Comments on vt.Buzz ~ a political blog: Donning the white coat

Matt Dunne for Governor!

2007-10-03T08:31:00.000-04:00

Matt Dunne for Governor!

So I guess you got no problem with robber baron ca...

2007-09-28T18:41:00.000-04:00

So I guess you got no problem with robber baron capitalists?

Ambition made America great!

2007-09-24T10:06:00.000-04:00

Ambition made America great!

How about an "transparently ambitious" gene?

2007-09-23T23:59:00.000-04:00

How about an "transparently ambitious" gene?

So Matt Dunne was just "born" with a liberal gene?...

2007-09-23T19:47:00.000-04:00

So Matt Dunne was just "born" with a liberal gene?

No, it's a little more complex than that.But in th...

2007-09-23T19:10:00.000-04:00

No, it's a little more complex than that.

But in the end, I'm glad we got a hospital upgrade that I doubt we would have gotten through the outdated CON process we have now.

you don't condone breaking the law ... but you thi...

2007-09-23T16:04:00.000-04:00

you don't condone breaking the law ... but you think it's a good thing -- ??!!

But when you get injured, you want a top notch hos...

2007-09-22T18:46:00.000-04:00

But when you get injured, you want a top notch hospital with first rate doctors and cutting edge equipment in a modern facility.

I do not condone what Boettcher did. But the above wasn't going to become reality through the normal channels of BISHCA approval.

...Boetcher is a crook, and Tarrant, in my opinion...

2007-09-21T15:42:00.000-04:00

...Boetcher is a crook, and Tarrant, in my opinion, played close to that line. As for the assertion that it was the "ultra politically correct environment in Burlington" that Boetcher was up against -- wrong! The Fletcher Allen board and coporate execs were nothing more than shady corporate bulleies up against an overworked and understaffed State of Vermont oversight team in Montpelier. BISHCA, fortunately for all of us, is neither politically correct or incorrect -- they just make certain the finance and health industry toes the line and doesn't cross it.

Face it, the Doctor and Nurse jobs suck.Doctors ca...

2007-09-21T10:52:00.000-04:00

Face it, the Doctor and Nurse jobs suck.

Doctors can make good money, but you can do just about as well in technology without the sleep deprivation, the $200k student loans, the really crappy hours, and call. Doc's don't make any serious money until they are well past being a resident.

Nurses just burn out and the hours suck.

So ... he was a crook, but a good crook??

2007-09-21T08:10:00.000-04:00

So ... he was a crook, but a good crook??

This confirms what I thought all along: we needed...

2007-09-21T06:23:00.000-04:00

This confirms what I thought all along: we needed the Renaissance Project, even though Boetcher went about it the wrong way. When we get sick or our children or parents or other loved ones are hurt, we want the local hospital to be the absolute f***ing BEST. We don't want to engage in a debate about whether this or that device or building is the most "cost-effective" thing, JUST FIX MY CHILD USING THE BEST TECHNOLOGY AND DOCTORS POSSIBLE! And to attract top notch doctors, you need a cutting edge hospital, not an aging M.A.S.H. unit.

Boetcher was obviously a crook, but I think he understood one thing: the ultra politically correct environment in Burlington would not alow him to push through the cutting edge development that FAHC needed if he went about it the conventional way.

Irony: ultra-whiner Freyne eventually had to go to FAHC for cancer treatment, and appears to have come out a convert.

It's really not surprising you didn't mention any ...

2007-09-20T19:08:00.000-04:00

It's really not surprising you didn't mention any tour of the administration offices. IMO, both Fletcher Allen and UVM are institutions with great people on the bottom and really questionable decision-makers at the top. FA's board may no longer be criminal, but has it risen a notch above dysfunctional yet. Sorry, I choose Dartmouth.

You're pretty witty in your blog Terri -- and writ...

2007-09-20T18:45:00.000-04:00

You're pretty witty in your blog Terri -- and write with a nice self-deprecating style. Enjoy reading your posts.

Can you say Renaissance Project 2? That's what the...

2007-09-20T14:44:00.000-04:00

Can you say Renaissance Project 2? That's what the Governor's FA plan will turn into eventually.

I hear the Governor's plan to build a new state ps...

2007-09-20T14:33:00.000-04:00

I hear the Governor's plan to build a new state psychiatric hospital at FAHC is down the tubes. Glad the Legislature saw it for what it was - an $80 million sweetheart deal, not a way to fix the mental health system.

I suspect there's still a bit of corruption on hospital hill these days. But I'll keep that anonymous so as not to end up with a toe tag after my next check up!

Terri - Your post appeared at about the same time ...

2007-09-20T14:24:00.000-04:00

Terri - Your post appeared at about the same time as there was an item on VPR about the state's Public Oversight Commission saying hospital rates in Vermont are going up too fast. Here's a quote from Greg Peters, the chair of the commission:

"And what we're saying is we have to live within our means, and living within our means is staying we think within the limits of the rate of inflation for the economy at large."

Overall inflation is running at no more than 3 percent, maybe closer to 2 percent. If hospitals like FAHC had to live with 2-3% increases a year, what would give? What services that you saw would have to be cut back?

If we want high-tech cutting edge medicine of the type on display at FAHC, does that also mean 7% annual increases, and the corresponding pressures on insurance premiums, employers' health care costs, and taxes to cover benefits for participants in Medicare, Medicaid, SCHIP, etc.?

Some readers might say "cut administrative costs and go to a single-payer system." Is there a single-payer system anywhere that doesn't end up rationing access to care through waiting lists? Canada and Britain certainly have this problem.