The Courier Tribune Strikes Again: When "Guest" Columnists Overstay Their Welcome (Subtitled: Give Bob Morrison A Forum And He Will Demonstrate Why Asheboro "Died")
Just when I think I'm out, they draw me back in . . . I have read a lot of garbage in Asheboro’s Courier Tribune over the last nearly 20 years. But a “guest opinion” column written by Robert Morrison, the “colorful” (as dubbed by all the “right people”) former CEO of Randolph Hospital, and published on the day after Thanksgiving, pretty much sits at the top of the stinking heap. I am posting this response on Facebook, and tagging Judge Rob Wilkins, because Morrison’s “opinion” (containing a not-so-veiled, uber-despicable swipe at Rob) deserves a forceful response. But it won’t get one ...
Source: Dr.J's HouseCalls - December 1, 2013 Category: Pediatricians Source Type: blogs
The Courier Tribune Strikes Again: When "Guest" Columnists Overstay Their Welcome
Just when I think I'm out, they draw me back in . . . I have read a lot of garbage in Asheboro’s Courier Tribune over the last nearly 20 years. But a “guest opinion” column written by Robert Morrison, the “colorful” (as dubbed by all the “right people”) former CEO of Randolph Hospital, and published on the day after Thanksgiving, pretty much sits at the top of the stinking heap. I am posting this response on Facebook, and tagging Judge Rob Wilkins, because Morrison’s “opinion” (containing a not-so-veiled, uber-despicable swipe at Rob) deserves a forceful response. But it won’t get one ...
Source: Dr.J's HouseCalls - December 1, 2013 Category: Pediatricians Source Type: blogs
On Drinking The Sand . . .
I have not blogged since January - and putting up a post that was supposed to the "the very last word" at Dr. J's Housecalls. This post will be simultaneously posted on Facebook.In recent weeks, I've been thinking a lot about a scene from "The American President" - ironically written and acted by people who (no doubt) all voted for Barack Obama. The movie was made in 1995 - the year I accepted the job at Randolph Medical Associates - under the "protection" of a National Health Service Corps public service agreement.With regards to healthcare in this country, the American People wanted leadership. B...
Source: Dr.J's HouseCalls - November 9, 2013 Category: Pediatricians Source Type: blogs
The Very Last Word At Dr. J's Housecalls: An Exchange Of Correspondence Between Steven Eblin, CEO of Randolph Hospital, And Dr. Mary Johnson, Homegrown Pediatrician From Asheboro - Who Wants To Come Home - Indeed, Who Never Wanted To Leave
On Friday morning, Buzz-Armfield-of-the-Asheboro-Armfields dropped 75 cents on a Greensboro News & Record so that I could read all about Edward Cone-of-the-Moses-Cone-Hospital-Cones putting down Word Up (his personal blog).Ironically, you could not read the article in its entirety online. And, as of today, the story has no comments. It was a fitting last nail in the coffin of the notion of "citizen journalism" that brought me to the blogosphere in 2005.I had my say on Ed's departure on Facebook. After so many words on Word Up - which, as far as I can tell, made no real difference in anything, Ed final...
Source: Dr.J's HouseCalls - March 24, 2013 Category: Pediatricians Source Type: blogs
You Could Say That It Just Took Time
I had not planned to put up any new posts. But this Time Magazine article is, hands-down, the BEST-researched and written article I have EVER read on what is wrong with our healthcare system . . . particularly our "non-profit" healthcare system. And it totally underscores why, in the battle with Randolph Hospital, the lone Pediatrician's fight for justice was doomed from the start.WHY MEDICAL BILLS ARE KILLING USPlease note the article's length. Some stories cannot be told in a soundbite. Perhaps I was in the wrong venue all along. (Source: Dr.J's HouseCalls)
Source: Dr.J's HouseCalls - March 4, 2013 Category: Pediatricians Source Type: blogs
In Light Of Recent Events: The Words Of A Great Man Provide Some Small Comfort For This Wounded Soul . . .
“Never, never be afraid to do what's right, especially if the well-being of a person or animal is at stake. Society's punishments are small compared to the wounds we inflict on our soul when we look the other way.” - The Reverend, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (click the blue link for another MLK, Jr. quote) (Source: Dr.J's HouseCalls)
Source: Dr.J's HouseCalls - January 21, 2013 Category: Pediatricians Source Type: blogs
CASE DISMISSED: A Randolph County Judge's Decision Resoundingly Demonstrates Why Employed And Contracted Physicians In North Carolina Desperately Need Legislative Help, Legal Reform And Protection From The Hospitals They Work For
CONCLUSIONS ARE, I WILL NEVER AGREE WITH ANY OF THE LEGAL LOGIC THAT ALLOWED TWO NON-PROFIT HOSPITAL EXECUTIVES TO BEHAVE LIKE COMMON BULLIES AND THIEVES . . . THAT ALLOWED THEM TO ACT SO AMORALLY AND UNETHICALLY WITH TOTAL IMPUNITY . . . THAT ALLOWED THEM TO GET RICH DOING SO . . . THAT EXCUSES THEIR LYING, CHEATING AND STEALING ON A LEGAL TECHNICALITY. Additionally, in his ruling, Judge Albright absolves Garland Yates of responsibility for the behavior and performance of his ADA’s . . . from bullying the testimony of witnesses in a child sex abuse case that was ultimately overturned on appeal (because the accused...
