We’ve completed this article with more notes, observations and commentary. We’ve also added lots of bonus photos.
We’re here at Piedmont Access to Health Services on Main St. in Danville. Senator Bill Stanley will be here. Hit refresh for the latest photos and happenings.
We’re in the waiting room, waiting for Bill Stanley.
PATHS has been around since 2001. They average 60 to 75 patients per day. 2 pediatricians and 2 family nurse practitioners in the Danville office. They also provide dental health services, mental health services and a pharmacy.
PATHS’ CEO Kay Crane goes over her remarks.
PATHS has other locations in Martinsville, Chatham and Boydton. I asked about the gap of Halifax County, and COO Billy Crumpton said that Halifax County’s hospital is already covering that area.
Bill Stanley arrives and we’re underway.
National Health Center Week is coming up, each PATHS office is doing a community project to help a patient with a significant need. Sadly, the patient that they had selected for the Boydton office died before they could get him an electric wheelchair. they will still do something special for one of their Boydton patients.
Kay Crane tells how much Medicaid expansion will help.
Bill Stanley is here now. Says expansion is dead on the House and will never pass, but he wants ideas for something that close the coverage gap.
Bill Stanley talks to the group.
Bill Stanley says Medicaid expansion was played as a political football between the governor and the legislature. He also said he didn’t like the way it happened.
We are hearing from a nurse practitioner on some horror stories of her patients.
I’m shocked to know that any PATHS patients who need specialist care are usually sent to the UVA medical center because most specialists in the area refuse to see patients with no insurance or Medicaid.
PATHS’ COO , Billy Crumpton explains how PATHS works.
These types of community heath care clinics like PATHS serve over 300k Virginians each year.
The staff and the health care providers of PATHS have a good back and forth with Bill Stanley.
Stanley says that he will propose different bills in the special session including ability to buy insurance over state lines and for different companies to pool together into a business exchange for lower health rates. Stanley will go back to his office and draft this proposed legislation so that it’s ready for the General Assembly’s special session.
OK, we’re done here. Let”s do a Big Board of thoughts and observations.
- PATHS is an amazing organization. I didn’t know about them and really thought it was just for low income people with no insurance. Not the case. They’re a fully functional full service medical clinic and handle primary care.
- The secret to PATHS’ success is clearly their people. You could easily pick up on their desire to provide the best care possible no matter what. I was solidly impressed with the administration, providers, staff and board members.
- I was equally impressed with Bill Stanley tonight. As partisan as this last General Assembly session was, he plainly called the process out for being too political and that “he didn’t like it”. He also seemed on a mission to get something done about the health care problem. Let’s see if those characteristics are shown at the special session. If so, Bill Stanley “Gets It”
- I also heart Bill Stanley for being brutally honest. He came right out and said “Medicaid Expansion will not pass the House (of Delegates). You can forget about that.” It’s not what PATHS wanted to hear but he is right and totally honest about it. Stanley also countered his honest statement by saying that he needed ideas to propose to find a solution agreeable to all.
- Bill Stanley needs to make more appearances in Danville. I’ve always thought of him as a great person and senator and he’s doing a great job in representing this district.
- Kay Crane (CEO of PATHS) is equally impressive. She isn’t afraid to tell her and her organization’s viewpoint and she does it in a strong manner. When she said that they have patients who are dying because of the health care issue, it hit home to everybody. When she told the story of the Boydton patient dying before they could provide him the electric wheelchair, my heart sank.
- The COO of PATHS, Billy Crumpton, is a walking fact machine. Combine him with Kay Crane and they immediately answered all of my questions.
All righty, we’ve got photos and commentary of what happened on Monday night. We’ll finish this article up with some bonus photos.
The backside view of PATHS’ new expansion.
Buying insurance across state lines is the most inane idea in the history of inane ideas.
Can Lee Smallwood elaborate on his statement? I thought the idea was that cross-border insurance business would increase competition and lower insurance rates. Not arguing here but would like to hear more. Thanks.
