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Show Letters to the editor Medical concerns Editor: In 1975 we moved to this city. At that time I began working at Valley View Medical Center in the laboratory. I was looking for a family doctor so I began observing the physicians of this city. You see them all in the hospital. I also became, because of my position there, a target for their tempers. I was not impressed with what I saw, except for one. The one I picked attended me for two years and then moved to Salt Lake City. So the search began again. The other one that I had some faith in took care of me for another two years. He has since also left town. In 1979 1 became a personal nurse for one of the physicians in a clinic. My education of the ethics of the doctors . , increased . considerably as attitudes, temperaments, barbs concerning other, doctors, feelings about the patients,' lack of concern towards patients, concern about their own comforts, etc. surfaced from the established GP's. It seemed to me there was an attitude that I named the Cedar City Doctor Syndrome. Syn-drome. The doctors suffer from it. It means "Give the patient only enough care that they are satisfied enough to doctor, but maybe you might not have to in the future if we can make our feelings known and have peace between the medical community. But, it's worth it to me. Without my life, I don't have anything, do I? These views are strictly my own. I have not been pressured by anyone to give them other than the doctors that are causing the problems that are forcing these doctors out of town. ; Bonnie L. DePew Here to stay Editor: Cedar City now has several new physicians and hopefully more on the way. We have had excellent acceptance ac-ceptance from the people of Cedar City. j Our acceptance has been somewhat less enthusiastic from the local medical community. Everyone has their own interests to look after, and I suppose Xhey rcahhdt 1 be1 faulted for this. ' ' Since Dr. Paul Christiansen i'artd' myself have opened our off ices in Cedar City o our office personnel have received multiple threatening phone calls. In the case of Dr. Christianson, one of his employees has been harrassed to the point that her children have been threatened. Because of this she has terminated her position with his office. I am writing this letter for three reasons. First to let the people of Cedar City know we have an individual in our town low enough to seek his ends by threatening children. Second, to extend a "warm invitation" to whoever is making these phone calls to please call me. As a matter of fact, I would welcome the chance to meet with him personally. I'm sure our meeting would leave a "lasting impression". And, third, to let everyone know that I am in Cedar City to stay. Dr. Paul W. Nielsen come back, and no more." I am no longer working because my 1 health will not permit it. I continued to 1 use the clinic and doctor for two years simply because there were no doctors in town that could offer anything better. Since the arrival of the new hospital administrator, he has brought in three 1 new independent doctors. I have been I treated by two of them, and I was overjoyed that we finally had the' : quality of care it is our right to have. I am talking about Drs. Nielsen, Christensen and McClellan. When I say it is our right to have good medical care, I mean that you, the patient, pay for that service, and you have a right to the best possible care. It also follows, that if a new doctor comes into, town, especially - a specialist, he has the same right to establish a following and help out the established physicians that do not have the; morc.complete., training , that the r specialists, do; What 'ape our- doctors:' afraid of? Try getting an appointment in a clinic around here. How many days do you have to wait? How many hours do you have to wait? But, heaven help anyone who tries to move in on their territory. Now, I, as a private citizen have had enough. I have talked to quite a few other people who have started going to Dr.' Nielsen and Dr. Christensen. They have had enough. Next week we are going to do a telephone survey to ( see how many other people in Cedar City feel the way we do and want the medical services we deserve. Now it seems that the patients of these two doctors are again going to be searching for new doctors. As for Dr. ! McClellan, he will have no referrals from the clinics, so he will have no income. He will undoubtedly not be far 1 behind in leaving. Granted, the hospital did subsidize these doctors and this has been a thorn in the craw of the new clinic doctors. They say they were not so subsidized by the hospital. True. However, these doctors came in with no patients. The new doctors coming into the clinic do, however, get a salary from the clinic they work for. Isn't that subsidy? Or are you working for the clinic for nothing? To Drs. Nielsen, Christensen and McClellan: Thank you for: The security of having a doctor that cared in a holistic way. The best medical service you could provide. I" Hospital care when it was needed. I Two hospital rounds a day to see the patient. Giving as much time as was needed to put the patient at ease. Referrals to specialists when you needed extra advice. Returned calls after hours within minutes. Knowing illness is not a 10:30 to 5:, just the days you are in your office; problem. Good bedside manner. Just being yourselves, doctors that are exactly that, not just a person with a license, but a person with dedication. To the older established doctors: No thank you: For being just the opposite and running the other doctors out of town. To Dahl Gardner: Thank you: For bringing in these doctors. No thank you: For backing down to the pressures of the established GP's and giving in to them. Who runs the hospital anyway? Your census has been up for the first time in four years. Without these two doctors and this surgeon it is going to go back down. When we make our telephone survey, please tell us how you feel. It will be held strictly confidential. All we want is an idea of how the'general public in Cedar City feels toward this problem I will have to go out of town if I lose my Movies questioned Editor: Mj wife and I are very concerned with . the type of some of the movies being shown in Cedar City, many of which, I am told, are just plain pornographic. por-nographic. To crown it all the title of a movie now being brandished in the newspaper and on the showhouse signboard is "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas." Is there no limit to what movie theater owners will do to make money ? How dare they advertize such filth and junk in this city. To make matters worse, this movie is being advertized at the peak tourist period. What a name they are giving Cedar City! Whatever may be shown in the movie, the name itself flaunts all normal Christian sensitivities. It implies to our children that brothels are such happy, fun places, operated by nice, clean, kind, compassionate people, when, in fact, they are sewer pits of society spreading and causing crime, disease, unhappiness, family destruction and often death. How much longer are we going to put up with this kind of education of our children? John Bennee, M.D. Residents also Editor: Two hips and a hurrah for Bruce Lee. We, your county neighbors, support a lot of your Cedar City businesses (over our own). We will help pay by taxes for your proposed redevelopment project, with no voice or choice in the project. We neglect our own stores for a savings in your big stores and stations. The money we spend in sales taxes alone in Cedar City is quite an item. Part of this comes back to us, I think. We are all residents of Iron County. Wha t is good for one should be good for all. To me it boils down to this too much politics, too much chest beating, too little communication. The latter is or should be the dominant factor in the whole dispute. Vern C. Mortensen Parowan, Utah 84761 |