Health care. These two words are on the mind of every adult in this country. Outside of watching the news and thinking about the Affordable Care Act and how it affects you and your family, how much thought have you really given to the concept?
The first word is health, not sick care, not emergency care, but health care. I recently had the privilege of having Will Mahone, CEO of Halifax Regional Medical Center in Roanoke Rapids, and Shameka Lloyd, HRMC Marketing Director, address our Chamber board of directors. The point that Mr. Mahone emphasized is that hospitals are in the business of your health and well-being, meaning they want you to regularly pursue care and have check-ups, hopefully not needing to rush through their doors in an emergency situation.
The second word is care, not treatment, not mandate, but health care. The two hospitals that we have serving the Lake Gaston region – HRMC and VCU Community Memorial Hospital - genuinely care for our well-being. These hospitals are active in our communities, employ our citizens, promote healthy living, serve the needy and so much more, all while trying to be mindful of the bottom line.
The true bottom line is this. We MUST support our local hospitals, clinics, and physicians, or we will look around one day, and they won’t be here. I hear so many people around Lake Gaston say on the one hand that they still see their physician from wherever they relocated, say Raleigh or Richmond, but on the other hand, they complain about access to health care in the immediate lake area.
Do we think that just because a doctor’s office is located in a larger metro area that the quality of care is better? There are very few institutions out there graduating MDs. The doctors affiliated with our Lake Gaston regional hospitals have the same top-notch education as the ones in the bigger cities. They just chose, and thank goodness they did, to live and work in a smaller, more rural area.
We here at the Chamber talk a great deal about shopping locally via our Shop Lake Gaston 1st campaign. Why do we focus on spending dollars locally? Because the system truly does work. I’ve talked many a time in written articles and in presentations about how the dollar turns over and over in our communities and that supporting local businesses in turn supports employees, our tax base, our non-profits and churches etc.
Why is health care any different? Shop locally for your health care provider. Commit to having your primary care physician, and thus your medical records here, so that in the unfortunate event that something does happen where you must visit a local emergency room, your complete medical history and profile are readily available to enable the hospital staff to give you the absolute best and most complete care. Show HRMC and VCU CMH the love and care they show to us. Do your homework. Visit www.halifaxregional.org and www.vcu-cmh.org and learn more about our Lake Gaston regional hospitals.
