As people talk about healthcare reform, a lot of the talk centers around physician shortages - especially in primary care - and especially in small towns and rural areas. What none of the rabid reformers with their hands out seem to want to admit is, that medicine ANYWHERE is not free - hell, it's even expensive. Highly educated, very skilled people are required to provide it. And somebody has to pay for it.
For a very long time, since "managed care" (and all of the attached "suits") roared on the scene (presumably to make everyone's lives so much easier), doctors - especially primary care doctors - have been viewed by those "suits" (MBA's and lawyers) running hospitals & insurance companies as freely renewable resources . . . pawns to pound into profitable submission (the rewards of their labor de-valued and diminished so the suits can get their big salaries and bonuses and parachutes).
Good doctors in small towns were/are "a dime a dozen" to quote Randolph Hospital's Executive Vice President of Corporate Planning and Development, Steven Eblin (no, I am not going to let him forget he said that).
Of course, it's my humble opinion that Steven Eblin (along with a number of "suits" I've encountered over the years) is a bully and an idiot, and certainly not worth the salary "non-profit" Randolph Hospital has paid him over the last decade as he macerated the medical landscape for market share (if you have any questions about that salary, feel free to visit Guidestar and look it up - it is, after all, how I discovered that Steve's an unconvicted felon).
Now President Obama (married to an over-paid hospital executive) keeps saying that, with his proposed government-administrated plans for "universal" health coverage (because let's be clear that we're not really talking about the care you get - we're talking about how or even if you pay for it), "If you like your doctor you can keep your doctor."
But I am sorry, that is just NOT true. It hasn't been true for the last decade or so.
In both government-run and "private" medicine, whether or not you can keep your doctor oftentimes depends on decisions made by people ("third parties") in suits with MBA's instead of MD's who fancy themselves and their petty/selfish/greedy reasonings more important than your relationship with your doctor.
And I can guarandamntee you that the government of the United States, with all of its fearsome power, has DONE NOTHING to protect doctors from these predators-in-suits (not that doctors have put up much of a fight) . . . in fact, the government has done everything it could to marginalize and de-value doctors (especially employed doctors and those laboring in public service) - to the point of even stripping them of their basic Constitutional rights of due process and free speech. And woe be unto you if you're a medical whistle-blower! Why that's just "disruptive"!
When it comes to physician "shortages" or fulfilling the dire need for primary doctors in under-served areas, instead of the government riding in on a white horse with new/uber-expensive/monster programs that don't have a snowball's chance in hell of working the way the politicians say they will . . . or passing new laws that will not be enforced . . . perhaps it might be a good idea to FIRST look at individual situations and the failures of the past . . . especially as those failures (the same mistakes that I've seen play out over and over again in different backyards) reflect the pitfalls of government-run/administrated (ala Medicare/Medicaid/the military & public health service) and "non-profit" medicine . . . the kind of medicine already paid for - in spades - by the taxpayer.
IN NORTH CAROLINA ALONE, billions of healthcare dollars have been wasted over the last decade by bad management and non-existent oversight. Billions of dollars. Our newspapers, covering important butts in Raleigh and Charlotte and Washington, have barely granted these stories a blurb. God forbid that we ordinary saps get outraged at the very important people actually screwing up - sucking our tax dollars up into their own pockets and retirement accounts . . . many of whom deserve to be fired or put in jail . . . but for the most part haven't been . . . because they're all in it together.
Every billion-dollar healthcare scam or boondoggle has thousands of individual stories . . . people who fancy-themselves-important screwing over people-they-deem-not-nearly-as-important . . .i.e. "wrong/ordinary people" getting shafted by "right/well-named/well-connected people"
And here's a really progressive thought about that (that's why it's in blue): Those individual stories and failures are HOW and WHERE healthcare has really fallen apart at its seams . . . for all that the more liberal, "progressive" types think these stories - and people like me - people like my patients/their parents - are "not relevant".
When you actually think about it, that's why you have so many unhappy/angry ordinary, productive, middle-class Americans screaming their lungs out at town halls. Until now, they have been patronized or blown-off entirely (I'm pausing now to remember my appearances before the Asheboro City Council - where my family and I literally sat there and watched "Evil Keith" Crisco sneer because I was criticizing his very important friends).
We for damned sure have NOT been heard.
