Advancement In Local Medical, Educational Opportunities

by Ron Bacon District 74 State Representative

Working in the medical industry since 1967 and living in the southwest region of Indiana all my life, I’ve witnessed firsthand the advancements in health-care services and improvements to medical facilities in our area.

Nearby Evansville is the third-largest city in the state and is not only known as a shopping destination, but also a regional hub for medical care. We are fortunate to have 10 major hospitals in a close proximity: St. Mary’s Medical Center, St. Mary’s Warrick Hospital, Deaconess Hospital and Women’s Hospital, Deaconess Gateway Hospital, Health South Deaconess Rehabilitation Hospital, Memorial Hospital and Health Care, Owensboro Health System, Select Specialty Hospital, Good Samaritan Hospital and Methodist Hospital.

Deaconess Hospital is in the process of expanding, which will result in more job opportunities and services. This $135 million project entails adding an orthopedic and neuroscience specialty hospital, medical office building, attached parking garage and an enhanced energy center. This expansion project is located at the site of the Gateway Campus where the current Deaconess Hospital and Women’s Hospital are, and is scheduled to open in 2018.

Due to this hospital expansion, there are new jobs on the horizon and opportunities for hands-on experiences for college students.

The University of Southern Indiana’s has a four-year respiratory therapy program and a nursing program, which recently earned top marks from U.S. News and World Report.

The University of Evansville also has an outstanding nursing program and physical therapy program, where some of the professors work with the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team.

Indiana University’s (IU) School of Medicine will soon open a campus in downtown Evansville. The IU Medical School will be adding a four-year curriculum where students can gain experience in a state-of-the-art radiology lab, clinical simulator and working with patients.

On May 12, we will also be celebrating Deaconess’s top ranking in the U.S. for rehabilitation centers. This national standing recognizes the medical facility’s excellent patient-centered quality care.

Our community is fortunate to be home to award winning schools and hospitals that are centrally located between Indianapolis, Louisville, St. Louis, Nashville and Cincinnati. Our location attracts many students and jobs, which keeps our local economy thriving.

As always, please contact me with questions or input at (317)232-9833 or by email at h75@iga.in.gov. I appreciate hearing from you in order to better represent our district. Stay up-to-date with the work being done at the Statehouse by signing up to receive my email updates at www.in.gov/h75.

FOOTNOTE:  Rep. Ron Bacon (R-Chandler) Represents Portions of Warrick, Pike and Spencer Counties.

Having operated a construction and home building business for 42 years, I’ve seen and tried a few things that worked and a few things that didn’t work, and tried to abandon or make adjustments to the things that didn’t, and tweak the things that did. A few years ago, some ne’er-do-well cut the lock on our job trailer that was parked at a project we were involved with, and made off with several of our tools.

In an effort to discourage such behavior in the future, we bolted and welded some larger and stronger hasps on the trailer and purchased some larger and stronger padlocks for the new and improved hardware. That all worked out well for a few years, until last spring when we arrived at a job site one to find the entire trailer had been stolen. When the trailer was later recovered in a cornfield 10 miles up the road, (in part because the mastermind behind the theft had apparently attempted to make the getaway with a 2- 5/16” coupler attached to a 1-7/8” ball hitch while speeding over a railroad crossing,) we discovered that the locks had been sawed on, pried on, and possibly chewed on to no avail.

I couldn’t help but think if the crook had just slowed down a little for that railroad crossing, or had a deeper understanding of the mechanics of a ball hitch, our efforts at beefing up security would simply have resulted in losing more of our property instead of less. It also reminded me of our current tax system in this country.

Last week, a song writer and singer by the name of Prince Rogers Nelson passed away. While I don’t know much about the man or his music, I suspect he was popular with a significant portion of the population, since his estate is estimated to be worth $300 million. You about have to figure a person with that kind of wealth is in the upper tax bracket, so he probably paid the federal government about $200 million in income taxes so they would let him keep the rest for a while. And depending on which state he lived in and where he made his money, he’s probably paid a few million in various state and local taxes along the way.

While it might be hard to fathom that any one person would have over $200 million taken from them by the government, especially when they receive exactly the same services from the government that people who pay $2000.00, or even $200.00 receive, we also need to remember that the government isn’t finished with Mr. Nelson yet. Currently the government is licking its chops, and preparing to take another bite his earnings. Federal and state taxes will get another $150 million from the money he already paid over $200 million on to keep.

As I said earlier, I don’t know much about the man, but apparently he worked hard enough and smart enough to provide a product that a lot of people wanted.  In a free society, that is how it is supposed to work.

Our current tax system punishes hard work and success, and rewards sloth and failure. We can do better with a system of sales taxes and user fees to fund essential government services, and spread the cost to everyone that uses those services.

I’ve heard some people say that as a nation we have lost our work ethic. I wonder if in fact, we have just allowed it to be taken from us.