Pittsburgh_Patrika_October_2015

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The Pittsburgh Patrika, Vol, 21, No. 1, October 2015Large-scale manufacturing today accounts for only less than 10% ofthe workforce among the different segments. Of the 64,000 healthcarejobs, UPMC accounts for 43,000; University of Pittsburgh has 12,500of the 26,000 education jobs; and 21,000 of the 48,000 retail jobs are inGiant Eagle and Walmart.THealthcare 64,000he arrogance of the officialsof local monopolies Retail: 48,000and near-monopolies to flex theirmuscle to punish those who differfrom them and muzzle their voicesis so blatant that it is laughablesimply for their petulance and pettiness.The fine example is UPMC,a non-profit organization with $11billion in revenues and $11 billionin assets, not allowing the gift shopsin its hospitals to sell The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the city’s daily. Theycite “fairness issues” in the newspaper’s coverage of the very publicfight between Highmark and UPMC for the lucrative healthcare industrydollars.Steve Twedt, the Post-Gazette reporterwrites, “Twice in recent years,UPMC executives… canceled the healthgiant’s advertising in the Post-Gazette,citing dissatisfaction with the way UPMCwas covered in the news pages and howit was portrayed in editorials and editorialcartoons.”Well, the purpose of cartoons is to convey messages using humor, sarcasm,irony, paradox, even ridicule, often all at the same time. If UPMCofficials were bitten by the cartoons, probably there was a grain of truthin them. Maybe several grains of truth.In campaigns costing hundreds of thousandsof dollars spent on print and audiovisualmedia, both UPMC and Highmarktry to mould public opinion in their favor.Like political campaigns, each hyped its pluspoints and glossed over its negatives. The Post-Gazette, being the major daily in the town,covered the news item giving space for bothsides. It could not remain without taking a standGovernment 42,000Education 26,000Financial Service 26,000Manufacturing 24,000Transoportation 13,000Utility 9,000Total: 252,0008
The Pittsburgh Patrika, Vol, 21, No. 1, October 2015editorially on the issue since the fight between the two was affecting thegeneral public, and helpless healthcare consumers.UPMC’s executives enjoying all the financial benefits of its non-profitstatus did not like the editorials/cartoons. So, they did what any monopolybusiness or a totalitarian regime would do: they stopped all ads in thePost-Gazette with the intention of punishing the paper. Collaterally, theyalso made job seekers with limited resources suffer. And then UPMCwent one step even lower. It stopped its hospital gift shops from sellingPittsburgh Post-Gazette. This very cheap shot meant a couple of hundredless copies sold for the Post-Gazette, whose weekday print version has acirculation of 180,000. No big deal for the paper.The region’s 2-million healthcare consumers are now in the clutchesof UPMC and Highmark for their critical healthcare needs, withthe behemoth UPMC trying to devour Highmark to become the only gamein town. No matter who wins, this fight is not in the interest of healthcareconsumers, also known as patients who are sick.UPMC’s domination in the local healthcare industry is also not goodfor the long-term economic vitality of our region. If you doubt this, seewhat the steel industry did to the Tri-State area and what US Airways didto our airport. •9
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Pittsburgh_Patrika_October_2015

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