When it comes to Randolph Hospital and the saga of Dr. Mary Johnson, the facts as Randolph's executives have wanted and manipulated the public to see them have NEVER added up - not that ANYONE in a pencil-pushing position of oversight ANYWHERE (the government and local press included) ever cared enough to actually LOOK.
And/so, with this post, we will continue my stroll through the old legal files, with the letters that angry parents sent to Randolph Hospital & RMA Board members on my behalf. A group of "my Moms", tired of being treated like emotional/silly school-girls, mobilized to question the decisions hospital executives had made . . . and organized (inasmuch as anyone in Asheboro ever organizes) a letter-writing campaign.
These women wanted to keep their childrens' doctor - a doctor who was brought back home to Asheboro with their tax dollars. No one . . . especially NOT the government that enticed the doctor back to Asheboro with its "loan repayment for service" deal . . . gave a rat's tail about what these Mothers wanted. Moreover, the government could not have cared less about the simple, common decency and courtesy that was owed to the doctor who had completed her service obligation, and, in fact (as that obligation was about to expire), had gone above and beyond to protect a patient.
Back in 1998, the resources we have today (like blogging) . . . resources that the common man & woman can now harness to challenge authority. . . were nonexistent or in their infancy.
Using what she had, one of my more vocal Moms, Ellen Morgan, wrote a letter to the Courier Tribune (which was cited yesterday). Other Moms joined suit. But to the very best of my recollection, ONLY ONE letter ever saw newsprint.
And that's because good ole David Renfro took the back of his biggest advertiser. And (much like John Robinson in Greensboro, covering Cone Hospital's butt) Mr. Renfro got to decide who/what was "relevant" . . . say, like bringing alcohol to Asheboro in 2008 . . . as opposed to reporting the facts/or printing the letters that might have invited closer public scrutiny of the despicable actions taken by a "non-profit" hospital against a home-grown doctor-in-public-service in 1998.
You've got to have your priorities straight. The town might die if you don't.
Beyond frustrated, Ellen Morgan sent the following letter to Ted Matney, who (at the time) sat on both Randolph Hospital's and RMA's Board of Directors.
It still blows my mind that Ms. Morgan cared enough to take the time and sit down and type out two letters . . . one of which was two & one-half pages long.
It may also interest readers to know that Ellen Morgan was the first parent I saw/spoke with after RMA Director, Mike Bridges, delivered his 5 day "notice" of termination (on a Monday morning, just minutes before I was scheduled to start seeing patients).
But I do remember exactly how I felt when I walked into that exam room, and tried to put on happy face and get on with that full day of seeing patients (because in Mike Bridges' world that's what a doctor was supposed to do even as the life she had worked so hard to build was unravelling around her - and she was bleeding from the mortal knife wounds he had inflicted in her back). I cannot put it into words.
One of the reasons I am still doggedly on Randolph Hospital's tail is because I want any young doctor considering a working or employment relationship with this hospital and these people to KNOW exactly the kind of snakepit they're falling into. No American physician should have to go through what I've been through. courtesy of my own hometown.
Ellen Morgan's letter is in red. My commentary is in blue (I'm practicing being progressive).
Dear Mr. Matney,
The recent events surrounding the dismissal of Dr. Mary Johnson have concerned me greatly. I would like to share with you my thoughts about Randolph Medical Associates' decision to terminate Dr. Johnson. Then, I would like to share my experiences as a result of that decision. Finally, I would to explain why I am appealing to you, the Board of Directors, to become involved with this issue.
In my opinion, the decision to terminate Dr. Johnson was a mistake. I question if anyone truly realized the consequences of this decision. How it would impact her patients and the community. On February 2nd, I was Dr. Johnson's first appointment of the day. [Again, this was minutes after I had been given "notice" of termination.]
She walked into the examining room, told me that she never thought she would be saying this, but that Friday, February 6th , would be her last day at RMA. She said she had been terminated the previous day. [This is inaccurate - I honestly don't remember what I told Ellen - it was all a blur - but I had been given "notice" immediately before I was scheduled to see her.] It was obvious that she was unhappy, and I was upset too. She asked me not to ask her any questions because she could not discuss it. [Mike Bridges had made it very clear that I would be fired "for cause" if I said anything that might be considered disparaging of RMA.]
