The Fight to Keep Independent Care Alive
Earlier this year, a piece of legislation moved through the Tennessee General Assembly that would have required cardiac catheterization laboratories to be physically attached to a hospital in order to operate.
For patients, that might not sound like a significant technical detail. But for independent cardiology practices like ours, it would have been existential.
A requirement like that does not affect large hospital systems. They already have cath labs inside their facilities. It affects independent physician-owned practices. The ones operating outside of a hospital's walls, the ones that exist precisely because patients deserve options beyond what a single dominant system can offer.
We fought that bill. We made calls. We showed up. We pushed back. And ultimately the legislation did not pass.
We are grateful for every legislator who listened and understood what was actually at stake. These legislators include Bud Hulsey, David Hawk, Rebecca Alexander, Tim Hicks, Tim Hill, and Gary Hicks. But we want to be transparent with our community about something: the opposition to this bill did not come from the top down. It came from independent physicians and the patients who depend on them fighting to not be legislated out of existence.
This happened on Rusty Crowe's watch.
Senator Crowe represents Tennessee Senate District 3 and chairs the Senate Health and Welfare Committee — the committee through which healthcare legislation like this travels. That means bills that could reshape the healthcare landscape for every patient in Carter, Johnson, and Washington counties pass through his hands before they go anywhere else.
It is also publicly documented in Tennessee's annual Statement of Disclosure of Interests that Senator Crowe lists Ballad Health as a source of income alongside his senate salary. Every year since Ballad Health was formed, that disclosure has been the same. That information is available to any Tennessean who wishes to look it up.
We are not here to tell you what to think about that. We think our community is capable of drawing its own conclusions.
But we will say this plainly: a senator who receives income from the dominant hospital system in our region while chairing the committee that oversees healthcare legislation is not a situation that serves patients. It is a situation that serves the system. And Upper East Tennessee deserves better than that.
That is why Karing Hearts PAC is endorsing Dan Pohlgeers for Tennessee Senate District 3 in the August 6th Republican primary. Dan is a healthcare professional who has spent his career working alongside independent physicians. He understands what is at stake. He has no financial ties to any hospital system. And he believes patients in this community deserve a senator whose loyalty is not divided.
Independent physician practices in Upper East Tennessee are not going away without a fight. We exist because patients deserve choices. We exist because competition in healthcare leads to better outcomes. And we will continue to show up every time legislation threatens to quietly eliminate those options.
On August 6th, you have the chance to show up too.
