WALB.com News, Weather and Sports for Albany, Valdosta and Thomasville. Leading the way for South Georgia. | Health pro laments coming healthcare "chaos"
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September 28, 2006
Albany -- A consultant for rural hospitals says the industrial revolution of health care is underway, and medicine in America will be undergoing huge changes soon.
HomeTown Health Owner Jimmy Lewis says that Wal-Mart fired the first shot in the entrepreneurial take over of health care last week, when they announced their new, cheaper generic drug program.
Lewis says the nation's top retailer has plans to provide primary health care to it's customers in it's stores, and he predicts five years of health care "chaos."
"Chaos means access is going to get to be in trouble," he said. "Providers are going to get to be in trouble. Patients are going to be very confused. And ultimately the nation with the highest level of technological capability for health care is going to be in jeopardy because we can't figure out how to get to it, and how to pay for it."
Jimmy Lewis says most of the 55 small independent hospitals in Georgia he advises are in economic despair and could be forced to close, putting more of a strain on the state's health care safety net.
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