Then, very professionally, she said that the most important thing was not to let the children sense that anything was wrong. So, as a parent, I knew that in less than four days, my daughter's Pediatrician would be gone. [My contract actually provided for a six-month notice. Any REASONABLE person would assume that this means you work a notice out - or you get paid in full/set completely free if the practice breaches the contract by kicking you out sooner. In fact, my National Health Service Corps agreement specifically forbade RMA from interfering in my continued practice in the community. Moreover, other RMA physicians - like Sid Blake and Brad Thomas - worked out notices and transitioned their practices. But Mike Bridges did not just want me gone. HE WANTED MY SILENCE . . . about the Mick Irwin incident . . . about Breton Juberg's extracurricular antics and problems at the office . . . about Bridges' ILLEGAL attempts to direct RMA Pediatric referrals exclusively to Cone Hospital - and-so-on-and-so-on. Mike Bridges had to have something to hold over my head (i.e. my "salary" - which he doled out a little at a time) until he could (A) bully me into doing what he wanted me to do (which was agreeing to silence for the selective scraps of my contract he wanted to throw) . . . or (B) manufacture a reason to fire me "for cause". Meanwhile, RMA President/RH VP Steve Eblin was telling parents that giving me five days to wrap up things at the office was "generous" on RMA's part - giving them all the impression I had done something horribly wrong. And RH CEO, Bob Morrison, was "discretely" letting folks know I was not "a team player" (I guess that being a "team player" at Randolph Hospital means you let sick babies die.) ALL of this was about character assassination, eliminating me as viable competition and keeping their "market share" in Pediatrics.]
I could not believe how unprofessional it was to give only a 5 day notice. Obviously, she had not done anything unethical [Ellen was spot-on there] because she still had hospital privileges. [As has been discussed before on Housecalls, my hospital privileges were USELESS because, (A) For the duration of my six-month "notice", I was exclusively contracted to RMA and could not see my patients without Bridges' permission - WHICH HE NEVER GAVE; (B) Bridges cancelled my malpractice insurance when he fired me; (C) practicing "bare" (i.e. without malpractice insurance) at Randolph Hospital was/is grounds for revocation of privileges - a career-ending disciplinary action that is reportable to the National Practitioner's Data Bank. ANY effort to develop or transition my own private practice would have been grounds for termination "for cause". Ergo, despite what a lot of people were telling my patients, I was not "free" to start my own practice - and, as I languished bound and gagged on the sidelines, RMA could scoop "the business" up.]
Furthermore, I couldn't believe that this decision was made in the midst of the cold and flu season. I knew that Dr. Johnson's departure meant an overload for the RMA staff, and the two remaining Pediatricians. [Mike Bridges, being the snivelling snake he was, actually had the gall to tell people that morale was "much better" at the office after my departure. There is no doubt that Kathleen Riley (the only Pediatrician Bridges was listening to) was over-joyed. She wanted to be big cheese at RMA and that was not going to happen as long as "home-girl" Mary was around. But my other physician-partner at RMA, Laurie Anderson, described the atmosphere behind the scenes as "hell". Of course, Laurie got disgusted with working in "hell" and (uprooting her family) left town too . . . the end result being that ALL of the taxpayer money that was spent to recruit us to Asheboro might as well have been poured down the drain.]
For parents, that would mean longer wait times and more difficulty getting appointments, which have proven to be true. So the work of three Pediatricians would now be covered by two Pediatricians, going into the busiest times of the year, and according to Mike Bridges, RMA would continue to accept new patients.
From the beginning, I knew this whole terrible situation was questionable. [Why yes, Ellen, I'd say that a peon Director, firing a doctor for standing up to his threats and saving a baby's life . . . and defying his "shut up or else" edicts in order to report a Cone-owned doctor to hospital peer review (i.e. fulfill her duty) is "questionable".]
Dr. Johnson and I have only a professional relationship, but I knew her termination was not a mutual decision as first reported. [Ellen was correct. It was made by Mike Bridges and Kathleen Riley and Steve Eblin - for when it came to playing the game of incentive packages and bonus plans, Kathy Riley was telling them what they wanted to hear and I/Dr. Anderson were not.]
Dr. Johnson was too committed to walk away from her patients. On one of my first visits with her, she told me that she wasn't in medicine for the money. [One of the myths that Bob Morrison and Steven Eblin circulated during the litigation was that I was trying to "extort" Randolph Hospital of money that I was not rightfully owed - that I was only in it for the money. NOBODY BUT NOBODY AT RANDOLPH HOSPITAL GETS TO ACCUSE ME OF "EXTORTION" AFTER MAKING ME DANCE THEIR DESPICABLE DANCE OF REVERSE EXTORTION. NOBODY.]
