Another Christmas Thought: Thank You For The Card

You know who you are.

And I hope you know how much it means;)

A Christmas Thought: Feed The Birds

There was a very good opinion piece on CNN this Christmas Eve morning entitiled, "When Bedford Falls Becomes Pottersville".  Over the years, I've watched my hometown slowly turn into Pottersville and I don't like it.

I have it on very good authority that "Feed the Birds", from 1964's "Mary Poppins" was Walt Disney's favorite song/sequence out of all of the Disney films.  It's also mine.

It's about charity and doing the right thing, even when charity and doing the right thing isn't easy - giving even when you don't have much yourself . . . acting for good even when it hurts.

It's not a bad message to ponder at Christmas.  Alas, it's also a message that Asheboro's "non-profit" medical sector totally did not get (leaving so many of the people it was supposed to serve behind in the mill town cold) . . . a message I intend to keep hammering home on this blog . . . and (shortly, I hope) in other venues . . . until Randolph Hospital, the people running it - and the "public servants" winking and nodding at all-that's-been-done-under-their-noses-in-charity's-name-to-pervert-charity clean up their act and are held accountable.

Merry Christmas.  Thanks to everyone who reads this blog.  And Happy New Year.

 

The Last Full Measure Of Service: What Makes A Man Or Woman "Right" Enough For The Courier Tribune?

Note to Readers:  This Post Has Been Updated.

I had planned to let my post on the disintegration of the Merce Clinic (which speaks volumes about Randolph Hospital CEO, Bob Morrison's, true legacy . . . and the abject failure of "non-profit" medicine in Asheboro) stand for a while, and return to break.  But then . . .

Lance Corporal Jacob Levy, a native of Ramseur, graduate of Eastern Randolph High School, and of Lumbee Indian descent, was shot in the head while on patrol in Afghanistan on Wednesday.  He has done prior combat tours there - and in Pakistan - and had volunteered to go back.  The Marine was stabilized in the field, and has been on life support in Germany since that time.

He serves with the son of my good friend, Buzz Armfield.  The Marine Moms and Dads have been rallying for days.  As of this writing, the news is not good.

Both Fox 8 and the N&R have had stories asking for prayer.

But Lance Corporal Levy's "hometown" newspaper has not uttered a peep - at least not online.

Where do we find these young men?  At moments like these, I often reflect upon words of Lincoln . . . words (from the Gettysburg address) that I memorized as a child and have not forgotten . . . indeed, words that I have tried to live my life (in a different kind of service) to honor:

It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

May God bless and comfort the family of Lance Corporal Jacob Levy during this horrible/heart-breaking time.

Semper Fi.


Sunday Morning Update:

We now have official word that Jacob Levy passed away last night at 8:50 PM.  He was 21 and an organ donor (as his Stepfather said, "selfless to the end").

I am citing the News & Record, because as of my last online check (about an hour ago - at which point I resolved not to go back), the Courier Tribune had yet to post the story online.

As background to my earlier posting and what I’m about to say here, Jacob’s Mother had called Buzz Armfield (as noted above, also a Marine parent – whose stepson served with Jacob) from Germany on Saturday morning, with the news that further treatment for his head wound was deemed futile by Jacob’s doctors, and he would shortly be taken off life support.

We expected him to be gone by the end of the day.

Buzz, in turn, called me and asked me to put up a post about Jacob on Housecalls (I was running late for rounds yesterday, but decided to take the extra time and do it) . . . because, while we had read stories online at Fox 8 and WGHP and even the Greensboro N&R, we had not seen anything online at the Courier Tribune (Buzz lives in Jamestown and does not take the Courier, and I decided long ago to spare innocent trees an inglorious end). Buzz could not understand the omission, and wanted to scream Jacob’s sacrifice to the rafters.

“Jacob deserves better. The world should know.”, he said.

Buzz was so upset about it, that he subsequently sent a scathing e-mail to both the Courier and the President of its “parent company” (Stevens Media) in Nevada – asking why the story was not to be found on the Courier’s website.

Since she's spent so much time pretending that "Housecalls" (and I) do not exist, we were both very surprised when Courier Diva, Annette Jordan, sent Buzz an e-mail yesterday afternoon. This was her "terse" (as described by Buzz - I would use another descriptive term) response:

“The story ran in Friday’s paper on the front page. Sorry, you missed it.”

My response to Annette now, withheld until news of Jacob's death was officially announced, will be equally terse . . . for I am as disgusted as I have ever been with my "hometown" newspaper.

