much: "It is simply not feasible for [Olean General Hospital] to pay mil-
lions of dollars more than necessary over the life of the ... contract."
Love and money
Of course, none of us are privy to the inside terms of Southern Tier's
proposal for stipend support from the hospital and none of us know
what the successor group proposed. Southern Tier claims to have
done its best to meet any offer. But the hospital says there was a great
gap. And, it's reported that the hospital lost $3 million the previous
year. How and why they lost it is anyone's guess, but it's unlikely that
it was significantly due to Southern Tier's contract.
We love you, but what have you done for us lately?
Again, we don't have any specific facts, but query whether it was
only an issue of money that led the hospital to take "bids" for
Southern Tier's anesthesia contract after a 24-year relationship. Maybe
the relationship had become stale. You, know, a "commodity" (at least
in the mind of the hospital CEO and perhaps in the collective mind of
Southern Tier).
Although it's impossible for personal services of any kind to actually
be a commodity, it's a mind virus with legs. Yes, after 24 years of mar-
riage, it was time for a change. But will the successor anesthesia
group be a "trophy wife" or bring staffing strife? Only time will tell.
But either way, there's actionable insight to be gleaned, marriage
counseling, if you will, that can help you negotiate, create and nurture
a stable and beneficial relationship with your facility's anesthesia
group.
There's a tendency to focus on the amount of stipend support in an
anesthesia contract or proposal. But the reality is that dollars are a rep-
resentation of value. If you believe that you're receiving something
worth more to you than the worth of what you're giving up, then you
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