Laura, crossing the creek in el Delta
Kevin, on the other side of the creek from me, playing by himself My name is in the Washington Post, for good and for bad. They ran a series of articles on the health care provided in immigration detention centers for which I was interviewed. I'm quoted in the May 11 article. The next day they published the story of a patient of mine who (this was reported) has been in the correctional system for years and some psychiatric issues, which are both facts which should lead one to verify her claims before publishing them. There were a lot of misleading statements published along with outright untruths. On Saturday the 17th they published an edited version of a letter I wrote to them.
Generally speaking, it's really disconcerting to see a major paper publish inflammatory, non-researched statements as facts. Personally speaking, it's really sad to see how she characterized one of our last conversations. I had appointments with her weekly and then did chart reviews and spent a lot of time with her nurse practitioner taking care of her case after she moved to our other facility (where I was also the only physician). I don't remember seeing her on the tarmac, but if I was riding a Cushman (as she journals) then I was likely on my way to an emergency since I didn't usually ride that unless I was in a hurry. Also, I couldn't have had a real conversation with her out on the tarmac since men and women could not move past each other outside, and I would not have been allowed to hold up traffic of the entire detention center to do that.
I worked really hard there, and treated my patients with dignity. I even, along with the help of my fabulous administrator, changed the clinic culture to one that was simultaneously more streamlined, gave better care, and offered more respectful intervention. Sigh.
You want to know something beautiful? A good friend of mine wrote the following in response to my above post, "As I must remind myself, we are not judged by this world, but by the one who loves us and has justified us, and he is so pleased with us." So beautiful, and so true.
Realization: I've been using my inhaler daily these past few weeks, and was getting worried that my asthma was worsening. However, I've been sort of out of touch with the news, and hadn't heard that the volcanic ash from the recent eruption in Chile had actually reached Buenos Aires. That explains it! Here's a National Geographic site with photos. Please pray for the farmers who have lost their livestock.
