The future of Downtown: Medical Hub?

I have been trying to find out more information about the plan for a "Medical Hub" for Downtown Peabody that Councilor Bettencourt brought to the City Council several weeks back. I was not at that meeting and I do not have cable so I, like so very many Peabody residents, did not get the opportunity to see this plan as presented.

I do not like to critique plans I have never seem, nor would I wish to point out flaws that might have been addressed in some fashion during the presentation by Councilor Bettencourt. And so I asked (via facebook email) if he would share a copy of this powerpoint presentation either with me, or in some online venue, so that everyone might have the opportunity to see this much talked about plan for Peabody's future.

Sadly, but not unexpectedly, I received no response, nor did any such public presentation become available (to my knowledge - and I have been looking for it).

So I am going to give my response to this plan based entirely on the reports of the presentation made to the City Council which appeared in local media.

In general... bringing new businesses into the downtown area is a good idea for Peabody. We should be looking for a wide array of activities to populate our downtown.

We have some very old and decrepit industrial areas that are mostly underused and in some cases abandoned as this type of activity is not going to be done in places like Peabody for the foreseeable future (despite what many of the previous Ward 3 councilors have hoped and wished for... it ain't coming back.)

We have some areas that have been newly renovated - for better or worse - mostly in the southern area of downtown. We have a rather eclectic (bizarre?) mix of uses along the real Main St. area - some that seem to be serving limited populations (specialty toy train stores, fofo's, Brazillian fashions) while others are serving the community at large (drug stores, grocery stores, restaurants, services, etc.).

In general the more consumer oriented enterprises occur on Main Street and in the Square, while the more business oriented activities are on the Walnut Street side. This might have worked well in the days of bustling industry here in Peabody... but those days are gone, and good riddance to them in my opinion. It is time to stop looking to the PAST to try and find some hope for Peabody's future. But that is a rant for a different time and place.

So this brings us to the idea put forth by Councilor Bettencourt. My take on this is that he would like to see downtown become a 'medical hub' of businesses that are ancillary to the more comprehensive and brand new or newly renovated facilities that surround our area.

New facilities at Centennial Park and MGH North and mostly renovated facilities at Lahey Clinic, North Shore Medical Center and more. Councilor Bettencourt is correct that we have already become a medical hub of sorts for the North Shore region.

But lets examine why these places are where they are... and specifically NOT in downtown Peabody. All these new or renovated facilities are located where there is excellent access via the highway for patient, and business, convenience as well as tons of free parking . They are not locating in downtown Salem or Peabody precisely because access into and out of these areas is very difficult, if not impossible, at certain times of the day and space (thus parking) is at a premium.

So if I am a Doctor or an HMO and I am looking to locate my offices/out patient service centers... I am NOT looking to move into a decrepit, industry waste strewn, impossible to access, flood prone area in Peabody with little to no parking and no real connection to the facilities I am currently visiting (NSMC, MGH, Lahey, etc.) Why in the world would these types of higher end medical facilities look to move into downtown Peabody when much better locations adjacent to these main facilities already exists? They wouldn't.

So if the primary (hospitals) and the secondary (Doctor offices and HMO Centers - think MRI, CAT Scan, etc.) are not really going to be interested in Peabody as it is today... what medical uses might be of interest? Frankly, the only businesses that I can think of that would be interested in a location which is equidistant from these major hospitals is medical warehousing and medical reclamation (waste disposal). This seems like the most logical usage for the area if we are going to focus on 'medical hub' services.

And of course that would be a HORRIBLE IDEA for Peabody and the future of Downtown.

You know what... I actually LIKE people who are willing to think outside the box on issues. They often throw out outlandish ideas that may contain a little nugget of a great ideas at times! They also might be completely full of it! Councilor Bettencourt has made two of these VERY PUBLIC, very outlandish and very self promoting pronouncements in the recent past. I recall the idea that the Dearborn affordable housing funds be used to pay for low income folks energy bills as one of these ideas, and this is yet another.

Here is the RIGHT WAY to serve the People of Peabody when you get a GREAT IDEA but have no real clue if it is actually worth anything...

Step 1: Go to the City's Experts on these subjects
We are paying planners, engineers, assessors, lawyers, construction professionals, etc. to be part of the City's management team! Why would you a) work without consultation with these expert people and 2) in some cases work against their recommendations?

Step 2: Seek other inputs from outside City Hall
Arthur Gordon is (was?) the largest landowner in the Downtown area, but he is not the only owner who would need to "buy into" this idea in order to a) get it passed and ultimately to b) make it actually happen.