She just wanted to be a doctor. She just wanted to take care of "her" kids. That is why she came to RMA. [As one of those highly-educated, "valued employees" that the leaders of Asheboro tell the world they want and need.]
Also, I know she is passionate about her involvement with the Department of Social Services in helping rescue abused children. [Maybe Eblin would have been happier if I had submitted bills to DSS on behalf of RMA for all that pro-bono expert testimony time.] Many people at the hospital, who know how committed she is to her profession, speak highly of her. In fact, she was highly recommended to me by another physician.I was so proud to have her as my Pediatrician. I felt like I had the best. Also, I felt proud that she practiced in Asheboro, and that she was an Asheboro native. She was someone who knew Asheboro's history and its people. Most importantly, I believe Dr. Johnson was an excellent role model for my two girls. [Alas Ellen, maybe notsomuch now -given the flowery verbiage I've used on this blog - after eleven years of being ignored and crapped-on by a series of "honorable" businessmen, lawyers, politicians, regulatory agencies and law-enforcement officials.]
In the weeks following her termination, I experienced a comradery with other concerned parents. Initially, we voiced our concerns through formal lines of communication. [Like many of the folks now at town halls - you know, the ones that enlightened liberals love to ridicule, Ellen and the rest of "the Moms" discovered that playing nice and following "formal lines of communication" DOES NOT WORK - especially when an institution is trying to cover-up ugliness.]
Most everyone called Mike Bridges, but everyone who talked with him seemed to quesiton or distrust what he said. [That's probably because the little weasel was lying through his teeth.]
I called Mike Bridges on Wednesday, February 4th, to express my concerns and to appeal to him to resolve this situation. I told him that I wanted Dr. Johnson back at RMA. The hospital's endorsement of RMA and its advertisements of RMA's Pediatricians influenced my decision to go there. [Just like the hospital's "endorsement" of Mick Irwin had enticed two unsuspecting parents to choose the Neonatology wannabe as their baby's doctor.]
Mr. Bridges was polite and well-rehearsed. However, he seemed pro-occupied with asking me, "What did Dr. Johnson say to you exactly". During our approximate 20 minute conversation, he asked me that question three times. [Bridges was, in fact, looking for a reason to fire me. You see, in his written instructions he had told me that I could not speak/complain to anyone except him (or Steve Eblin), and if I did, I would be fired "for cause". Of course, that kind of makes it HARD to initiate talks with Board members without an invite.]
He assured me that he was keeping a list of the names of everyone who called him expressing concerns, and would share that list with other decision makers. [At that point the "decision-makers" would have been the hospital's lawyers - trying to cover Bridges' tracks.]
I would like for the Board Members to see this list. I would expect it to be quite a long list. [At one point, I was told there was a petition asking for my reinstatement, with a large number of signatures, delivered to the BOD. I never saw it. If it ever existed, I expect it was destroyed after it was delivered.]
Also, a friend of mine who moved here less than 2 years ago spoke with Mr. Bridges and asked him for a list of the Board of Directors for RMA and Randolph Hospital. He told her that it was privileged information, and he could not reveal the names to the public because the hospital was private the the Board members were volunteers. [This bold-faced LIE forshadows the in-your-face PERJURY, CONTEMPT & FRAUD of Bob Morrison and Steven Eblin at settlement. Randolph Hospital and its wholly-owned, "controlled affiliate", RMA may very well be "private" non-profits, but the Board members of non-profits are, in fact, identified on IRS 990 returns and those returns are PUBLIC RECORD - just like much of the financial information that Morrison & Eblin, trying to get out on the cheap, claimed to be "highly confidential" during discovery.]
However, later that day she spoke with an RMA Board member who confirmed that the RMA Board did not make this decision, but was notified after the decision was made by Mike Bridges and Steve Eblin. [Caught more-or-less unaware, Board members of both Randolph Hospital and RMA squirmed and back-tracked and did their level best to distance themselves from the decision to fire me. Despite the fact that Pediatricians were/are NOT EASY to recruit to small towns . . . and that Dr. Anderson & I were, in fact, recruited to Asheboro with state & Federal money . . . the volunteer "honorables" providing "oversight" of hospital/practice executives had NO imput into what they tried to dismiss as merely a "day-to-day" middle-management decision to fire me. Board members were informed only after Mike Bridges, backed by Steven Eblin, took action. Afterwards, apparently thinking I would "just go away" if they pretended I did not exist, they circled the wagons).
