Page 13 - Layout 1

COVID-19
PANDEMIC

cases he had seen. In business, success and profit is tied to percep- risk when we return home. COVID-19 is not the only illness we
tion. An emergency room doctor was fired by Bellingham Hospital have to deal with, and our patients deserve our hands-on care for
in Washington State after he complained publicly of the failure of their existing or new-onset illnesses. Our salaries are tied to our
the hospital to protect its staff and patients from COVID-19. sense of worth and to be asked or be told about a reduction in our
Dr. Kaarkuzhali Babu Krishnamurthy, assistant professor of neu- salary is nothing less than demoralizing. If I were a dependent child
rology at Harvard, studies ethics and stated, “employers need to living with my parents who have been providing my room and board
think more carefully about the ethics (of) asking doctors and nurses and they came to me and told me to expect less because they have
to live on less when many are working longer hours and putting the fallen on hard times, I would respectfully and graciously accept their
health of their families at risk.” request and would ask what more was needed from me. However,
With all these cuts in salaries, paid time off taken away, and laid- those who are CEOs, executive directors and administrators who
off medical staff, we should ask how competently run are these med- have remained distant and not part of our “family”, I could not give
ical corporations? Cancelled elective surgeries are merely delayed. them the same level of loyalty. This is basic human behavior not to
Will the staffing needs be met when surgeries are rescheduled? How be confused with “not being a team-player”.
about the emergency room visits. They should anticipate seeing Patient-centered-care and optimized outcomes are and should al-
sicker patients who stayed away from receiving their usual medical ways be our focus. Keeping our treating physicians on that aim,
care for fear of this virus. Should our administrators be held account- without the distraction of compensation, is paramount to that mis-
able for not having a “Rainy Day Fund”? Should administrators ex- sion and our employed physicians may be the ones who are the most
pect their laid off physicians to return as loyal employees? And those greatly affected.
who had pay cuts, how should they be rewarded?
For those of us who are seeing our patients, we remain at risk of Rodolfo (Rudy) Molina, MD, MACR, FACP is a rheumatologist in San
becoming infected by this virus and are also putting our families at Antonio, Texas and is the President-elect of the Bexar County Medical Society.

visit us at www.bcms.org 13