Step 3: Talk about your ideas to the people most affected by them to gauge their opinions, input and ideas
This is so important. People really do not like to see a brand new idea brought out in a venue like the City Council meeting as a Final and Complete Deal! It makes people nervous that deals were made and that few were considered in the thought process. I am not saying this is actually happening, but it is the perception. And in reality, it is the people who live and work and own businesses and drive through and visit and shop and eat, etc. in Downtown who will be the ones who will make this ultimately become a thriving community again... or just have this be yet another failed 'gee whiz' idea with no real foresight or long term plan.

Step 4: Present your ideas to the government body most appropriate to look into the matter and seek to begin the process of thoughtful public discussion

And this is why I was hoping that Councilor Bettencourt would release his plan... so we could all see it and think about the consequences of his ideas and then allow each of us to make our judgement of the idea on the merits, and not the rhetoric we will be sure to hear in the local media.

So, I for one, think this is NOT a good idea for the future of Downtown Peabody.

Should a 9-1-1 call bring ALL the rescuers all the time?

This question arose during a discussion on the Peabody Patriot concerning the purchase (or refurbishing) of a Peabody Fire engine.

Currently (I believe) when someone calls the 9-1-1 Emergency line the operator dispatches all three help and rescue groups to the location - Police, Fire and Ambulance.
Please correct me if I am wrong on this point.

So the question for discussion is...
Does it make sense to send all three responders to each call for help?

I would say that I can easily make a case for both sides in this case.

1) ASSESS THE SITUATION AND SEND ONLY WHAT IS NECESSARY:
This is called triage in the emergency rooms of every hospital (or if you remember that TV show M.A.S.H.) - where by someone listens to the person making call for help, asks questions to determine the need and then they send those services that they see as being necessary to solve the problem.

This would probably work in 99% of the cases involving a call for help to 9-1-1. A professional who is trained in emergency triage would need to be on duty 24/7... and maybe not just one. This might be yet another good reason to consider regional 9-1-1 emergency call centers (but that is yet another debate/discussion topic).

The worry is in that 1%... nobody is willing to have the dropped ball happen when it is your spouse or child's life on the line. In that case... send them all... send the Marines too!

However, as a cost saving move it might end up reducing the need for so much redundancy as well as reducing the load on all members of the 'rescue' teams (only sending 1 or 2 when needed, instead of all 3 all the time.)

2) SEND ALL THREE ALL THE TIME:
When someone calls 9-1-1 it is usually in an emotionally charged state. Something is very wrong, someone is hurt or dying, someone just crashed into their car, the house is on fire, etc. etc. etc. They may or may not be fully aware of the severity of the situation... they may be confused or simply not know how good or bad the situation is.

Also, there might be a large time delay if the wrong rescuer is sent when another is needed. What if the car accident simply looks minor, but in fact, someone is hurt badly or fuel is leaking out in an obscure location that no one sees... until it is too late? Or a smell of smoke in an apartment might bring the fire fighters, only to discover the apartment next door has an unconscious occupant due to smoke inhalation.

Lives are precious and can not be replaced. Vehicle engines, transmissions, tires... these can be repaired or replaced.

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Perhaps the best solution is a middle ground... where we do some minor level of triage in order to reduce the time, effort and expense on all three groups... but we also lean towards sending MORE rather than less in any case that possibly warrants it. This would probably only reduce the number of responders in 10-20% of the cases... so the question is would this small savings be worth the additional risk of harm to the public in need?

And... what happens when a call is made and someone later sues the City for not sending all 3 in the first place and they suffer some horrible loss?

I look forward to your comments and thoughts.

Salem, Beverly and Peabody will explore merging health departments

The cities of Salem, Beverly and Peabody are meeting to explore the possibility of regionalizing their health departments.

Here is the link to the Salem News story.
Here is an additional link to the Peabody Weekly News story.

This seems like a pretty smart thing to consider in these difficult financial times. Now I am not saying that it would be a good idea to do this type of thing in all or even most instances... but when it DOES make sense AND it can save some money... it is the right thing to do.

I have read many comments on the blogs saying how government needs to CUT CUT CUT... and I hope that this is the type of smart cuts that people are talking about. I wonder if this is actually the type of thing that is happening everyday in many departments throughout the City... or if this is simply an isolated press conference moment to SEEM LIKE the politicians are actually trying to do something.

I really believe it is more likely the new normal way of conducting City business.