Finally, in my conversation wtih Mr. Bridges, I thought about asking him who was his children's Pediatrician, but I didn't. However, if I had done so, I would have discovered that he doesn't even live in our community. He lives in Greensboro. [Mike Bridges' employment didn't even last out my six month "notice" at RMA - he tucked tail and went back to Greensboro (to wheel and deal at Southeastern Heart & Vascular center). In fact, as I've started to get bolder on Housecalls with the naming of names in this medico-legal cluster-screw, I strongly suspect that Mr. Bridges has been here as a snippy anonymous commentator. At this point, any time that clueless, spineless, back-stabbing wimp wants a face-to-face, one-on-one with this doctor, I am so READY for him.]
Therefore, I believe he cannot understand how betrayed I feel by RMA and Randolph Hospital, over losing Dr. Johnson.
That same day, I tried to call Bob Morrison and Steven Ebline, but both were out of town for a convention that week. [Very convenient . . . and typical hit and run tactics . . . especially for our oily Steve.]
After my unproductive conversation with Mr. Bridges, I saw other Mothers at The Art Guild, Mom's Club and preschools. Many had spoken with Mr. Bridges and were unsatisfied, feeling like RMA nor Randolph Hospital cared about their concerns. By this time, most Mothers had received as brief and somewhat ambigous letter from Mr. Bridges. [The letter, drafted and sent without my knowledge, input or consent, gave many parents the impression that, in a fit of snit, I had suddenly abandoned them - and it offered no way to contact me. My patients were "invited" to continue their care with other RMA doctors (who, within months, would be on phat bonus plans - as the practice was suddenly and inexplicably "profitable").]
All the Mothers I spoke with were outraged over losing Dr. Johnson. They wanted to know what they could do to support Dr. Johnson in hopes of reversing the decsion or keeping her practicing in Asheboro. So some Mothers, including myself, wrote letters to the editor of the Courier Tribune.
One of those letters was printed. The others are included for you to read with this letter. [I sincerely doubt Matney cared.]
After talking to Mike Bridges and writing editorials, no positive changes were occuring. Still, everyone I talked with were frustrated and disappointed, particularly people at the hospital. Many nurses and professional staff people were extremely supportive of Dr. Johnson, but cannot speak out or show support for her for fear they will lost their jobs. [Morrison & Eblin even went so far as to hold a meeting on the LDRP unit instructing nurses (many of them my friends) not to speak to me or they would be subpoenaed by the hospital to testify in the litigation that was most certainly coming.] They believe that if an excellent physician like Dr. Johnson can be fired, they are even more susceptible to being fired.
Other people I spoke with were parents, staff at other medical facilities, daycare directors, preschool workers, etc. Everyone wants to keep Dr. Johnson.
I keep thinking, is Randolph Hospital and RMA hearing us? [No Ellen, Randolph executives only listened to very "important" Mothers like Cheryl Freeman, DDS . . . she spoke for ALL of you . . . and I was dog-meat because I did not give her what she wanted.]
Therefore, a couple of Mothers and I decided to write and appeal to the Randolph Hospital Board of Directors. You are our last hope. We hope you will be our community voice with Randolph Hospital and RMA. We need to keep Dr. Johnson. Truly, she is an excellent, caring compassionate physician. She is committed to the care of children. We were lucky to have her.
Instead of talking to her attorney, I believe she needs to be talking to you, the Board of Directors. We can all speculate why this happened, but I think the more important question is can the situation be resolved? [There were any number of points where the situation could have been resolved - if someone in a position of oversight at the hospital had exercised any strength of character, foresight or wisdom at all. But in any deal that was made, hospital executives would have been forced to own up (and yes, pay up) . . . and there was no way they were going to do that short of being dragged to Court. These men simply could not admit that they were wrong.]
There are always creative solutions. Perhaps the Board can provide a different perspective that could help resolve this situation. [The only thing this bunch of "honorables" knew how to do was wink and nod.]
We need to keep Dr. Mary Johnson for "her kids" and for the community. The Board of Directors are our only hope. Please get involved on behalf of the community.
I look forward to your response.
