Real Name: Michael Strickland Member Since: August 21, 2007 Last Signed In: November 20, 2008 Profile Views: 868 Blog Views: 6146 No worries for Idaho State University Following This Historic Election, Discover One of the Civil Rights Movement's Unsung Heroes Babies and Beethoven: Infants can tell happy songs from sad, BYU study shows Pocatello will have a very special visitor on Monday, November 17th I Just Voted Obama Backers Gleeful While McCain's are Glum BYU statistician simulates “If the election were held today” Barack Obama is gunning for a national landslide A Video Letter to Barack Hussein Obama The McCain Palin Train Wreck of a Week August 07 September 07 October 07 November 07 December 07 January 08 February 08 March 08 April 08 May 08 June 08 July 08 August 08 September 08 October 08 November 08 Also see: http://essenceblack.blogspo... 
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Experts already know that sites like this one are the future of journalism. One nearby example of why this is the case, comes from the Post Register.
"In just the past year, newsprint prices have gone up 30 percent and gasoline prices are up more than that," an editorial from publisher Roger Plothow says. "Other than labor, those are the two main costs in delivering the Post Register to an area larger than some eastern states. Faced with these rising costs, the Post Register is left with three options: - Increase the subscription price. - Deliver Monday's paper online. - Go back to six-day-a-week service. Thousands of subscribers already use their free password to the Post Register's online edition. About 600 people have an online-only subscription." Plothow goes on to talk about the fact that as people learn to use the powerful tools of the Internet to find the news they need when they need it, news organizations are dedicating more and more resources to improving their web sites. "Your hometown paper needs to be ready when that day comes," he added. Which is why the newspaper is asking its readers to help experiment with an all-digital day. Plothow said that a lot of people are not only opposed to the idea of an online-only Monday, they're downright outraged. "We also know that not everybody has Internet access (it's about 70 percent in eastern Idaho, and growing every year), just as we know that even those who do have the Internet might prefer to read their paper on paper, so to speak. But our mission is to look after this special place now AND for future generations. As you probably know, most folks younger than 35 just give you a funny look when you suggest they might rather read a printed paper than view it online," the editorial reads. "Wouldn't you feel better knowing that the young of eastern Idaho are keeping up with local current events and not just what's on YouTube?" Plothow asks. "Technology is changing, business models are evolving and news consumption habits are in flux. The newspaper business, in particular, is changing -- many newspapers are faced with serious financial issues. While the Post Register has been spared the worst of these, it is not immune to the financial pressures of changing reader and advertiser habits." A recent discussion on the JHub questioned whether this site was useful. A short time later, The JHub reported more than 600 participants who had signed up in a little more than a year. The "old boy network" days of journalism are fading and will soon be gone. Participatory multimedia is here to stay. That is a good thing. ..comPlease take a moment to relax your mind and humble your heart to focus on Christ. Allow God to be the only person on your mind while you read this prayer. If we can take the time to read long jokes, stories, etc, we should give the same respect to this prayer. The words above are the beginning of a prayer which was was sent to me in an email from Lela Liggins and Alfreda Vann. These two spiritual women are among the anchors of the Pocatello NAACP, as well as many other community service organizations. My family is blessed to be on their mailing list. The prayer continues: Friends, who pray together, stay together. Dear Lord, I thank you for this day. I thank You for my being able to see and to hear this morning. I'm blessed because You are a forgiving God and an understanding God. You have done so much for me and You keep on blessing me. Forgive me this day for everything I have done, said or thought that was not pleasing to you. I ask now for Your forgiveness. *****
In Jesus' Name, Amen. Now that Portneuf Medical Center is in the middle of a heated discussion here on the JHub, it is a good time to look back at some perceptions of the core issues that began the massive controversy which has been discussed in great detail on the Idaho State Journal pages and in the Pocatello community.
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Others in the community agree with mbogo 's stated strategy above and have proceeded exactly as he suggests, by taking their concerns straight to PMC.
