01/08/2024
Doctors Are People Too
Yes, I said it. Doctors are people too. We are mothers, fathers, children, siblings, spouses, friends and family. We are human beings with all of the same flaws that other human beings hold. We have worked for a minimum of 12 years after completion of high school learning to intently focus on the needs of others in an effort to cure illness and aid our fellow man while ignoring our own most basic needs. For hundreds of years that sacrifice has been met with respect and understanding. However, in this ever changing world of “do it yourself” experts, that respect and understanding is quickly dwindling away.
This weekend one of our local ER doctors was beaten by a patient with a weapon. When this was reported on social media – our most common place of community information gathering today – many were astounded. But a vocal minority of keyboard warriors made it clear that they felt that violence was justified – maybe the doctor didn’t provide great quality care, maybe the doctor was not nice enough, maybe the staff didn’t act quickly enough. My heart broke for the doctor, his friends and family, and the nurses and staff who witnessed this traumatic event only to be blamed for it. All the while remembering that US Laws prohibit Emergency Departments from refusing to care for a patient, even if they are attacking those caring for them or have declared in writing that they think that that facility and/or doctor provides poor quality care.
You see, health care workers see patients at their most vulnerable and are trained to expect and diffuse anger, frustration, pain and outbursts due to mental illness. So you can rest assured they have taken much that others would class as abuse and written it off as the patient is in pain, upset etc. When a healthcare worker calls the police to report violence that worker has acknowledged that the situation was beyond the normal range of response to medical conditions. In the specific case in Enterprise, it has been publicly reported that the physician had to be transported to another hospital for specialty services not available at our hospital and therefore another physician had to be called in to work in his place. I am so thankful that that other physician answered that call. Just as during the COVID pandemic, many of our community physicians went above and beyond to care for the overwhelming number of patients who were sick, risking their lives in the process. While we as patients demand better care, faster care and with better service --- and with good reason, we must understand that those demands come with a price. Demanding that all of your problems be taken care of in one visit results in a physician who is constantly running behind. Demanding the best of care requires that the patient be honest about their participation in the care and be willing to change. Demanding kindness and empathy when none is returned requires a level of common decency among the public that was certainly not demonstrated in that social media attack.
If we continue to devalue our local hospital and healthcare workers, we will go the way of other small towns across Alabama. Our hospital will close, then we will lose our emergency room, ambulance service, outpatient physician clinics and pharmacies. Then we will have stepped back in time, where our mortality rates increase due to lack of emergency services and where we now have to travel for the most routine of healthcare. Our local physicians trained at outstanding institutions such as Emory and UAB, just like the physicians in neighboring towns throughout the state. They serve on national and state boards and maintain current continuing education. They choose to practice in and serve this community because it is the place they call home. It is where their families live and seek healthcare services as well.
We are facing a tragedy here, and we have a choice as to how we respond. Will we rise up in support of our local healthcare system or will we compound the attack? I invite you to join me in lifting our local medical community in prayer, choosing to share a smile and a kind word, and maybe even a hug with our medical staff. If you want to go all out – maybe say something nice about our medical staff and hospital on your favorite social media site – let’s make a positive change today.