Respectfully,
Ellen Byrum Morgan
Mr. Matney responded to Ellen with a variation of a carefully drafted form letter (clearly composed by the hospital's lawyer). The following are a few of the outright myths and half-truths that were circulated by Board members (like Ted Matney and Jim Culberson and Jim Kinlaw and Charles Stout and Sam Rankin and Joe Bossong and William Redding) as they dutifully covered Bob and Steve's tracks:
RMA and Randolph Hospital were/are separate corporate entites (never mind that RMA was/is the wholly-owned "controlled affiliate" of Randolph Hospital - and at the time the BOD's were virtually interchangeable).
Board members (legally responsible for the actions of their executives) had no imput into the decision . . . as the hiring and firing of a physician . . . the FOUNDING physician of RMA's Pediatric division . . . was merely a part of the normal "day-to-day operation" of the practice (funny how Mike Bridges' signature was not on my contract).
Dr. Johnson's termination was a "confidential" employment matter (never mind that I was screaming for it not to be).
It was "necessary and appropriate" to terminate Dr. Johnson (yeah, I suppose if you're trying to cover-up that another one of your physicians nearly killed a newborn baby with his arrogance and ignorance it would have been "necessary" to fire the doctor that cleaned up and reported his mess).
Dr. Johnson had "full" admitting privileges that were "unaffected" by RMA's decision to fire her (we've previously covered that).
Depending on who was writing the letter, Dr. Johnson was getting a full "severance package" or a "full salary and benefits" or "salary continuation" (let's just say NOT when it comes to the "full benefits" . . . my accumulated sick leave and vacation was not addressed . . . my malpractice insurance was cancelled without notifying me . . . and was reinstated only after I was called to assist Rob Robbins with a super premie and had to decline because I would be going in "bare". Moreover, I had to fight for nearly nine months (and get Howard Coble involved) to get my malpractice tail coverage paid (a clearly-stated condition of RMA's site agreement with the NHSC).
Dr. Johnson was "free" to locate an office, lease space, hire staff and begin seeing patients. As we've established earlier, this was not just a LIE but a DAMNED LIE. If you are under EXCLUSIVE CONTRACT and are not released from it - and I wasn't - you are most certainly NOT "free" to compete with your EMPLOYER . . that would be grounds for termination FOR CAUSE . . . i.e. your "salary and benefits" go out the window. It also doesn't look so good on your curriculum vitae.
AND HERE, DEAR READERS, IS THE BIGGEST LIE OF ALL: "I hope Dr. Johnson will stay in Asheboro and continue to practice in our community."
Let's be real clear here folks. NOT ONE of RMA or Randolph Hospital's Board members did ANYTHING to make that happen. NOT ONE of these fine/honorable/upstanding/ethical/Christian men EVER picked up a phone or asked/tried to speak to me directly (I did have two contentious conversations with Jim Kinlaw fairly late in the game - but only because I initiated them). They accepted everything that Bridges/Morrison/Eblin said at face value and tightly circled the wagons. They kept the lid slammed firmly shut on the windowless box Bridges had put me in for the duration of my six-month "notice". Later on, they added insult to injury when they voted to sue me for "libel" (a move that, as it turned out, back-fired badly - AS THEIR EXECUTIVES BOLD-FACED AND REPEATEDLY LIED UNDER OATH DURING DISCOVERY.).
DR. MARY JOHNSON HAD TO BE DESTROYED. FOR NOBODY TALKS BACK TO THE GOOD OLE BOYS RUNNING A MILL TOWN HOSPITAL (many would say into the ground).
And ask yourselves, readers, WHERE was the North Carolina Medical Board (whose ethical canons and position statements were violated)? Where was JCAHO (so concerned about patient safety and "sentinel events")? WHERE was U.S. DHHS (whose own site agreement was breached and violated)? WHERE was N.C. DHHS and the Attorney General as a "non-profit" hospital trampled all over a home-grown doctor in public service?
WHERE were all of these regulatory and oversight agencies BEFORE Bob Morrison and Steven went the extra added step of actually committing mulitple felonies in order to save themselves and their hospital a little extra money at settlement?
And WHERE is the Randolph County District Attorney? Bob Morrison and Steven Eblin walked into a Courtroom over which he has jurisdiction and REPEATEDLY LIED UNDER OATH to get their way. In SIX YEARS, Garland Yates has NEVER interviewed me . . . he has not lifted one finger to investigate the case . . . or thought it necessary to refer it up to Raleigh (where it belongs).
Two months ago, the lead attorney of the North Carolina Medical Board asked me if I realized that the N.C. Attorney General would likely not be inclined to pursure a criminal complaint (for perjury/contempt/fraud) against Randolph Hospital executives soley on my behalf.
