No Go: Commissioners unyielding on request for health plaza

From James Romoser in today's WSJ:

A spirited group of activists, politicians, clergy and others unsuccessfully urged the Forsyth County commissioners last night to restore financing to the Downtown Health Plaza, saying that the county has a moral obligation to support health care for the poor.
In a series of emotional speeches followed by heavy applause, supporters of the health plaza dominated the public-comment part of the commissioners' meeting. One by one, speakers called on the commissioners to reconsider their recent decision to eliminate the county's subsidy to the health plaza, which is run by N.C. Baptist Hospital and is the main source of health care for people in the county who lack insurance.
..Before the meeting, supporters of the health plaza held a rally in front of the county government building that drew almost 100 people.

I am a bit confused about why there were only ‘almost 100 people’ at a rally that was — at least to the protesters — about publicly addressing a disenfranchisement of low-income citizens of Winston-Salem by Forsyth county commissioners. Also, I’d think that such a rally about a supposedly hot topic would get at least a few happy ‘lower-my-taxes’ cheerleaders out there, too.

Do so few Winston-Salem/Forsyth County taxpayers even care about all this? I guess that this question is what Dr. Tim Monroe would say that his opinion letter in last week’s WSJ was, at least in part, about.

But even if no one except for those who actually use the center’s services showed up for the 100-person demonstration, wouldn’t you think that more than a hundred warm bodies could be rallied to fight for the continued existence of this benefit?

Maybe the problem here is that not enough people really give a crap at all. Obviously, if only 100 protesters can show up for this rally, even those who use the center don’t care as much as they should.

And that could turn into a very bad thing for everyone.

In my opinion, the loss of such a center could only add to the frustration of checking into local hospitals for those that can and/or do fully intend to pay all medical bills. In the recent past, I have personally dealt with clearly overburdened emergency room doctors and nurses on multiple occasions. What would my experiences have been like if — suddenly — all of the Triad’s Uninsured visited emergency rooms for every tiny ailment, fully knowing that they wouldn’t be turned away, even without insurance?