Apparently Temple University (my clown college) is under attack by four self-righteous jackasses (John Taylor – R, Denny O’Brien – R, Larry Farnese – D, and Mike Stack – D) who are pissed off because Temple decided to shut down an ill-performing hospital in lower NE Philly (specifically Kensington).  Fueled by this anger, they have threatened to kill a $175 million funding bill for the university, leading to a slew of consequences including raising TU tuition by about $5000.  Predictably, there is a huge outcry about both Temple’s decision to close the hospital and killing the funding bill.  What I don’t understand is how anyone can interpret this decision as nothing more than a cheap political stunt orchestrated by 4 state legislators who want to keep their political seats.  I think this post is very necessary because there seems to be a lot misrepresenting feelings and opinions for facts and I’m hoping I can better articulate my thoughts here – on my blog – as opposed to through Facebook status discussion.

First, before you can even think about weighing in on Northeastern Hospital’s closing, you have to have a crash course in Philadelphia history and understand how the hospital functions in poverty stricken areas.  Kenso is the quintessential “used to be a nice place to grow up many years ago before all the blue collar work dried up” neighborhood. While neighborhoods in the immediate vicinity have seen an upswing (I’m looking at you, Fishtown & NoLibs), Kensington just hasn’t seen any of the real estate bubble growth. That, combined with no substantial job market, makes for a poverty stricken, rundown neighborhood with only potential.  Drug selling is one of the few in demand positions: Kensington boasts 1 of the top 10 drug corners in the city, with 3 more within 2.5 miles of Northeastern Hospital; in case you’re wondering, Kensington & Somerset, A & Westmoreland, 3rd & Indiana, and 5th & Westmoreland are the four corners.  (I should also point out that neighboring Fairhill, where the last three intersections are located, is in even rougher shape with a 40-50% poverty rate.)

In a nutshell, Kensington and it’s immediate neighbors (with some exceptions) are communities wracked with poverty to an extent that most of us cannot imagine.  Although I am not close to any healthcare providers in Kenso, I am close to an EMT in a comparable area: Chester, PA.  (For clarification’s sake, the census info is slightly skewed.  Chester police officers and firefighters are required to live within city limits and many Widener University students living off-campus maintain houses/apartments within city limits.  That income information could make Chester appear wealthier than it is and would skew per capita numbers.)  The majority of his work stories are nonsense calls where 911 frankly shouldn’t be bothered; they get a lot of people treating the ambulance like a glorifed cab, tons of drug seeking behavior, people doing shit like calling them because their Tylenol wore off, and countless OD calls.  The bullshit to actual emergency ratio is incredibly high and is a huge drain on resources.

Before you think I’m promoting some sort of racist crap, this isn’t my way of blaming Blacks for being irresponsible assholes.  No, it wouldn’t even be accurate to simplistically describe the problem in that manner and the hospital’s function in poor neighborhoods carries far more nuance than this.  Yes, there are a lot of stupid motherfuckers, but there are also a lot of people who are put in the position of having to use the hospital as their general practitioner.  There are people who call 911 because the bar is a block away from the hospital, but there are also people whose inability to pay isn’t important right now because they are hurt or ill and scared.  Unfortunately, our current healthcare system just sucks and – as has been the case for years – the only people getting adequate healthcare are those who can afford it.

But as generic of a sentiment as it is to say that the poor get crappy healthcare, it isn’t everything.  The reality is that a lot of people – regardless of race, ethnicity, or socio-economic class – don’t understand what constitutes an “emergency.”  I had a friend who would constantly call 911 for the most inane shit to relay to the police.  He got miffed when the dispatcher told him “Sir, 911 is for emergencies.  This is not an emergency.”  The big issue?  His car had broken down in a park and he called 911 to make sure it wouldn’t get towed.  We wonder why it takes so damn long to get the police to come out after our home has been broken into or why the shooting victim can’t get a team of medics to be there promptly.  Maybe it might have something to do with the fact that emergency services personnel are constantly being bothered for bullshit.

With this combination of factors – high incidence of non-payment with a high incidence of resource wasting – it’s no wonder why Northeastern has to shut it’s doors.  The hospital reported losses of approximately $21 million over the past 3 years, with a record $15 million projected losses for this year.  Temple can’t be expected to function at multi-million dollar losses, and though it is terribly unfortunate that this branch has to close, something has to give.  These losses have to be made up somewhere else, whether it’s through tuition at TUHS or non-medical programs or in additional charges for patients at other branches of TUHS.  Frankly, as someone who can’t pay her spring tuition and will have to skip at least this coming semester, any tuition increase is a huge deal to me.  I’m mentioning this at the risk of being accused of valuing my education more than someone else’s healthcare, as I was accused earlier today by a high ranking member of Temple College Democrats.

Around here is where the whole situation turns into a clusterfuck.  The Fearless Four here, led by John Taylor, have decided to wage a war against Temple University.  Earlier this year, centered around the misguided belief that Temple owed the community, these legislators all lobbied to keep the hospital open (presumably because it makes them all look like good guys).  According to a news article from the Inky dated back to March, when Temple realized they could not afford to continue operating Northeastern, the state reps all supported blocking $175 million in funding.  (For the record, Michael O’Brien is a typo and it was supposed to refer to Denny O’Brien, a republican.)  The lawmakers continued with these threats here and here, which was about the time we (Temple students) learned of the potential 45% increase to tuition.

