Today Teresa and I went to Montvale, New Jersey for my
latest CT scan. We’re hoping for good results, naturally, but meanwhile I have
to post Teresa’s photograph of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering facility in Montvale:
It’s a trailer!
But it was fine – carefully set up inside and professionally
staffed. And it will soon be replaced with something much more conventional, as
MSK takes over a large building on the same site, now evidently being fitted
out to be a large medical complex.
Aside from giving us the treat of getting a high-powered
medical test in a trailer, what this facility reflects is that MSK is moving
into New Jersey in a big way. They already have a building quite a ways from
New York, in Basking Ridge. Now they’re opening this Montvale office (in north Jersey), and
another in Middletown (in central Jersey). These facilities will certainly make life easier for New
Jersey patients, including us.
I assume, however, that the reason for these new branch
offices isn’t just our convenience, but also MSK’s business plan. MSK must want
to ensure or expand its position in the New Jersey cancer treatment market. And
that’s part of a health care reality: as the advertisement for another cancer
facility that I saw at the Montclair train station reflects, in today’s world cancer
treatment institutions, even nonprofits, are competing with each other for
patients. This competition is like the competition among colleges for students,
and one of its features is the effort to make the customers, here cancer
patients, comfortable.
I’m not sure what to think about the overall functioning of
this segment of the health care market – but I do appreciate having a nearby
office for my CT scan. Even if it’s in a trailer.
No comments:
Post a Comment