11-09-2012, 03:29 PM
SHAME ON THE BAY CLINIC!
As many know the issue of quality health care in Hawaii is real and that we have a dire need for good doctors willing to put down roots in our community and serve us throughout our lives. What many may not know is that a lot of our doctors come to us via a federal program in which doctors (often fresh out of medical school and their residency) commit to work in clinical settings in rural America for three years in exchange for their debt from tuition loans etc., being retired. This program is probably what keeps Hawaii from being so under staffed with medical professionals that we would otherwise have an utter crisis in our community.
The Bay Clinic is in large part staffed through this program. I personally have been a patient of the Bay Clinic, at different locations, for over 15 years. During that time I have seen doctors that should never have been licensed, one in particular who's lack of professionalism has contributed to my loosing a major portion of my lung function. Though for the last three years I have been under the care of the best doctor I have ever met (at the Pahoa Family Health Center).
When the doctor I speak of started, and I realized how good, sincere, caring, and incredibly talented she is, I began lobbying her to consider that at the end of her three year commitment she and her family stay here and that she continue practicing medicine here for her life. During that time we had many opportunities to discuss the pros and cons, and I watched as her family became more and more rooted in our community, and had real hope that she would stay.
There are a lot of arguments why someone who spent more than twelve years to learn their skill, are highly educated, and marry spouses that are also, as well as want the same opportunities for their children, would leave after such a commitment. And, to be honest I can not argue against that when I consider the quality of our educational system etc. For real, how could we ask someone of that caliber to, in so many ways, give up the potential they have worked so hard to have in order to be a part of our community, when a real first class doctor can earn so much and have so many greater opportunities for themselves and their family elsewhere?
In any event, over the years I have gotten the sense that our community has grown on her, and that at least for the time being she was willing to continue working for the Bay Clinic, and through them serve hundreds, if not thousands, of us with real top shelf medical care. This was something I have prayed for for a long time, and I had real hopes to be able to continue under her care into the foreseeable future.
My doctor's three year contract is now up, and yes for the time being she wished to stay here, to serve us, and remain an exemplary member of our community. This is a woman with three children and a highly educated husband, who has bought a home in our community, and has worked diligently, professionally, and with complete devotion to her patients, and has seemingly fallen in love with us as much as we have with her.
Unfortunately the upper management of the Bay Clinic does not respect the effort she has made, nor do they appear to care about the health and welfare of their own staff. My doctor carried a large patient workload daily, and worked twelve hour days as a matter of routine. Anyone that has a family knows that working such long hours is detrimental to the wellbeing of their family. In keeping such hours she was denied the opportunity to have dinners with her family, to be involved with their lives in all those little way that make such a difference, like helping your kids with their homework etc., or being there in her children's lives enough to be able to really feel that she is a part of their upbringing.
As my doctor's three year contract was coming to an end she, and the rest of the staff of the Pahoa Family Medical Center, put together a plan that would allow the staff to continue serving the community at the same volume of patients, but at the same time be able to go home at a reasonable hour. When this plan was presented to the administration of the Bay Clinic they flatly refused to consider it, and, as a result my doctor felt (and I believe justifiably) that she had no choice but to table her resignation. As a result, at the end of this month we will loose one of the greatest doctors that have even come to our island. Now whether she and her family stays is up in he air, and I for one feel an incredible loss.
All this is to say that the upper management of the Bay Clinic is NOT serving our community! In fact, for reasons I can not fathom, they are working against us, while at the same time draining thousands, if not millions, of dollars (in the form of funding they receive to serve us) from our community without giving a damn about us or their staff that work so tirelessly to be there for us! I am truly sickened by this and hope you are too. I do not know what to do, who to file a complaint with, or how to get the pencil pushers to understand that they are screwing up so bad. But if any of you have any ideas please voice them. This is an incredible loss that I do not believe we as a community can continue to bare.
I am sorry for such a long winded post, but truthfully I am so hurt, and would wish that the community as a whole could understand this problem, and over time hope that there is a way to influence this type of situation. Our community deserves it.