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Below is the text of a letter, which is now a couple of years old, from Dr. Robert L. Coray a general surgeon and former PMC board member, to the administration of the Portneuf Medical Center. Dr. Coray outlines his reasons for leaving the board and what he thinks is wrong with PMC:
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Dear Mr. Hermanson:
Since announcing my relocation I have yet to hear from PMC administrators or the board regarding my plans or reasons for leaving. Frankly, it is not at all surprising, nor is it without precedence. Over the past few months and years several high-quality physicians, nurses, surgical techs and other ancillary personnel have departed PMC and our community to escape the bureaucratic mess and intolerable medical environment that has enveloped our once-respected medical institution. Rarely, if ever, have these fine individuals been approached to find out the reasons for their leaving and seeking other employment opportunities. I wonder if the administration would contact Dr. Delarosa if he decided to leave . . . . ? Hmmmmm.
Indeed this lack of concern by the medical "leaders" would be akin to a surgeon continuing to operate on a hernia while ignoring a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm. At the very least, one would think it valuable to learn why the hemorrhage persists in order to place a much needed clamp.
For the record, let me list in specific terms why I am leaving my community of origin and the things that I believe, if not completely and rapidly corrected, will lead Pocatello's medical environment further spiraling downward to mediocrity and failure.
1) PMC is a county hospital owned by the citizens of Bannock County and should be capable of taking excellent care of those citizens without incurring debt and doubt. PMC should seriously ask itself why good caregivers are leaving and why nearly all the community has lost faith or trust in the hospital. Could it be that the physicians are suddenly incompetent or inadequate? I think not. For the moment there remain many capable, competent, caring, and skilled physicians here; sadly some of whom take business elsewhere and support other medical facilities who are more willing to meet physician and patient needs. Surely the continued outflow of patients and hospitals reflects dissatisfaction with the current management environment. "Care and Compassion" only goes so far when "incompetence and inefficiency" also resides in the same house.
2) Most families have a budget and are forced to stick to it. Instead of saving, planning and supporting the fundamental and basic care needs of the citizens of Bannock county, PMC elected to rush to purchase PRMC and hobble along with the "two inefficient campus" philosophy until the infamous "Heart and Vascular Center of Excellence" was forced upon the community - - all in a feeble effort to provide the capital to save us all from destruction and fund yet another consulting company to determine what we should have been doing all along. While the physicians on the hill are quite capable and render excellent care, I believe we are finding out that we really should just be a very, very good community hospital that does the basics well. A few of us physicians are on record as not supporting the gargantuan Heart Center effort from its beginning.
3) While I understand the need to follow JCAHO's accreditation recommendations, we have allowed the bully big brother to heap an insurmountable pile of bureaucratic garbage upon us. As an example, another surgeon and I had three large cases on the schedule for weeks and find out that the necessary materials are not available on the day of surgery. OK, mistakes happen - - although that particular event is largely inexcusable. The pathetic part is that the OR nurses and staff were more concerned that an updated piece of paper was not on the chart in order to wheel the patient back to the room. (The red-tape had been done, by the way.)
This kind of misfocused patient care is entirely unacceptable. PMC worries more about installing locking doors and name-tags to keep out who-knows-who from getting from the cafeteria to the ED than hiring or giving incentives to competent nurses on the floor. PMC continues to pay ungodly guaranteed salaries to cardiac specialists and yet alienates radiologists, surgeons, and anesthesiologists who have given years of service and dedication to the community. I would speculate that more money is spent killing trees to print the most current "Physician Chart Deficiency Notification" sheets weekly than the amount saved by not paying the general surgeons for trauma coverage. Maybe when all the local patients refuse to receive care at PMC the loyal JCAHO ministers will seek care at the Heart Center.
