Testing Center’s Purpose

In the interests of fairness and accuracy, we would like to clarify a key point about the profitability of Testing 1-2-3 to the hospitals.

In the same week The Times article appeared, Michael Weinstein, CEO of AMI Medical Center of North Hollywood, reported in Healthcare Forum journal that 400 to 700 medical test screenings per week are performed in its Testing 1-2-3 center in Sherman Oaks Fashion Square, generating 25 to 35 physician referrals to its attending staff. Our other centers average as many visitors and referrals, if not more.

The difference between this site and the one quoted in The Times article is that a successful hospital sponsor must have a long-term commitment and the enthusiastic support of its physicians and marketing staff to truly reap the benefits of this type of program investment.

So, I fear, the article missed the key point of our mission. Testing 1-2-3 captures the population’s growing health-care emphasis on wellness, early detection and intervention--exactly where a hospital should be positioned in the decades ahead. And where our future health lies.

HAL B. PHILLIPS, Woodland Hills