From Tom Neumann, MS, RN
Verona
To the editor,
I have enjoyed reading recent articles about the new Monroe Clinic Hospital and congratulate all involved in the completion of this state-of-the-art facility.
However, I am disturbed and offended by the advertisements for the hospital that state: "Don't think of it as a hospital. Think of it as a hotel with doctors." While I realize that the advertisement is attempting to present the hospital as an attractive place to be a patient and is "built around" the patient, it perpetuates a false image that our hospitals are now hotels and that patients may expect all of the amenities of a hotel during their stay. This attitude drives up the already skyrocketing costs of health care and affects how the health care professionals are viewed by patients. Often nurses are seen as providers of hotel-style "room service" in addition to their already heavy responsibilities as front-line managers of care. They are present on three shifts 24 hours a day, whereas the doctors mentioned in the ad likely visit the hotel on a much more limited basis.
I believe that a much more professionally developed, realistic ad would accurately convey what the Monroe Clinic Hospital offers than to present itself as a hotel. This is a growing and unfortunate trend in many of our hospitals that have become big businesses and are selling themselves to the public this way.
Verona
To the editor,
I have enjoyed reading recent articles about the new Monroe Clinic Hospital and congratulate all involved in the completion of this state-of-the-art facility.
However, I am disturbed and offended by the advertisements for the hospital that state: "Don't think of it as a hospital. Think of it as a hotel with doctors." While I realize that the advertisement is attempting to present the hospital as an attractive place to be a patient and is "built around" the patient, it perpetuates a false image that our hospitals are now hotels and that patients may expect all of the amenities of a hotel during their stay. This attitude drives up the already skyrocketing costs of health care and affects how the health care professionals are viewed by patients. Often nurses are seen as providers of hotel-style "room service" in addition to their already heavy responsibilities as front-line managers of care. They are present on three shifts 24 hours a day, whereas the doctors mentioned in the ad likely visit the hotel on a much more limited basis.
I believe that a much more professionally developed, realistic ad would accurately convey what the Monroe Clinic Hospital offers than to present itself as a hotel. This is a growing and unfortunate trend in many of our hospitals that have become big businesses and are selling themselves to the public this way.
