Health care: Heal thyself!

The end of Fallbrook Hospital as we know it is a casualty of over four decades of “managed care” and its Byzantine ensnarement in multiple networks, all operating concurrently. Unless bankrolled by generous endowments and patrons, independent, non-profit hospitals are an endangered species.

“Managed care” started with HMOs as early as 1910, had a modest expansion as a result of the Depression (Blue Cross and Blue Shield), and were used as a business recruiting and retention tool in the aftermath of World War II. That’s when Henry Kaiser started in 1945 what has become the Kaiser Permanente net...