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Doctor’s power might just be paradox
Published Sunday, April 13, 2008
English class was always boring to me. I liked reading and writing enough, but some of the nuances and grammatical restrictions just annoyed me.
Many of you who’ve seen grammatical errors in my weekly column can attest to the fact that I should have paid more attention in English class.
So it’s no surprise that a few highlights of what I’ll refer to as “good” English and literature lessons stand out from my public high school days.
One of my favorites was the discussion of paradoxes. That’s a fancy word; a friend would call it a 50-cent word.
A paradox is a statement that seems true, yet contradicts itself.
“If God can do anything, can he create a rock so large that he cannot pick up?”
As a high schooler, that sort of boggled my pimpled head.
Interestingly, despite an unshaken faith in the Father, it’s still an interesting thing to consider.
That paradox came back to me a week or so ago, ironically, when someone was talking about one of the biggest issues facing our community right now — the future of Natchez Regional Medical Center.
Buried in debt, poor management decisions and a short-term cash flow problem the public hospital is on the verge of bankruptcy.
In fact, that’s probably not strong enough. The hospital is going to file bankruptcy, but the paperwork just isn’t finished.
Last week, in discussing the hospital’s woes with a reader, the person said something to the effect that too many local doctors had god complexes.
That’s the not-so-pretty phrase some people use to describe physicians who may think they’re better than others because of the amazing, life-saving work they do.
Somehow in my head that phrase, god complexes, began rolling around with the old paradox.
Could a group of people with god complexes build something so big that they can’t pick it up?
First, most physicians I’ve met in the area — men, women, young, old, black, white — are just like the rest of us. Sure, they may earn a good living, but most of them work hard, fear and respect the only true God and send their children to T-ball and soccer like everyone else.
So the god-complex label might be overstated hype.
But what kind of powers do the physicians really have, I thought.
Essentially, physicians aren’t god-like at all — at least in terms of Natchez Regional’s future, or any large changes in the face of healthcare in the region.
They are, essentially, ants.
That’s correct, they’re ants, at least by themselves.
Lone-wolf ants can’t really get much done. Sure, they might bite you and put a little hurt on you, but they’re virtually powerless by themselves.
Group them together, however, and massive construction projects can get done. Leave a group of ants alone for a bit and watch how much of a mound they can create.
Working together, ants can mow through work.
So what would happen if our local doctors joined forces?
Could their collective support of one hospital force another out of business?
Could their combined power decide the shape of healthcare in the future?
All good questions that take me back to a bend on the original paradox.
Can Natchez-area physicians hold the power to truly change the face of healthcare, whenever and however they wish, but not be able to see it?
Kevin Cooper is publisher of The Natchez Democrat. He can be reached at 601-445-3539 or kevin.cooper@natchezdemocrat.com.
Comments
Posted by Peace007 (anonymous) on April 13, 2008 at 9:33 a.m. (Suggest removal)
The fact of the matter is that without sick patients in need of healing, doctors would just be over educated human beings, but poor like us, and unable to afford gas, groceries, and healthcare. In other words, the doctor needs the patient as much as the patient needs the doctor.
Posted by kpage (anonymous) on April 13, 2008 at 1:13 p.m. (Suggest removal)
...but most doctors will make you feel like you're the stupidest person on earth and that they could care less if you can't afford the medicine he prescribes you. They're kinda like politicians...they forget they work for us, and not themselves. If doctors hate us so bad, why are they doing it anyway? MONEY TALKS AND BS WALKS!!! My advice to arrogant doctors is "go work on a stray dog if you could care less". OH, I forgot, that takes heart.
Posted by ericstratton (anonymous) on April 13, 2008 at 4:02 p.m. (Suggest removal)
kpage,next time you're sick or someone in your family needs medical attention , call your local politician for help not your doctor
Posted by ntzmom (anonymous) on April 13, 2008 at 5:11 p.m. (Suggest removal)
My Dr. is amazing. I have been to jerk doctors that most definitely have a God complex, so, I never went back.
I now use Dr. Iles and Dr. Stubbs. These two doctors are the most caring men I have ever met. They do care about the cost of medicine, they don't make women feel stupid, these two save lives and theors hearts are in it!
Posted by adamstanton (anonymous) on April 14, 2008 at 7:41 a.m. (Suggest removal)
You have two hospitals there, one affiliated with other hospitals in other parts of the country and one that is a stand alone hospital with no afffiliation outside of Natchez. If you take away the loss of revenues expended at most hospitals from seeing patients in the ER, that don't have coverage but yet know that they can't be turned away, they might survive. But when you are a hospital such as Regional built with tax dollars you can'turn patients away no matter of their abilitay to pay which is in many cases a money losing situation. And then you get a money hungry Physcican that knows he can build an off site day surgery facility without an ER and because he got big money to back him he doesn't have to have an ER or accept anyone without insurance or if the patient goes bad during the surgery he can transfer him to the local hospital well it is a recipe for disastor for the hospital. I am not familiar with the situation down there but I know one thing if you have that type situation going on then there is only one person to blame, or group of persons for the financial demise. Since Elective surgeries or procedures are not required to be done by law then wham bam looky looky the people that built the off site day surgery can bill for the procedure not have any of the loss of revenue of an E R and if the procedure goes bad pass the now crashing patient in need of a hospital on to the Facility that they no longer truly support now that would create a money losing relationship. With friends like that who would need enemies.
Posted by destiny (anonymous) on April 14, 2008 at 1:10 p.m. (Suggest removal)
kpage look over the the nay-sayers here. I'm with you. There are several so-called doctors in Natchez that should be run out of town on a rail. Money grubbers that do not care for a patient only how much money they can dig into their pockets to extract. One of them kept me so broke, taking everything I could make in salary, until I finally woke up to his scheme. I was so stupid, I sat on my couch one day writing my obit when I realized that it wasn't time for me to die. I flushed all the prescriptions, that were making me sick and keeping me sick, down the toilet. It took several weeks to get back to normal but I finally did. In the meantime I found out exactly what this so-called doctor was doing to keep his pockets full of all the patients money and it floored me. This one doctor in particular will have to face God one day and answer for all his wrong doings. It's the only consolation I have right now, but I know he will have to answer to a power much stronger than what he considers himself.
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