Don't fire your night nurse

October 18, 2017
by Philip F. Jacobus, CEO
Kenneth Poteete is an old friend of mine and the former president/CEO of the Georgetown Healthcare System in Georgetown Texas. Ken is one of the smartest guys I know. In Georgetown he was the citizen of the year and he built Georgetown Hospital to be a major force in the community before it was sold to St. David's. He is also actively involved in charity.

I was a salesperson and sold some equipment to Ken but we hit it off and when my father and mother died he was a source of great inspiration.

Anyway this isn't about me it's about one of Ken's many "Old Sayings" a saying I'm going to cannibalize in this situation.

Ken used to say "...don't fire your head night nurse unless you have a replacement lined up"

What does this have to do with anything, you ask? I am not in favor of terminating or defunding the Affordable Care Act without having an alternative in place. Please note, I'm not suggesting that the Affordable Care Act is perfect or that we should keep it as is, I just don't like the idea disabling it without something else in place.

I was very pleased to see today that Sen. Murray and Sen. Alexander have come up with a plan to continue insurance company payouts, payouts that Pres. Trump intended to defund by use of an executive order.

If you're reading this you're probably driving a car that costs more than some people earn in a year. I believe it's wrong to leave people like that without insurance coverage.

As I say, I don't believe that the ACA is perfect but I don't want to "fire" it without having another system in place.