Nancy Howell Agee, CEO of Carilion Clinic and chair of the Coalition to Strengthen America’s Healthcare, has expressed concerns about the future of high-quality patient care. In a recent statement, Agee highlighted a perfect storm of complex factors that have been threatening patient care even before the recent Change Healthcare cyberattack. The cyberattack has left some hospitals facing millions of dollars in extra costs.
Agee warns that misguided proposals from policymakers could exacerbate the challenges facing healthcare providers and impact patient care negatively. She notes that powerful special interests are pushing the idea that healthcare providers are interchangeable, with nothing special about the nation’s hospitals. However, Agee emphasizes that anyone who has experienced healthcare as a patient or provider knows this is not true.
As the chair of the Coalition to Strengthen America’s Healthcare, Agee and other founding members, including the American Hospital Association (AHA), are working to address these challenges and advocate for policies that prioritize high-quality patient care. The coalition aims to counter the narrative that diminishes the importance of hospitals and healthcare providers in the healthcare system. Agee’s words serve as a reminder of the critical role hospitals play in delivering quality care to patients and the need to protect and support these institutions.