Insurance is regulated exclusively on a state level. It’s nonsense to talk about letting somebody in Virginia buy a West Virginia or North Carolina plan. Congress passed the McCarran-Ferguson Act to specifically affirm that status. It just simply cannot happen under the present regulatory scheme, nor is that scheme ever likely to change. This goes double for a Republican actually being the one to propose it because Republicans would never accept the feds taking over the regulation of one of the few things clearly left in state hands. It would also drastically simplify reform efforts like Obamacare. Gone would be the state exchanges.
Sounds like a fantastic organization doing much-needed work. Thanks for shedding some light on what they do. It’s good to read about places like this, and like you, I’m startled to know that many local patients are sent to Charlottesville because area specialists won’t see them. I understand the need for insurance, of course, but also realize that not everyone can afford it. And there are, no doubt, countless hard working people in the Danville area who simply can’t afford it. if someone is in need of a specialist, that implies something that is currently or potentially serious, and I would hope that the health care professionals who are turning them away would have a much more valid reason for doing so.
There are other clinics around the Commonwealth of Virginia who are similarly impacted by this stonewalling by the Republicans in the House and Senate. Kentucky, West Virginia and Maryland have all taken Medicaid Expansion and they all border Virginia. The excuses being pushed by people like Bill Stanley should not be taken at face value – push back. GOP Governors in other states have signed on for Medicaid Expansion and it’s working for them – funded by taxes paid by the people of Virginia. Meanwhile our own people go without the most basic of healthcare. Gov. Terry McAuliffe sat down at the Alexandria Neighborhood Health Services, Inc. Clinic in March and had a very different conversation with the doctors, patients and legislators who were there. http://bit.ly/XAoNOb
So if their funding has been cut…where’d the money for that big ol’ building expansion come from? Looks like that money could’ve paid for a lot of health care for people. Just sayin’.
I believe that building expansion money came from a funding source that couldn’t be used for health care purposes.
According to the article in this morning’s Register & Bee, Stanley was “surprised” to learn that PATHS and others like them did not receive an increase in funding. If he were son concerned with the healthcare issue shouldn’t he have known the financial situation of those who are trying to provide healthcare for those who have none? Healthcare is a main concern for many in his district yet he has done nothing to help the issue. Per article: “A primary focus in funding will be increasing funding for community health care centers. PATHS and the rest of the 130 community health care centers receive $2.5 million altogether. Stanley was astonished that he voted for a state budget that did not provide more funds for facilities like PATHS”. NOW he has a passion for healthcare. Shame on him for using this as a political game. The health of Virginian’s is not for political gain…it is a life and death issue. Bruce you praise him but if this were truly his passion he would have done something about it already. Many hospitals and clinics have told legislators how critical this is-yet, they ignore it.
As usual, the R&B’s crappy reporting tends not to tell The Rest of the Story. There’s other funding avenues for community health providers like PATHS beyond that “$2.5 million divided 131 ways”.
Just want to mention again that Obamacare made my insurance premium triple and my out of pocket quadruple, so all you Obama supporters can stuff it. That’s money I can no longer spend on things like food and clothing and it’s 100% because of Obama, democrats and the idiots that voted for him. Thanks…thanks a lot.
We have experienced the lack of specialist care due to lack of insurance and inability to pay. One local specialist “did not participate” with our insurance company and failed to inform us of this until our bill was more than $5,000. Another specialist has told us he will no longer see Allen due to our inability to pay copays. A third specialist is supposed to be seen every 3 months, but will not give an appointment until the balance from the previous visit is paid causing lapses in care. Medicare only provides $3,700 per year per person for physical therapy. Allen used that up by July last year. Due to our inability to pay out of pocket for therapy, he had to do without it until Jan. 1 when Medicare provides another $3,700. By that time, he was unable to walk at all. His condition has deteriorated each year due to lack of availability of services and a poor local healthcare system. Until something catastrophic happens, no one realizes the depth of inadequacy of our current healthcare system.
WOW…. what a lot of fatties.
You missed the point Bruce regarding Stanley’s comments. This is a priority for him but it was not enough of one that even checked on funding for clinics like PATHS. It means this priority is an afterthought and an attempt to make himself look good while hurting a lot of people who need medical help. It is too little, too late, and very insulting.