Posted on 03/02/2009 2:59:39 AM PST by Scanian
The First Lady helped create a notorious program that dumped poor patients on community hospitals, yet the national media ignore the story. Imagine if her husband were a Republican.
The University of Chicago Medical Center has received a good deal of justly opprobrious press over its policy of "redirecting" low-income patients to community hospitals while reserving its own beds for well-heeled patients requiring highly profitable procedures. Substantial coverage was given to a recent indictment of the program by the American College of Emergency Physicians. ACEP's president, Dr. Nick Jouriles, released a statement suggesting that the initiative comes "dangerously close to patient dumping,' a practice made illegal by the Emergency Medical Labor and Treatment Act, and reflected an effort to cherry pick' wealthy patients over poor."
Oddly absent from most of the unflattering press coverage of UCMC's patient-dumping scheme is any mention of the role our new First Lady played in devising the program. A laudable exception has been the Chicago Sun-Times, which reported last August that "Michelle Obama --currently on unpaid leave from her $317,000-a-year job as a vice president of the prestigious hospital -- helped create the program."
On the rare occasions when other "news" media have bothered to connect the Urban Health Initiative to its glamorous creator, they have attempted to whitewash this tawdry program. Typical of such disingenuous coverage was a story in the Washington Post, which described it as "an innovative program to steer the patients to existing neighborhood clinics."
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
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The person put in charge of the program was well-connected and “of color,” so good luck with that.
That woman is evil.
I can’t stand her, but it sounds like she was doing her job. Hospitals want the money making patients.
ER doctors condemn University of Chicago plan to divert patients
The nations largest group of emergency physicians on Thursday condemned U. of C.s plans, saying it comes dangerously close to violating federal law and calling for a congressional investigation....The emergency physicians group also raised the broader issue of whether the U. of C. hospital has an obligation to treat all who seek care there because it is a non-profit organization and enjoys tax-exempt status
and
I hope Limbaugh sees this....
That's why EMTALA was passed.
No doubt Michelle was worth every penny of the three hundred dollar salary she earned at the hospital.
Mission accomplished
Michelle Obama Oversaw Contentious Program (Kicking the uninsured out of her hospital's ER)
U.ofC. shunning poor patients? HOSPITAL DISPUTE-Obama's wife,3 aides tied to plan to free up space
Looks like the University of Chicago was getting their money’s worth for that $317K a year. Talk about innoculating yourself from criticism. You can’t buy that kind of protection... for less than $317K a year...
But, frankly, I have no problem with patient dumping. The best hospitals should be reserved for people able to afford the best care. The risk of getting stuck with substandard care in a local clinic should be one more incentive for people to work hard to avoid poverty.
I read the other day that her position there didn't exist until Barack became a Senator. It was created just as an excuse to employ her, and the position was eliminated after Barack won the presidential election. The article also said that she had no qualifications / resume` that would have recommended her to such a position in the first place.
Looks like a political payoff in the “best” Chicago Dem tradition, doesn’t it?
Short answer... yes
It's especially ironic given that last night's cable rerun of the 1998 film, "The Fixer", which graphically showcased Chicago's political machine (Democrat) corruption.
I saw that and meant to watch it. Do you recommend it?
Your gross oversimplification of this very difficult issue is repulsive.
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