The focus on hospitals vs. issues of health

The newspapers are full of articles about the debacles at both Prince George's County Hospital and Greater Southeast Hospital in DC. And there was the fight over creating a new Howard University Hospital in Ward 6. At that time many argued that there was a big difference between hospital planning and health and wellness planning.

See today's Post editorial about Greater Southeast: "Hospital in a Tailspin," subtitled "The mayor is concerned, but that won't solve the problem." And this piece about PG County Hospital: "A Bitter Pill For County Liaison to Hospitals."

Neal Peirce's column this Sunday is about regional planning in Boston. The column makes this point:

There's something wrong with this picture, notes Kahn: "We aren't aligning health spending with the actual determinants of health -- 50 percent of which are all about lifestyles and another 20 percent the environment, including exposure to toxins and only 10 percent access to doctors, clinics and hospitals.