Hey Locals,

It's been an unsettling week in Fort Wayne, and not just because Halloween is around the corner. In recent years, Parkview Field has been synonymous with Fort Wayne's growth and revival. But while we've often idealized it as a "field of dreams," we haven't talked about the "Parkview" in it.

Last week, The Guardian called attention to the elephant in the region: Parkview Health's monopoly on Northeast Indiana's healthcare – and its consequences. We cover what they revealed and where we go from here in Talk of the Week.

We also have an abbreviated issue this week, but we do discuss a concerning pattern of small business closures. And on a lighter note, we share some spooky seasonal events for your end-of-October calendar.

Don't forget: This month, all paid subscribers to The Local get a buy one, get one free deal on all fall coffee beverages at Swizzle Market, or half-off one non-alcoholic cocktail. Did you know we give our paid members a freebie every month at a local business to cover the cost of membership? See what a paid membership is all about with this 30-day trial, and you can get that drink!

Now, let's get started!

NOTE: Links to Journal Gazette articles are marked(*) and may be behind a paywall.

The Guardian calls out Parkview Health's "local monopoly."

This might be the year's most important story, but it might fly under the radar.

What's happening?

Parkview Health made international headlines on The Guardian last week for how it "took over a region and jacked up prices." The story is part of a new US investigation series called "Too big to care" that examines "how consolidation in the US healthcare system has saddled patients with big bills, fewer options and worse care."

There is a TON of information to absorb in this report, and we recommend making time to read the entire story yourself. But here are a few quick notes:

• Why Parkview Health? The Guardian tells WPTA 21 they wanted to know why people in Fort Wayne – the most affordable metro in the U.S. – are paying some of the highest healthcare prices in the country. "For 10 of the last 13 years, Parkview hospitals on average have been among the top 10% most expensive in the country," it reports. You might remember: A 2019 RAND Corp. report (covered by the New York Times) also found Parkview's prices for procedures to be the highest among almost 1,600 hospitals in 25 states, based on data from 2015 to 2017. It showed Parkview "charged private insurance companies about four times what the federal Medicare program paid for the same care."
• So what's new? While previous reports, letters and protests have hinted at the healthcare behemoth's behavior, The Guardian's investigation revealed just how powerful Parkview has become since 2006 under the leadership of former CEO Mike Packnett and his deputy and successor Rick Henvey. It accuses Parkview leadership of "treating medicine like a business" and making "aggressive acquisitions" of hospitals and “hospital-based” outpatient departments, using "lax Medicare and commercial insurance reimbursement practices" to Parkview's advantage. In doing so, the article says Parkview established market dominance in Northeast Indiana and Northwest Ohio, wielding its power to charge exorbitant prices for procedures, direct patient flows within its network and hardball negotiations with insurance companies, which in turn, squeezes employers "who have to choose between wages, headcount and insurance costs."
• It's also worth noting: Parkview's "nonprofit" status despite its wealth. Guardian reporter George Joseph tells WPTA 21: "It’s a strange situation where a not-for-profit, which you would think is desperately needing grants from wealthy institutions, actually has become the wealthy institution.” In 2021, NPR reported that many monopolizing hospitals have nonprofit status, which offers "quirky" benefits, like "while the FTC can block anti-competitive mergers between non-profit hospitals, they are hamstrung in investigating non-profit hospitals for anti-competitive conduct under current law." Yale School of Public Health Economist Zack Cooper (also quoted in The Guardian) told NPR he sees (this nonprofit status) "more like a game where instead of making profits that are distributed to shareholders, nonprofit hospitals take the extra money they make and use it for executive compensation and buying shiny stuff." Case in point: Packnett took home $3.8M in annual compensation from Parkview in 2019.
• Perhaps most concerning: is the healthcare residents are receiving as a result of these practices. Specifically, the report noted how Parkview cut OB-GYN service last year at its recently acquired Parkview DeKalb county hospital, resulting in the death of a 26-year-old mother who did not receive care in time. The report also claims Parkview managers have ranked doctors by revenue metrics and "incentivized some practitioners to churn through dozens of patients a day and to steer them toward costly procedures and testing." Nationally, Cooper tells NPR death rates are "literally higher in markets where hospitals face less competition." In short: "Less competition means hospitals can charge higher prices and get away with it. They can pay lower wages and get away with it. And they can provide worse care and get away with it."

So what now?

While healthcare consolidation is a growing national issue, some experts The Guardian interviewed fear it has its "most pernicious effects" right here in Northeast Indiana.

Although we'd like to think that fact-based investigative journalism would be a wake up call to our community, it appears that within one weekend, The Guardian's report has been either buried by the daily news cycle or circulating behind closed doors.

We cover more insights in our premium newsletter.

• GK Cafe & Provisions abruptly closed last week amidst lawsuits. Founder and baker Grace Kelly May opened the cafe and market at 202 W. Berry St. in 2023, but stepped away from it earlier this year, leaving it to the owners of Junk Ditch Brewing Company and Affine Hospitality, who have since cut hours and employees at the cafe and closed Junk Ditch's Huntington Tap. WANE 15 notes GK's closure coincides with a lawsuit May filed against her two former business partners at Affine. It says GK and Affine are required to pay $150,000 to the Allen County-Fort Wayne Capital Improvement Board (CIB) since their grocery market didn't stay open for its two-year contract. A separate lawsuit against both businesses claims GK and Affine failed a lease-to-purchase agreement for their spot in the Metro Building and owe about $800,000 to Ashberry Eight LLC.
• Abrupt small business closures are raising concerns on social media. While extenuating circumstances appear to be the case behind GK's closure, the news has sparked conversation on social media about a pattern of recent small business closures around town, particularly in the food and beverage industry. Most recently, Zing Cuisine, Cebolla's (Glenbrook) and teds beerhall have closed their doors, along with GnomeTown on The Landing, Trubble Brewing, Three Rivers Distilling Co. and Country Heritage (Downtown) last winter. This reflects data from the National Federation of Independent Businesses, which announced the highest Small Business “uncertainty” since 2020, when “nonessential” businesses were forced to shut down. "Twenty-two percent of owners reported that inflation was their single most important problem in operating their business."

Plus: one more talking point in our premium newsletter.

• Dress up: for "A Nightmare on Berry Street 2," at East Ende Eclectic on Oct. 26, 7 p.m.-midnight, upstairs at 1501 E. Berry St. The event is an 18+ interactive Halloween art experience, featuring live actors, 30+ vendors, performances by local aerialists and entertainers, a food truck, a dry bar, themed photo sets and more. ($10 presale; $20 at the door)
• Party: at Sidecar's Nightmare Before Miracle Halloween-themed pop-up bar, open select hours Wednesdays-Saturdays until Nov. 2. On the menu, we recommend the Pumpkin King 14 made with rum, pumpkin spice blend, coconut, pumpkin, oat milk and pineapple!
• Reminisce: with the Trap Door at Proof on Oct. 24, 7:30-10 p.m. Fort Wayne's live storytelling event, a la The Moth, is back, gathering in the back room at Proof (formerly Welch's Ale House) "just like the good ol' days." Doors open at 7 p.m., and a $10 donation is suggested, benefitting the Family Preservation program at Benchmark Human Services.

What else? We share more things to do in our premium newsletter.

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Let us know at thelocalfortwayne@gmail.com.

Have a great week, Locals!

-Your Editor, Kara Hackett