Conflicts occur when medical practices are balanced against profitability. Our two major non-profit hospitals in Idaho are in the middle of a cultural war that they have no idea how to extricate themselves from. It comes at a time when some very bad business decisions were made long before Covid arrived on the scene and […]
Any discussion about abortion should be proceeded with the following statements: “There is no sin greater than God’s Providential Mercy and forgiveness” We should all examine the “logs in our own eyes before being critical of the slivers in the eyes of others”. And finally, we are called to remember that “he who is without […]
One of the great tragedies that has come out of the Covid political pandemic has been the loss of reputation and respect given to the medical profession by the public. There are many reasons for this. It has been a long time in the making. It actually began many years ago and there are many […]
I was out of the state when I received a call from my nephew telling me my sister would be life flighted to St. Al’s in Boise, from Weiser. She had been diagnosed with Covid several days earlier and was on a small amount of oxygen at home. Fearing my sister would die in St. Al’s, I […]
My covid journey started with my trip to the local clinic to get tested. They had me drive my car to the back parking lot where a nurse came out and did the test and took my temp. Then the PA came out to tell me it was positive and I had 101 fever. I […]
It is truly sad what has happened to the two major hospitals in the Treasure Valley, as it now appears that their commitment is to their bottom line and not the welfare of their patients. In this issue of the Gem State Patriot, we have a letter from a Washington County Commissioner Kirk Chandler who […]
In November of 2002, I sat down in the ICU at St. Al’s after a long night of operating and trauma call. I tried to read one of my “op Notes” from a surgery that I had done about 5 hours earlier. Though I dictated the note, the grammar, syntax, disjointed paragraphs, and sentences were […]
In 1977-1978, I was the medical officer on the USS Virginia (CGN-38). She was an awesome ship that was powered by two Nuclear Reactors. The prototype is still at the INEEL and the two reactors from the ship are now “mothballed” at Hannaford on the Columbia River. We had 500 men on the ship and […]
I have lived in Boise for 34 years. During that time, I have had many patients who either were or later entered into politics. Legislators, Mayors, three Governors. Several in that group shared a goose blind together years ago. Many of us attended daily Mass at St. Alphonsus on the 4th floor at 1200 noon […]
Hundreds of millions of federal dollars have flowed into our two major hospitals yet they were unprepared for this crisis and have had to institute a “Crisis Standards of Care Emergency”. We know that these hospitals were letting nurses go during the past year and that there was a shortage so to make matters worse […]
This past week Kevin Miller had Dr. Cole on his show to present the real facts about Covid 19 and the emergency use of vaccines. He appears to be the only voice of reason in a sea of confusion when it comes to this virus, vaccines and immunity. After listening to him I certainly would […]