Dear sweet, Annette-of-the-small-town-values, Buzz “missed” it, and I “missed” it, and a half-dozen other people who do not pay for the privilege of being kept in the dark by your useless suck-up-to-the-right-people-rah-rah-protesting-too-much newspaper “missed” it, BECAUSE YOU DID NOT PUT THE STORY ONLINE.

And it’s the ONE story you’ve had all weekend that should have been easy to find and be read by every resident of Randolph County . . . online or off - no matter if they have a subscription or not.

For you see, Annette, it’s not about the money you might make drawing a few more gullible subscribers in. It’s not about who is first (Jacob should be), exclusivity, or petty oneupmanship between local competitors.

There’s just NO folksy spin that you can put on this story . . .  or any way to dress it up . . .  that justified keeping it behind a pay-wall . . . or offering it only to those who read get the hard copy to read all of your not-so-fine print. There’s just NO excuse.

And/so, Buzz Armfield, parent of a Marine, is absolutely right. Lance Corporal Jacob Levy deserved better from his hometown paper. He sacrificed his life to preserve and protect the America’s highest ideals and opportunities.

Now, Annette, just so we’re clear, this post was not designed to use Jacob’s death as a weapon in my (or anyone else’s) war with the Courier Tribune (besides, it’s been a very one-sided war for a very long time - because you-all have held all the cards and played them in all the tightly-knit "right" circles, very close to the vest).

It went up in response to a grieving man’s plea that the sacrifice of his son’s fallen comrade-in-arms . . . his last full measure of devotion . . . not be brushed-off or easily forgotten.

But, as someone who believes in those ideals as Jacob did (and did my best to live them in a-different-kind-of service-to-my-country), if I don’t know anything else, I KNOW that Jacob Levy did not die to preserve the kind of “journalism” practiced by the Courier Tribune over the last 15-20 years.

As I alluded earlier using the immortal words of a martyred President, I KNOW in my bones that this young man’s sacrifice REQUIRES much more of the Courier Tribune than you and your “team” have delivered over the last decade or so . . . ignoring stories that don’t reflect well on the “right people”( who put Asheboro on life support in the first place) . . fawning all over Mike Miller while Community One failed . . . winking and nodding while our “non-profit” hospital pulled the strings and monopolized the resources that ultimately left Bob Morrison a rich man and the poorest in our community out in the cold . . . playing citizen against citizen for money (ala the alcohol and annexation wars) . . . turning a deaf ear as good-people-done-very-wrong PLEADED for your help in speaking truth to power . . . flat out pretending that certain people and situations did not exist . . . and now apparently thinking that elitism and racism have a place in marketing your latest offerings (clearly not realizing that this kind of approach to life and business has not already factored heavily into the “death” of our town).

NOTHING IS GOING TO "THRIVE" HERE UNTIL YOU CHANGE YOUR WAYS!!!

Now, Buzz was reluctant for me to post this response to your (insert unprintables) e-mail.  He is tired and heartbroken, and wants his son's friend to now rest in peace.  So do I.

But I told my friend this morning that if I know anything about Jacob Levy - from the things Buzz has shared - and the tributes and stories I've read online (everywhere, that is, except your newspaper), I know that Jacob Levy would tell him not to be afraid . . . to stand tall and proud . . . and (most of all) not to run from a fight you believe in.

I believe in this fight.  ALL of us in and from Randolph County deserve better.

Where do we find these young men and women? We find them in places like Ramseur and Asheboro. And we find them, I think, IN SPITE OF places like Asheboro and institutions like the Courier Tribune.

You’ve danced with Asheboro’s self-appointed “stars” for a long time, Annette. But I’ve got NEWS for you, lady . . .

. . . there are Lights that will shine far brighter in our skies tonight.

And the Star known as "Phoenix" puts you/the Courier Tribune to shame.

My sincere condolences to Jacob's family.  My thanks for his service and sacrifice.

Semper Fi.

The Quality Of Merce In Asheboro, North Carolina

12/8 Note to Readers:  This post has been updated.  And I'm pulling no punches.

I'm on a blogging break . . . for reasons restated in my last post (on Bob Morrison's real legacy) . . . but some recent developments scream for commentary.

Both the Courier Tribune and the Randolph Guide have "in-depth" stories on the disintegration of Asheboro's once-noble endeavor, the Merce Clinic.

The Clinic, started in 1992, by doctors with charitable intentions donating their time to the town's most indigent, is now "at death's door" (a strange choice of words for newspaper reporters otherwise desperately poo-pooing Forbes Magazine's 2008 "diagnosis" that listed Asheboro as one of the nation's "Top-Ten Dying Towns") . . . and clinic administrators/board members are begging for money . . . from a variety of sources - including Randolph Hospital, and the Randolph County Commissioners.

