The Cost of Health Care

OK, class, pay attention.

Aurora Health Care said Thursday it will appeal the decision by a Waukesha County Circuit Court judge to uphold an April 2005 Waukesha County board vote rejecting Aurora's proposed $85 million, 88-bed hospital in the town of Summit.

...

Jim Walden, co-chair of the Concerned Business for Responsible Health Care, a coalition established to fight the hospital development, said Gempeler's ruling reaffirmed "that the hospital is not wanted or needed." He said an appeal by Aurora and Summit would increase legal fees that would be passed to consumers.

"The question is: When is Aurora going to stop?" Walden said.

SOME people are happy:

To corporate lawyers, having a group of companies operating under a corporate umbrella means one thing:

More billing opportunities.

Consider Aurora Heath Care, the hospital conglomerate that is forever looking for ways to grow even bigger.

On Sunday, we reported that Aurora, which is fighting a multifront battle to gain a foothold in Waukesha County, spent about $30 million over four years for services provided by the suits at Foley & Lardner, including $10.7 million in 2004.

But records show, and Aurora spin doctor Jeff Squire confirms, the Foley gang collected another $2.9 million from the hospital giant's sister companies in 2004.

Bottom line: Foley took in a total of $13.6 million from Aurora in 2004.

Back in BCT, we learned a 'joy cadence' which will be abbreviated and paraphrased here:

....[We're] going to SUE [our] way to the Promised Land...(which, to Aurora, seems to be Oconomowoc or thereabouts.