Hamilton Medical Center is the titan of local health care.

The hospital system and its associated doctors serve the needs of thousands of patients, providing a wide range of high quality services.

But the system and doctors can and should do more.

As reported in a story in Sunday’s Daily Citizen, many area residents are discouraged from using local services because the hospital and many area doctors do not do business with some of the country’s biggest insurance companies.

The preferred insurance plan is Health One Alliance, which is owned by Hamilton Health Care System (HHCS) and local doctors.

That doesn’t sit well with local critics, many of whom believe the hospital’s insurance decisions are self-serving and short-sighted. The local business community is also disturbed that the health care status quo will retard economic growth, in part by limiting the insurance options that many startup companies face.

HHCS officials downplay any negative effects of the current system and claim they are working diligently to address any problems which might exist. Hospital president John Bowling touts “clinical integration” as a tool which will help the hospital broaden its services in the community. Clinical integration refers to a system in which local hospitals and doctors come up with a common set of practices, enabling them to negotiate as a group with insurance companies.

That sounds fine as far as it goes, but the question remains how willing are local health providers, led by HHCS, to make a deal with the insurance companies.

The current track record is not impressive.

What puzzles many and rankles some is the simple fact that Hamilton’s inability to come to agreements with many national insurance providers is largely a local phenomenon. For whatever reason, most other hospital systems in the region (and statewide) have been able to hammer out deals.

As a not-for-profit organization, HHCS reaps substantial tax savings. The system also benefits handsomely from private fundraising efforts in the community. Yet a city resident who makes up for HHCS’s portion of the tax burden and who donates money to the Whitfield Healthcare Foundation may be unable to benefit from the hospital’s services.

That seems odd ... and unhealthy.

Clinical integration may help. It may also be a delaying action designed to placate critics.

But we are past that stage.

This community has a health care problem that needs to be fixed and fixed soon.