The story spread around Twitter and Facebook like wildfire, drawing all sorts of reactions from the public.  One friend of mine lamented about the disdain that legislators and the public have for institutions like Temple.  Another friend took the more mature route and asked Larry Farnese’s Facebook supporters page if the “D” after his name stood for “dickhead.”  Others felt that blaming Temple was a better use of their time, under the misguided belief that Temple somehow deserved to be strong armed into doing what the state wanted.  Aside from a handful of dissenters, it seems that students, alumni and the public are overwhelmingly in support of Temple Unviersity.  That’s not surprising given the blatantly coercive shit legislators in Harrisburg were pulling.

What’s also not surpising is that at least two lawmakers involved have changed their tunes once the public’s heads collectively exploded all over the intertubez.  Once O’Brien realized it wasn’t profitable to screw over Temple students in his district, went back on his initial decision.  Larry Farnese, though an email to a friend, has done the same.  Here’s a selection:

Earlier today, the Philadelphia Daily News published an article by David Gambacorta entitled “Temple has $175 million ‘mess on their hands’.” The story addressed action taken in the House of Representatives yesterday to hold up state funding for Temple University.

In case there is any confusion, please know this: I support continued state funding for Temple University and other state-related institutions of higher learning.

[...]

I support Rep. Taylor’s efforts to ensure continued access to needed healthcare in Port Richmond. However, I do not believe we should hold students or the university hostage to accomplish this goal. Even at the late date, the state budget is still a work-in-progress.

When a final budget bill comes before the Senate, I will support funding for Temple University. Mr. Gambacorta has periodically covered this story in the Daily News since the efforts began to save Northeastern Hospital last December. Unfortunately, I was not contacted prior to publication of today’s article.

What’s hilarious, of course, is that I’ve searched online quite a bit and have yet to find a public statement or press release from either of these two. You would think that Larry and Denny would both want to clear their good names by releasing statements to the media saying that the Inquirer and John Taylor are jackasses.  I guess they must not have been contacted and told that they should put one out.  Maybe I was supposed to search for “larry farnese” + “marshmallow dreams” instead of my ridiculous “larry farnese” + “temple university.”  What was I thinking?

During all of this, I’ve been very vocal.  I’m incredibly frustrated because student leaders in College Democrats have been very quick to blame Temple without thinking this through.  The response I’ve seen from College Republicans has basically been a faux free market sound bite version of “analysis.”  Very few people seem to realize the implications of this giant clusterfuck.

Let’s say the entire $175 million in funds are blocked.  According to Temple, this means that jobs will be lost, services will be cut, research will be stalled, and – the one that is getting all the limelight – about $5000 will need to be tacked onto tuition.

Wait, what?  Do you mean to tell me that these legislators are angry about the loss of a medical services and jobs in an economically depressed area, so the smarter idea is to kill more jobs, more services, suspend research, and increase tuition for students who are likely already on a tight educational budget?  To show that they’re angry about hurting the poor, they think it’s a good idea to hurt the poor?  On what planet does this make sense?

For all this talk of helping the poor, I have had been met with so much of the attitude that (relatively) rich white people know what’s better for me than I do.  A higher ranking member of College Democrats treated me as if I have no idea what I’m talking about, despite my research into the subject, my personal experience as a poor person, and the fact that I am very close to a Chester, PA medical professional.  (In all fairness, I did not completely spell out knowing the EMT during the discussion.)  Keeping the hospital open without trying to change the cycle of poverty under the guise of helping poor people is such a stereotypically Democratic position to take.  Do you really think that I want Northeastern Hospital to close or that it’s even a great idea?  Hells to the nizzo.  (See, I proved my urban flavor there.)  But I don’t think that keeping Northeastern Hospital open is going to empower anyone, let alone attack the root of the problem.

If we want to empower the poor, organizations like College Democrats need to decry endless busy work that only proves you know how to fill out papers and make it easier for people to open up businesses.  As it stands right now, the small business procedures make it fairly prohibitive for anyone to begin a business within Philadelphia.  If it were easier, people could more easily become business owners, leading to them feeling more invested into communities, which in turn leads to a decrease in crime.  It’s similar to the premise behind John Street’s neighborhood transformation initiative, which, if the crime maps are any indication, seems to have worked.  I know that it’s hip to hate on gentrification, but putting business and home owner friendly policies into effect encourages communities to take their neighborhoods back; the policies we have now in this city simply encourage contractors to come in and wipe out entire city blocks, then replace them with cookie cutter townhome style rows.  What a radical concept, right?

It does not appear that TCD will take my opinions seriously.

I don’t understand how it is good policy or good for the community to penalize the fifth largest employer in the city (let alone the largest employer in North Philadelphia) for making the decision that causes the least amount of harm.  It sucks, and I won’t lie, but this is far better than any other possible decision.  I’m not a big fan of Temple University for a lot of reasons, but to throw the baby out with the bathwater (if you will) is idiotic.  To paraphrase a friend, every time this city and its legislators directs its anger towards Temple, we become one step closer to Detroit.

That’s a comparison I hate to make.

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