The problem with that theory is that it is NOT just on my behalf - nor has this ever been all/only about me. In a lot of ways, I am really no different from the victims of Bernie Madoff. I trusted people who said they were looking out for me/my patients/my community. And they lied to me and defrauded me.
And, in fact I am not alone.
This case is about a pair of parents who, based on the false advertising of a "non-profit" hospital, chose a physician who was not what he said he was.
This case is about the newborn baby who very nearly lost her life because that physician was in over his head and refused to ask for help.
This case is about the terrified nurses who called in a doctor they knew they could rely upon and trusted to help - and then feared retribution/retaliation if they spoke up for her.
This case, is about the doctor they called in (in the middle of the night) . . . just days away from completing her state and Federal service obligations AND working under a "keep quiet or else" threat . . . disregarding her own security and happiness . . . FACING DOWN THREATS AND INTIMIDATION . . . to do what was right for the baby.
IT WAS 1998 FOR GOD'S SAKE! IT'S 2009 NOW. ON WHAT PLANET IS IT OKAY FOR A DOCTOR TO HAVE TO CHOOSE BETWEEN HER JOB AND A CHILD'S LIFE?
This case is about the doctor's colleagues . . . many of whom were intimidated into silence (and a number of whom just looked the other way).
This case is about antiquated North Carolina employment laws that do not consider at all a physician's unique duties and responsibilites . . . or provide for fair play or "due process" when their livelihoods are at stake.
This case is about the doctors' families -who were uprooted and/or humiliated in order to serve the whims of corporate bullies.
This case is about medcial peer review, something that enjoys special legal protections on the premise it protects patients, being used and abused to cover up bad medicine.
This case is about the taxpayer dollars that were poured down the drain when the doctor - actually two Pediatricians - left Asheboro.
This case is about the patients of those doctors - and the patients' parents (like Ellen Morgan) - who were taken for granted, patronized, blown-off and lied to.
This case is about a community that has lost a number of physicians and suffered mightily over the years because a few well-connected, over-paid, over-rated businessmen think they own the place and and have been allowed to do whatever they want to do to whomever they want to do with total impunity.
This case is about "non-profits" being accountable to the public they're charged to serve - instead of monopolizing public resources under the cover of "charity".
This case is about government regulatory agencies that do not effectively police or oversee their own programs . . . about law enforcement agencies that wink and nod at white-collar crime, and do not protect ordinary citizens . . . and about professional "advocacy organizations" whose so-called advocacy has been ineffective and even negligent/harmful.
This case is about politicians who say one thing and do entirely another.
This case is about a local press that has completely forgotten what its supposed to be about.
This case is about the law being readily accessible and fully applicable to everyone.
This case is about right and wrong.
And/so, tell me again, Mr. Mansfield, that the North Carolina Attorney General thinks prosecuting this case is only about me.
Tell me again, Robinson/Polinsky/Cone/Smith, Jr., that my experience in Asheboro is "irrelevant" to what is wrong with healthcare today (and Sue, say hello to those selfless crusaders-for-the-common man, John & Elizabeth Edwards, for me).
And tell me again, Mr. President, that the government that has utterly failed me at every juncture over eleven years . . . the mighty Federal government that sat back and allowed something that could have been stopped-in-its-tracks with one or two arm-twisting-phone-calls-from-Washington to fester and balloon into something this complicated and this ugly . . . tell me again that this same government can "fix" healthcare. That's the REAL "myth".
I am talking back (hell, I am YELLING), and I am telling you that you could not be more WRONG. GET A CLUE!
Hey, I know! Why don't we ask the parents of my former patients - people who wanted to keep the doctor they trusted and had chosen for their children - how the government fixed things for them?
And please be clear, Mr. Mansfield. The North Carolina Medical Board and JCAHO and N.C./U.S. DHHS all ABANDONED me eleven years ago. I am not going away until Randolph Hospital makes this right - or someone makes them make it right.
And I've got news for JCAHO. You're DAMNED STRAIGHT I was "DISRUPTIVE" in January 1998! DISRUPTIVE was the ONLY thing I could be and sleep at night. DISRUPTIVE was the RIGHT thing to be!
Someone is going to apologize to me for the HELL they put me through. Someone is going to apologize to my Mother for making her watch. And somone is going to apologize to my patients for LYING to them about what happened, and taking away their doctor.