The history of the clinic includes at least two major "morphs" .. . first into a state-supported Rural Health Clinic . . . and then a Federal Health Center accepting Medicare and Medicaid (with one exception, every one of those I've worked for or encountered in my 14 years on the road, was a criminally-run money pit).

What's not stated in the Courier's article is that Randolph Hospital was pulling a lot of the strings behind the scenes (and if you read between the lines in the article, still is).  Rest assured, Bob Morrison and his "team" of rabid-dogs-out-to-kill-or-eat-every-private-practice-in-sight had their fingers in that pie . . . for reason$ that $uited them.

I guess Randolph Medical Associates (RMA) . . . "non-profit" Randolph Hospital's wholly-owned controlled affiliate . . . did not pick up all the slack for the community's poor and under-served . . . as hospital executives originally promised it would when developing that practice was pitched to city and county leaders.

In other words, RMA was SUPPOSED to be Merce.  And the practice and "mission" I was recruited to was a LIE.

For you see, RMA could not be Asheboro's "premiere" white-bread practice and Randolph Hospital's own personal money machine (always Bob Morrison's goal as he and Steve Eblin monopolized every resource in town - and bullied/manipulated every doctor) . . . if it really had to take care of people with no insurance and no money.  It was better for those folks to be dumped on the Merce Clinic and the Health Department (Sorry, Dick.  You've been a patsy all along - you just didn't know it.).

It was all a sick, warped game . . . with Bob Morrison walking away with over $700,000 in salary and benefits in the 2009 fiscal year.  Shortly, he'll be walking away from his version of the Titanic - with nary a backwards glance . . . and the journalistic dolts at the Courier Tribune still covering his lying tail.

According to the Courier's article, Merce's problems result from "poor management in the past and issues with productivity, billing, collections and marketing" (I had to blink several times as I could not believe I was reading such an forthright admission of local incompetence in the oh-so-upbeat Courier Tribune).  It is also in trouble with the IRS because of $34,000 in payroll taxes that were never paid (the funds were embezzled by the company hired to handle that aspect of the business).

The County Commissioners were dumbfounded by news of the clinic's fiscal troubles, and dismayed at the request for nearly a quarter-million dollars in emergency funding (money, I can assure you, that the Randolph County taxpayer will never, ever see again).  According to the article, most of the bunch sat silently by as their comrade Stan Haywood (a local pharmacist) fired a barrage of questions at Merce (and Randolph Hospital) Board member, Mimi Cooper (you see how this all works).

The article styled the Commissioner's collective silence as "deferring to Stan's knowledge of the healthcare industry."

And I'm sorry.  That's where I draw the line.

Like Dr. Jim Kinlaw (of White Oak Family Physicians - also a Randolph Hospital Board member - and like Bob Morrison, soon to retire), I once considered Commissioner Haywood a close family friend and colleague.  My sainted Mother taught his children (as she taught Jim Kinlaw's) at Loflin School, and I had known him for years before I came back home to Asheboro to practice.  I always thought he was a good egg.

Accordingly, I'd just like to know, exactly WHERE was Stan Haywood's vast knowledge of the healthcare industry - and his voice - when Dr. Mary Johnson . . . National Health Service Corps provider . . . state and Federal loan-repayment recipient . . . was ROYALLY SCREWED OVER by Bob Morrison, Steve Eblin and the rubber-stamping mill-town fat-cats running our local "non-profit" hospital?

In her presentation to the County Commissioners, Mimi Cooper (Director of the Randolph County Health Department and another ex-colleague), not-so-subtly trashed the Merce Board-of-Directors . . . implying that because a controlling percentage of them had to be clinic clients, that they were essentially too stupid to understand the Clinic's operating problems.

Sorting through all the crap was too much for them.  They could only pray for help.

Okay, fine.  But tell me, Mimi.  When it came to the case of Dr. Mary Johnson . . . local homegrown Pediatrician . . . who served pro-bono on your Child Fatality Task Force . . . who slogged through the child abuse cases (that no one else in town would touch) for the paltry reimbursement the state offered (only to be routinely ABUSED by the Randolph County Court jesters) . . . who covered Pediatric criticial-care back-up call for EVERYBODY 24-7 . . . who was happy with a reasonable salary for her hard work (as opposed to selling her life for fat incentives) . . . who was fired for saving a dying newborn baby's life & blowing the whistle on bad care . . .  then sued for telling the truth to the governments she served (after the hospital tried to cover it all up) . . . then swindled by PERJURY, CONTEMPT and FRAUD when she dared fight back . . . what is YOUR excuse?

