Health care facilities are not extravagant
In Ken Kitzing's letter to the editor ("Greed is the cause of health care problem"), I take exception. He asserts that hospitals are greedy, that their building is driven by vanity.
Speaking of my hospital, Northwest Community, I understand that the move to private rooms is driven by patient preference and, also, for infection control reasons. As for Kitzing's condemnation of atriums and waterfalls, I found them peaceful places to wait as my wife underwent cancer surgery. Perhaps the ambience doesn't help the dying, as he comments, but it helps the living to cope.
He assails the gymnasium and asks who pays for it. Simple. We users do.
It's no cost to him, and certainly it doesn't affect his insurance premiums. My wife and I use The Wellness Center via our annual membership payments, and we hire personal trainers by the hour. The benefit to us (and Kitzing) is that we are in better health than we've been in for years, and our good health decreases our need for expensive medical care.
Most annoying, however, is his tirade against physicians. He talks about them driving expensive cars and says primary care physicians are "nothing more that a referral service for the specialists." Our family physician drives a ten-year-old vehicle as he struggles, just like the rest of us, to put his kids through college. And, yes, he refers us to specialists when necessary.
Several years ago we considered retiring to Wyoming. We debated selling our home in Arlington Heights. Then reality set in. As we age, do want to be there, miles and miles from medical care of unknown quality, or do we want to live one mile from a world-class hospital and continue to receive the care of outstanding physicians who have more than once saved our lives? The answer obvious; we still live in Arlington Heights.
Wayne H. Wagner
Arlington Heights