AND IF SOMEONE DOES NOT DO IT SOON, AS GOD AS MY WITNESS, DR. MARY JOHNSON AND THE MEDICAL BOARD AND JCAHO AND DHHS ARE GOING TO DANCE!
Author's note: Addtional letters from parents will be published shortly.
8/24 Update: This post has been edited & "tweaked" today.
8/25 Update: A friend e-mailed me this story - probably hoping I'd work up a scather of a post. Another pal was on the warpath about a dead UNC student (shot by a Randolph County Police officer) and ADA Andy Gregson sealing the 911 tape (8/26: now unsealed - maybe someone in Randolph County has finally figured out that clamping down the lid isn't always the best things to do). I'm grateful for the tips, but apart from the fact that it's been a very long day, I really think this post should stay up, not be bumped and be given the opportunity to waft through the ether for a while. This blog is, after all, about me and my case.
I will say this about Amanda Tucker and the raffle ticket business. Sweetie, take it from someone who has been there and done that: It was just too good to be true. As pigs finally went airborne in our "dying" town, you're just another local girl who got ripped off by somebody that Asheboro's "right people" embraced as one of their own just a few months ago.
Meanwhile, this local girl, who got ripped off by the "right people" running Randolph Hospital, would still like to know what it takes to get on Fox 8 News.
8/26 Update: The N.C. Medical Board has a new edition of it's "Forum" out today. And, in this issue, in the wake of the rotten egg President Saunders laid in the last edition, the Board seems to be bending over backwards to "explain" its "disciplinary responsibilities".
Trouble is, the oversight of doctors is not just about taking disciplinary action against them for doing the wrong thing. It's about taking decisive protective action on their behalf when they do the right thing - when they face down the outside/corporate forces that might put them into the kind of totally unacceptable situation I was placed in eleven years ago - by a power-tripping peon with a grudge.
If you require duties of doctors you MUST protect them - especially now.
This Medical Board . . . this state . . . did not, and does not. It's pure & simple GROSS NEGLIGENCE.
And I'm so done with that being okay.
2 comments:
"I hope Dr. Johnson will stay in Asheboro and continue to practice in our community."
Oh, PUHLEEZE, stick a needle in me Doctor J....this is killing me with laughter.
WTF, they occupationally disembowel you, and then come out with a line such as this.
Jim Culberson, Jim Kinlaw, Charles Stout, Sam Rankin, Joe Bossong and William Redding, with Ted Matney in command, must certainly had to be serving in Vietnam together when they destroyed the provincial capitol of Ben Tre. You know the line...."'it became necessary to destroy the town to save it,' a U.S. major says."
Either that, or they be a bunch a comedians moonlighting as community leaders and businessmen.
Yeah, well I wasn't laughing.
At the time, Board members were telling parents that their service on these BOD's was "honorary" . . . and/or that they were "volunteers" . . . or (even better) . . . "figureheads". They had no real input into what was going on - and didn't want to (being on the BOD just meant scoring an expensive retreat a couple of times a year).
I guess back then none of these fine, upstanding gentlemen understood anything about their legal responsibilities.
And, as for their moral obligations to the profession & community . . . well, forget that.
Drs. Jim Kinlaw and Charles Stout, in particular, make me sick. Stout told anyone who would listen that he was going to "get to the bottom of it" and speak to me personally. It never happened.
And, as I describe in a link on this post, Jim Kinlaw (once of just two doctors on the hospital board) totally knifed my parents in the back . . . hiding behind his "professional relationship" and "friendship" with them . . . and refraining from comment & abstaining from the vote when the hospital BOD voted to sue me (it's what prompted one of the contentious conversations I cite in the post).
My Mom helped teach Jim Kinlaw's daughter to read. But when it came time for him to step up for Irene Johnson's daughter, this man - this doctor - was a total two-faced coward. I have ZERO respect for that.
Needless to say, Dr. Kinlaw's "professional relationship" with Mom and Dad did not continue for very long after that.
In terms of playing on "the team", I did everything that White Oak Family Physicians ever asked me to do. I answered every call and consult. But still, Jim Kinalw thought it was just fine for Bob Morrison and Steven Eblin to (as you say) "professionally disembowel" me.
Of course, since this all began, the state of North Carolina hasn't done anything to explain the legal obligations of Board membership to any of these fine, upstanding, (most of them supposedly Christian) men.
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