The current public health emergency brings into stark relief US health care’s ineffectiveness. As previously noted, with 4.25% of the world’s population, the US currently accounts for 26% of worldwide COVID-19 infections and deaths. Concerning our response to date, Harvard's Ashish Jha recently stated, "we may end up being the worst of any country in the world in terms of our response." Despite outspending all other OECD countries 2 to 1, or currently $4 trillion annually (and expected to grow to $6 trillion by 2027) , the effect the pandemic is having should not be unexpected. In the first major attempt to rank health care performance globally, the World Health Organization (WHO), in 2000, ranked the US health care 37th in the world. More recently, a 2017 Commonwealth Fund study ranked US health care’s performance last among 11 rich countries. With a current projected COVID-19 death toll of over 200,000 by October 1st, per the University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, the question begged is what will federal policy makers learn from the pandemic, or more specifically what will they do to substantially reform how health care is currently defined, delivered and funded.
During this 28-minute conversation Mr. Oostra begins by providing a a brief overview of ProMedica, he then discusses moreover several structural problems or flaws confronting US health care delivery and financing, including failure to address social determinants and the failure to deliver adequate long term care, he explains the need for a national health care reform commission, it's scope and membership, Congressional member and staffs response to date to the proposal and industry support thereof.
Randy Oostra is President and Chief Executive Officer of ProMedica, an integrated health care provider headquartered in Toledo, Ohio. He presently serves on the board of trustees of the Local Initiatives Support Corporation, the Health Research and Educational Trust and The Root Cause Coalition which ProMedica founded. He also serves on the board of trustees for his alma mater, Northwestern College in Orange City, Iowa and organizations in northwest Ohio including the Regional Growth Partnership, Toledo Museum of Art and the Toledo Symphony. Randy is also a member of the Ohio and Michigan Hospital associations and is a fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives. Among other awards he is the recipient of the Jefferson Award for Public Service and the Ohio Hospital Association’s Donald R. Newkirk Award. Randy holds a doctorate in management from Case Western Reserve, a master’s degree in Health Care Administration from the University of Minnesota, a master’s degree in Management from the University of Wisconsin, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from Northwestern College.
Concerning a national commission, see, Randy Oostra, "Achieving Healthcare Reform Requires a Congressionally Mandated Commission," Modern Healthcare (January 25, 2020) at: https://www.modernhealthcare.com/opinion-editorial/achieving-healthcare-reform-requires-congressionally-mandated-commission
For more on ProMedica go to: https://www.promedica.org/pages/home.aspx.
ProMedica's CEO, Randy Oostra, Discusses the Need for a Congressionally-Created National Health Care Reform Commission (June 23rd)