As many know the issue of quality health care in Hawaii is real and that we have a dire need for good doctors willing to put down roots in our community and serve us throughout our lives. What many may not know is that a lot of our doctors come to us via a federal program in which doctors (often fresh out of medical school and their residency) commit to work in clinical settings in rural America for three years in exchange for their debt from tuition loans etc., being retired. This program is probably what keeps Hawaii from being so under staffed with medical professionals that we would otherwise have an utter crisis in our community.
The Bay Clinic is in large part staffed through this program. I personally have been a patient of the Bay Clinic, at different locations, for over 15 years. During that time I have seen doctors that should never have been licensed, one in particular who's lack of professionalism has contributed to my loosing a major portion of my lung function. Though for the last three years I have been under the care of the best doctor I have ever met (at the Pahoa Family Health Center).
When the doctor I speak of started, and I realized how good, sincere, caring, and incredibly talented she is, I began lobbying her to consider that at the end of her three year commitment she and her family stay here and that she continue practicing medicine here for her life. During that time we had many opportunities to discuss the pros and cons, and I watched as her family became more and more rooted in our community, and had real hope that she would stay.
There are a lot of arguments why someone who spent more than twelve years to learn their skill, are highly educated, and marry spouses that are also, as well as want the same opportunities for their children, would leave after such a commitment. And, to be honest I can not argue against that when I consider the quality of our educational system etc. For real, how could we ask someone of that caliber to, in so many ways, give up the potential they have worked so hard to have in order to be a part of our community, when a real first class doctor can earn so much and have so many greater opportunities for themselves and their family elsewhere?
In any event, over the years I have gotten the sense that our community has grown on her, and that at least for the time being she was willing to continue working for the Bay Clinic, and through them serve hundreds, if not thousands, of us with real top shelf medical care. This was something I have prayed for for a long time, and I had real hopes to be able to continue under her care into the foreseeable future.
My doctor's three year contract is now up, and yes for the time being she wished to stay here, to serve us, and remain an exemplary member of our community. This is a woman with three children and a highly educated husband, who has bought a home in our community, and has worked diligently, professionally, and with complete devotion to her patients, and has seemingly fallen in love with us as much as we have with her.
Unfortunately the upper management of the Bay Clinic does not respect the effort she has made, nor do they appear to care about the health and welfare of their own staff. My doctor carried a large patient workload daily, and worked twelve hour days as a matter of routine. Anyone that has a family knows that working such long hours is detrimental to the wellbeing of their family. In keeping such hours she was denied the opportunity to have dinners with her family, to be involved with their lives in all those little way that make such a difference, like helping your kids with their homework etc., or being there in her children's lives enough to be able to really feel that she is a part of their upbringing.
As my doctor's three year contract was coming to an end she, and the rest of the staff of the Pahoa Family Medical Center, put together a plan that would allow the staff to continue serving the community at the same volume of patients, but at the same time be able to go home at a reasonable hour. When this plan was presented to the administration of the Bay Clinic they flatly refused to consider it, and, as a result my doctor felt (and I believe justifiably) that she had no choice but to table her resignation. As a result, at the end of this month we will loose one of the greatest doctors that have even come to our island. Now whether she and her family stays is up in he air, and I for one feel an incredible loss.
All this is to say that the upper management of the Bay Clinic is NOT serving our community! In fact, for reasons I can not fathom, they are working against us, while at the same time draining thousands, if not millions, of dollars (in the form of funding they receive to serve us) from our community without giving a damn about us or their staff that work so tirelessly to be there for us! I am truly sickened by this and hope you are too. I do not know what to do, who to file a complaint with, or how to get the pencil pushers to understand that they are screwing up so bad. But if any of you have any ideas please voice them. This is an incredible loss that I do not believe we as a community can continue to bare.
I am sorry for such a long winded post, but truthfully I am so hurt, and would wish that the community as a whole could understand this problem, and over time hope that there is a way to influence this type of situation. Our community deserves it.
