Somehow, when describing the posts that Health Wonk Review highlighted as the best healthcare posts of the last two weeks, I managed to point to the wrong post on Roy Poses Health Care Renewal.

Poses is always on the news—and digging deeper. In this post he begins by giving you the background to the story: “in 1989, the U.S. Department of Justice tried but failed to prevent a merger between nonprofit Carilion Health System and the  former railroad town’s other hospital. The merger, it warned in an unsuccessful antitrust lawsuit, would create a monopoly over medical care in the area.

“After the 1989 merger, Carilion continued to operate Roanoke’s two hospitals separately,” Poses explains. “It later consolidated the hospital boards and in 2006, transferred most of Roanoke Community Hospital’s staff and services to a renovated and enlarged Roanoke Memorial Hospital.

“The moves eliminated any hospital competition in Roanoke proper….

“[Carilion CEO Dr Murphy] was convinced that the cost and quality of care in Roanoke could be improved if doctors worked in a more centralized system. In June 2006, he announced a seven-year, $100 million plan to transform Carilion into a multispecialty clinic, like the Mayo Clinic.

“Carilion began approaching private physician groups, offering to buy their practices and pay their salaries.”

Poses then goes on to look at what effect Dr. Murphy’s advocacy of more centralization had. See the full post here.