Source: Dr.J's HouseCalls - January 19, 2013 Category: Pediatricians Source Type: blogs
Lance Armstrong
This is what liars do. (Source: Dr.J's HouseCalls)
Source: Dr.J's HouseCalls - January 18, 2013 Category: Pediatricians Source Type: blogs
Governor McCrory Wants My Ideas
Beverly Perdue is GONE. Let us all pause to give thanks that the once-great state of North Carolina survived her tenure in office (just barely). A musical piece comes to mind:Pat McCrory wants ideas. So this "disgruntled ex-employee" (times two) sent him one:In theory, Obamacare threw 30 million more patients into the healthcare system without creating a single new physician.Many physicians are turning to employment by hospitals - or large corporations - instead of owning their own practices.Yet employment laws in North Carolina treat physicians no better than janitors. Hospitals are allowed to trea...
Source: Dr.J's HouseCalls - January 6, 2013 Category: Pediatricians Source Type: blogs
"Speak Up And Risk Destroying Your Career"
Marty Makary on CNN:A new phenomenon, quite different from when my father practiced medicine, is that doctors and nurses now say they feel like they are tenants working for their landlord: the hospital management. Often, doctors and nurses know how to make care better and safer but feel stripped of the power to make necessary changes.This worker-management disconnect (even antagonism) in any industry is dangerous. In medicine this workplace atmosphere, complicated by perverse economic incentives and weak systems of accountability, contributes to a hospital culture marked by a lack of a sense of communal ownership in the ov...
Source: Dr.J's HouseCalls - January 2, 2013 Category: Pediatricians Source Type: blogs
If History Is Any Indicator, A New Year Will Likely Make No Difference For Justice In Randolph County
The story of Tim Greene's political signs made the Courier Tribune's list of top ten stories for 2012 . . . with the paper dutifully regurgitating Sheriff Maynard Reid's contorted "reasoning" (a pretzel turn that actually has NOTHING to do with what a relatively new law actually says) for letting Randolph County DA's brother skate. The law is clear. Tony Yates did not have any right to touch signs on Tim's property - in or out of the right-of-way - until ten days after the election. But all the Courier can do is regurgitate what it's told. It cannot investigate or question Asheboro's powers...
Source: Dr.J's HouseCalls - January 2, 2013 Category: Pediatricians Source Type: blogs
A Visit From Christmas Present: A Funny Thing Happened On My Way To Pediatric Board-Recertification
I put THE-Christmas-Card-that-makes-it-Christmas under the Christmas Cross in the kitchen window this year. And late on Christmas night . . . finally alone with my thoughts . . . and with just the blue lights on the Cross turned on to dance out over the fresh snow in the front yard . . . I had inadvertently created an ethereal, Dickensish backdrop against which to contemplate Christmases Past, Present and Future. It certainly gave "Blue Christmas" a new meaning . . . for all that it seems the Ghosts are prodding me towards a certain path...
Source: Dr.J's HouseCalls - December 28, 2010 Category: Pediatricians Source Type: blogs
" Independence Day " : A Board-Certified Pediatrician's Thoughts On The American Board Of Pediatrics' New " Maintenance of Certification " Requirements
< span style= " color: #073763; font-size: 85%; " > < b > < i > *Note to Housecalls Readers: & nbsp;This post, one of less than 20 that are not archived off-line, has been edited to eliminate links and dated material/references. & nbsp;The post remains up because the topic of " Maintenance of Certification " is a much hotter topic than it was when this post initially went up. & nbsp;It ' s a foot-print in the ether that I want to keep planted. < /i > < /b > < br / > < strong > < em > < /em > < /strong > < br / > < strong > < em > *Additional Warning to the Lay-Reader: There will lots of abbreviations in this post. We doct...
Source: Dr.J's HouseCalls - July 4, 2010 Category: American Health Source Type: blogs
"Independence Day": A Board-Certified Pediatrician's Thoughts On The American Board Of Pediatrics' New "Maintenance of Certification" Requirements
Note to Housecalls Readers: I was actually working on this post last week, but did not have the time to complete it in time for this week's Medical Grand Rounds (the theme of which is Medical Education). I submitted my June 27th post on "Medical Economics in Asheville and Asheboro" instead . . . with my fingers crossed. Alas, it was not included. Apparently, what we lowly grunt physicians learn in "the-school-of-hard-knocks" (i.e. Pediatric Newbies, PLEASE Google the mill-town megalomaniacs who are trying to sell you their notions of "partnership" before you sign) doesn't count for anything with the high-brow sub-specialis...
Source: Dr.J's HouseCalls - July 4, 2010 Category: Pediatricians Source Type: blogs
When The Rabbit Screams
The Asheville teenager whomade Yahoo yesterday for changing her legal name to "CutOutDissection.com" madeCNN today.After jumping through hoop after hoop . . . after three years of blogging . . . after writing gadzillions of words and composing both short versions and long versions of my story-of-woe . . . this "health-care hero" (yes, that was sarcasm) has lost track of the people who ' ve told her she needs a " hook " or " angle " or " gimmick " in order to get a reporter ' s attention (that, of course, would be a REAL reporter - outside of Asheboro or Greensboro).I ' ve never bought it. I ' m one of those ...
Source: Dr.J's HouseCalls - October 14, 2008 Category: American Health Source Type: blogs
