Digging up Bones

A couple of posts back, Red Dog posted the following:

They're Stealing our Burn Center!
The Burn Center loses a doctor and decides it can't attract another one so DRMC will close the Burn Center to admissions after May 31. The Burn Center has and always will be a losing proposition economically to the citizens of Washington County. Now, the University Mecical Center is looking into providing the service on their campus in Jackson, but can't do it without $10 Million from the Legislature. Wouldn't $10 Million help DRMC in a search for a doctor? This, of course, begs the question, If the Legislature would fund the money, why hasn't DRMC asked before? Missed opportunities. The Burn Center will be gone and Washington County taxpayers will be better off because of it.

Red Dog loves it when he digs up a bone, even if it is by accident. The answer is, they never asked. Humphreys says he talked to other Congressmen, agencies and the Guv'ner's office. Well, Red Dog sniffs a rat or maybe doggy pooh. The statement from Humphreys, printed in the DDT, doesn't match the quote. All it probably boils down to is that the Board of Trustees and Humphreys decided they had had enough of the Burn Center and voted to kill it. Dr. Love leaving was the deciding factor and a convenient excuse. Truth be known they haven't even looked for a replacement plastic surgeon.

The DDT goes on a tear against the local congressmen for not supporting the Burn Center. I guess they never called one of them to find out, huh? Mr. Humphreys releases a CYA statement that the DDT was "misleading and inappropriate" toward our congressmen, then he throws in some patient safety crap just to cover up what's between the lines.

Two things: DDT - I'm not a journalist and I don't like to tell people how to do their job, but ... could you do some real investigative reporting before you take people to task for not doing their job? Mr. Humphreys - why don't you just be forthcoming and explain that you do not want the Burn Center because of the drain on hospital resources? It's really very simple.

Dammit! I said I hated local politics. I think it's just incompetence and dishonesty and it can come from anywhere.