What is Jim Kinlaw's excuse?  And what is Stan's?

Did ANY of you really smart, ethical, knowledgeable people with your "small town values" . . . so-called "experts" in healthcare . . . ask a SINGLE question about the hundreds of thousands of state and Federal dollars poured down the drain when NOT ONE, BUT TWO Pediatricians who came to Asheboro with the intent of making it their home forever were maliciously run out of town on a rail by Bob Morrison and Steven Eblin . . . all to cover up medical badness and serve the be$t fi$cal interest$ of Randolph Medical Associates . . .

. . . as opposed to the best interests of the children of this community?

If you're not STUPID, you're GUTLESS COWARDS AND SELL-OUTS (and I'm voting for the later because YOU ALL KNEW WHAT WAS DONE TO ME WAS WRONG).  Either way, you people make me sick.

"Experts" on healthcare?  That's a real HOOT!

There's a reason Asheboro is "dying".  And I've got news for the Randolph County Economic Development Corporation, all of the consultants and upbeat cheer-leading in the world are not going to fix it.  It's a good thing John Rogers is praying for all of you, because I simply cannot bring myself do it.

With regards to your predicaments now, you could say that the quality of my mercy is strained.

12/8 Late Evening Update

I am informed that tonight Mimi Cooper & company went begging for even more money from the Asheboro City Council . . . to the tune of $40,000.

Of course, they got it.  It was more or less a done deal before Mimi even asked.  That's the way things are done in Asheboro.

The same, sad/sorry excuses for the clinic's predicament were presented to the City Council that were presented to the Randolph County Commissioners just days earlier . . . and they go something like this:  "Yes, we've made some HUGE mistakes . . . and no, we cannot seem to manage our way out of a wet paper bag . . . and yes, the majority of our board is stupid (funny how Asheboro's "non-profits" never want to identify who sits on their boards and is legally RESPONSIBLE for the mistakes) . . . but if we adopt a new business model that pumps up the volume of paying patients (i.e. Medicare and Medicaid), and craps on the doctors providers (cranking up the clinic hours and working them to death is called increasing their "productivity"), we really hope we can make it work."

The holy name of Randolph Hospital was apparently thrown around tonight with gusto . . . . with Miss Mimi presenting Bob Morrison and his management "team" as a bunch of knights riding in on white horses to show Merce how it's done . . . nevermind that the Merce Clinic would not need to exist AT ALL if our "non-profit" hospital had done what it said it was going to do with Randolph Medical Associates . . . and honored the "mission" I was recruited to back in 1994.

The TRUTH is that if Randolph Hospital's leaders had kept their promises, Merce's patients, young and old, would have long ago been absorbed by RMA . . . and not now presented (by the very people who are supposed to SERVE THEM) as scallywags who would flood the already over-worked Emergency Department.

(As an aside, please don't get me started on the ER's Eric Helsabeck.  He's another Randolph Hospital medical stalwart who thought it would be easier to go along with the Bobber and crush the Pediatrician who told him the truth he didn't want to hear - as opposed to fixing the problems she brought to his attention.  The boys would all teach "the bitch" a lesson.  How's that working out for you, Eric?)

And girls and boys, there's a REASON that the highly-coveted designation of "Federally Qualified Health Center" (FQHC), if lost by the Merce Clinic, would NEVER again be awarded to ANY entity in Randolph County.

Inasmuch as their oversight SUCKS, the Feds KNOW that the "non-profit" healthcare system in Randolph County is run by imcompetents, crooks and liars.

What goes around.  And it's coming around for Asheboro in spades.  Welcome to the vacuum, Jim (Kinlaw).

The Courier's uber-uesless, grinning, aging-hippie-with-a-pen-for-sale, Chip Womick, was at the Council meeting . . . so tomorrow morning I guess we'll get to see how this colossal cluster-screw of the city & county taxpayer is viewed through the rose-colored glasses of the Randolph County Economic Development Corporation's happy rah-rah crowd.  Trouble is, the spinning these days needs a few cycles with heavy-duty bleach.  Even then it still smells.

The sinus-wash-worthy kicker of the evening came when Mayor David Smith said tonight that City Council members are going to be engaging in online ethics training.

That's only about two decades too late, David.  You might remember, Mr. Mayor, that my family and I BEGGED THE CITY COUNCIL for help getting our *&^%$#@! hospital to act ethically back in 2004.  You could not be bothered. And it's biting you now.  Too bad.  So sad.

I guess the quality of my mercy is still strained, huh?  Can't imagine why.