4) Finally, without so much as a hallway or phone consult, PMC once again ignored the general surgeons and hired a second cardiovascular surgeon, probably to cross-cover the Heart Institute, and become the "Vascular" portion of the Heart and Vascular Center, now that Dr. Whiting and the surgeons who have performed vascular surgery up to this point are alienated and obsolete. What arrogance and shortsightedness! It even makes the administration-physician relationships in Blackfoot appear admirable.
I truly hope for the sake of the good medical staff remaining in Pocatello that these and other issues can be promptly addressed so that patient care can once again return to an acceptable state. Hopefully, confidence can be restored and the hospital can repair the damage, indeed, the dreary perception, that things are not going as well as the PMC newsletters lead us to believe. Maybe the rumors that "have been floating around regarding potential changes in the governance model at PMC" should be heeded and "interested outside organizations" be allowed to purchase, realign, repair and run the hospital as a successful business for the benefit of the citizens of Bannock County.
Sincerely,
Dr. Robert L. Coray
Just a quick reminder of this weeks TLC (True Loyal Connections) Meeting. Tuesday, July 22nd, at Pasta & Vino’s 138 N. Main in Old Town Pocatello. Time: 11:45 to 1:00 pm La Bella Vita will be presenting for us this week. The sole purpose of this time is to meet with Business Owners, Managers and Leaders to network, pass referrals and have lunch. There is nothing to join, and no cost other than your lunch and a $1.00 voluntary donation to support our group. Bring a new friend and your lunch could be free! If you have any questions please call Troy Neu at 234-2679. Troy Neu 208-234-2679 Nearly ten years ago, Master Sgt. Albert Wilkerson and his wife heard rumors that The Wilkerson's met with members of the human rights movement in “In my time in the military, my life was threatened twice because of my race. I remember that rebel flags were raised over camp in Wilkerson continued, “When Obama announced, … for first time in my adult life, I felt like an equal American,” he said. “It made me think that even in a small state like With his words above, Wilkerson expressed this popular African American sentiment better than Michelle Obama, in her now famous quote: "for the first time in my adult life, I feel like I am proud of my country." I believe that "I felt like an equal American" was what Ms. Obama meant to say. Today in semi-retirement, Wilkerson gives historical presentations on African-American history in the West, especially the Buffalo Soldiers. The Wilkersons also raise Arabian and Tennessee Walker horses at their home near Athol. But despite a comfortable retirement, Wilkerson is “fired up and ready to go” about his presidential nominee, and he’s not shy about sharing his enthusiasm with others. “The people of this country, especially here in Family dinnertime is known to be good for children, and now research shows the family dinner hour can recharge employees and wipe away the strain of working long hours. Brigham Young University family scientist Jenet Jacob and colleagues analyzed data from 1,580 IBM employees who are parents. Their study, which appears in the June issue of Family and Consumer Sciences Research Journal, found that employees who could get home for dinner felt they worked in a healthy environment. “In our study, the level of interference with dinnertime was related to a perception of a healthy workplace, and that’s connected to job retention and productivity,” Jacob said. The study also found that making it home for dinner evened the scales for women trying to balance long work hours with family life. Normally the level of perceived work-family conflict directly increases with each hour worked. In this study, work-family conflict remained the same for women working up to 60 hours a week, so long as work did not interfere with dinnertime. “This shows bosses can get more out of employees if they’re having dinner,” Jacob said. “Parents, not just kids, benefit from time spent eating together.” Jacob’s BYU colleague and co-author on the study, E. Jeffrey Hill, collaborated with IBM on the design of the company’s Global Work and Life Issues Survey. The researchers say employers could take advantage of their findings through options like telecommuting and flexible work schedules. |
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Let me see if I have this right. You have some information that you think the PMC board ought to know, before making a decision about a company they are considering partnering with, but you want them to contact you instead of you contacting them?
How important is this information and whose responsibility do you think it is to get that information to the right people before they have to make a decision? As a government teacher once asked me, "Think about it and let me know what you decide" ...