January 28th, 2017 by WCBC Radio

Western Maryland Health System President and CEO Barry Ronan has issued the following statement on how local hospitals in rural Maryland could be impacted by the repeal of the Affordable Care Act. The repeal of the Affordable Care Act would be detrimental to all hospitals in Maryland but especially so for rural hospitals.  In 2010, Western Maryland Health System and other rural-based hospitals in Maryland transformed to value-based care delivery and have been committed to improving the health and well-being of the people in the communities we serve.  This change in care delivery has had an amazing impact on our patients, particularly those with multiple co-morbidities.  We have not only provided a better quality of life for these patients but we are also reaching their adult children, who could easily become the diabetics and heart patients of the future.