who knows? Maybe it has something to do with the steady, never-ending influx of illegal aliens/immigrants pouring across our southern border each and every day, steadily destroying what little bit remains of an inefficient and overburdened, politically-dominated, medical healthcare system. Our hospitals are compelled by draconian government law to treat illegal immigrants in their emergency rooms without charge. So... Guess who else ends up absorbing most of the exorbitant medical costs in the meantime? One after another, hospitals are going bankrupt and closing their doors. Here is but one example:

The Muhlenberg Regional Medical Center in Plainfield, New Jersey is a state-of-the-art facility with comprehensive coverage of diverse medical disciplines. It is the sort of resource that communities dream of having available for their emergencies as well as routine care. In addition to their many community wellness programs, they host New Jersey’s premier cancer center.

Muhlenberg Regional Medical Center is a 396-bed acute care facility that provides inpatient and outpatient services in all major medical specialties. Other specialized services include a complete array of cardiac services (including emergency angioplasty), a Bariatric Surgery Center, Vein Center, Lithotripsy Center,Wound Care Center, hemodialysis, home care, hospice and adult medical day care….

The Regional Cancer Center is committed to providing high quality care for people with cancer. The Center offers all the services needed to effectively identify and treat cancer, including state-of-the-art diagnostic equipment, surgery, medical oncology, neuro-oncology, radiation therapy, investigational trials, stereotactic radiosurgery (Gamma Knife), nursing care, counseling, nutritional support, discharge planning, outpatient services and hospice care.

But soon the Muhlenberg community safety net will be gone. The New Jersey Star Ledger reports:

Muhlenberg Regional Medical Center shutting its doors

Faced with mounting deficits caused mainly by insufficient state aid to cover all its uninsured patients, officials at Muhlenberg Regional Medical Center in Plainfield plan to close the 130-year-old facility later this year….programs and services will be phased out during a “wind down” period before Muhlenberg finally stops admitting patients….

The decision to close the 396-bed Plainfield hospital was a “last resort” after an attempt to find a buyer failed, said John P. McGee, president and CEO of Solaris Health System, which owns the hospital. Muhlenberg, which also has 1,100 employees and 350 affiliated physicians, was put up for sale last November. Officials say they reached out to more than 60 potential buyers.

McGee said one reason for the lack of interest is economics: Muhlenberg will likely show a loss of $18 million for 2007.

The hospital - whose emergency room treats 35,000 patients a year - doled out some $15.4 million in uncompensated care last year, but received only $6.2 million from the state in charity care funding, spokesman Steven Weiss said.

Muhlenberg has also been treating a growing number of uninsured patients as well as undocumented patients, most of whom are not insured and do not qualify for charity care….

The data: $15.4 million uncompensated care | $6.2 million state reimbursement

The dilemma: Community loses health care facility | Taxpayers fund health care for aliens

The fact is illegal immigration would be fairly easy to fix. First, allow the U.S. Border Patrol to do its job, like it tried to do in Los Angeles a few months back when officers began to round up illegals in the Hispanic neighborhoods. They were stopped by the "suits" in Washington.

Second, stop providing U.S. taxpayer funded programs like hospital care, access to public schools, and welfare handouts. Plans to provide Social Security payments to illegals should never be considered. Stop granting automatic citizenship to babies born to illegal immigrants (known as "anchor babies"). This would stop the practice of running across the border just in time to give birth.

Finally, pass H.R. 815 and stop this outrageous attempt by the Mexican government to claim United States territory as their private annex. The Mexican government has no right to meddle in U.S. policy.

Politicians can puff up and spew rhetoric about guest worker programs and filling jobs Americans don't want, but the truth is our nation is being flooded by people who don't care about our heritage or culture. They have no allegiance to this country, and in fact, remain loyal to their home country. They choose not to learn our language and they ignore our laws. Our taxpayer-funded services are diminishing, as hospitals and schools are facing overcrowding and bankruptcy. This is no foundation on which to build our nation's future.

Stop the flow of goods and services to illegal aliens, round up those already here, and strengthen the border. This will solve the problem. It's really pretty simple. Passing H.R. 815 to stop acceptance of the matricula consular cards is a good start.

I suspect, however, that this once great country has already passed the point of no return and will forever be trapped in a vicious downward spiral. The liberals have allowed an estimated 20 million illegal aliens to invade our country, in the hopes of gaining a large voting bloc through amnesty. Those undocumented and uninsured individuals are destroying our health care systems economically. Once the health care is degraded, the liberals will use that fact as an argument to socialize medicine, which will reduce all health care to the lowest possible denominator.

Our southern border was thrown wide open by a former president who called patriotic Minutemen trying to police it "vigilantes" and who did his best to thwart them. As a race, White Americans are vilified and held in check at every turn, even though it already is too late to head off the end of America as we once knew it. The flood of illegal immigrants is bankrupting hospitals and all other providers of social services throughout America and will, by itself, be the death of America...unless the world ends first. With the end of social services and the bankruptcy of America will eventually come full-blown race war throughout the country.