+1 to LM K above.
Something I've been working.
Maybe if more people get sick things will change sez the Commissioner.
Re: Dangerous Medince: EFM, CHI-Mercy and Delta Variant
Commissioner Freeman,
Thank you for the prompt reply. You are certainly responsive, the mark of a good political leader.
My concern has never been the vocation or advocacy of Dr. Danhoffer or Douglas Public Health. On the contrary, I applaud their work with the challenges of both a political climate that values a misguided notion of personal freedom vs. the science of public health and a cadre of important local medical professionals who are also contrary to current public health science.
The bully pulpit of which I speak is calling out these local medical professionals for endangering our community (including directly my family).
I'm under the impression you believe in vaccination, maybe even masking. If so, you can relieve Dr. Danhoffer and Douglas Public Health of that untenable burden and I ask you to use the pulpit you occupy to do just that.
Thank you, again, for your service.
Chris Zinda
From: Tim Freeman <
freeman@co.douglas.or.us>
Sent: Sunday, August 1, 2021 12:57 PM
To: C Z <
Z@outlook.com>
Cc: Tom Kress <
kress@co.douglas.or.us>; Chris Boice <
boice@co.douglas.or.us>; BOB DANNENHOFFER <
bob@DouglasPublicHealthNetwork.org>; Teresa Mutschler <
teresa@douglaspublichealthnetwork.org>
Subject: Re: Dangerous Medince: EFM, CHI-Mercy and Delta Variant
Hello
Here are just a few thoughts.
The County Commissioners have sent out over 600 daily updates, press releases and letters about covid.
Before the vaccine was available we asked everyone to follow the public health precautions.
From the moment the vaccines became available we have funded and supported every effort possible to get vaccines available to the most people as close to where they live as possible.
DPHN has no “ bully pulpit”?
If you are taking about the covid updates or Dr Bob’s Facebook lives , that is not really DPHN. Dr Bob works for the County (the County Commissiors) and the updates come from the county. We do use DPHN’s Facebook for the Facebook lives just because it was easier and faster to get set up at the beginning.
I agree with some of your other points of concern.
We live in a country that very much values personal freedoms and all humans possess free will.
The challenge of good information, wrong information and misinformation during the covid 19 pandemic has been profundity different than just a decade ago when H1N1 was the problem.
We at the county are going to continue to make all efforts to have vaccine available at as many locations as possible. We will also continue to offer the most current and accurate local information.
Maybe as the cases effect more and more people there will be a greater desire for vaccines.
Thank you for your insight and be safe.
Tim Freeman
Sent from Tim Freeman
On Aug 1, 2021, at 12:02 PM, C Z <
Z@outlook.com> wrote:
Hello.
This is an editorial I've written and submitted to several outlets.
It's sad to say the greatest danger to our community are the doctors.
Thank you.
Chris
***
Dangerous Medicine
Douglas County now has its highest covid numbers of the pandemic, actual, positivity rate and hospitalizations. It's one of the lowest vaccinated in Oregon and the delta is dominant.
Many Evergreen Family Medicine health care providers (the county's largest) are unvaccinated, CHI-Mercy hospital board member Dr. John Powell (owns EFM with his brother) is anti-mask, and he has publicly been for "natural" herd immunity since the beginning of the pandemic.
I left my now former EFM doctor recently during an appointment, disgusted. After asking, he wasn't vaccinated and said he agreed with Dr. Powell.
I'm immuno-compromised, he's not vaccinated, and never was I told such until I was face to face, putting me at risk. Furthermore, at no point was I asked about my vaccination status.
At least he was masked, a cheap one looking from Costco, and I told him I'm thankful there is a state mask mandate for health care providers, that he's a reason the state needs a vaccination mandate for his profession and, if not, a responsibility to inform patients of their status so they can make an informed choice.
In my view, this major community health network is helping to drive the spread of covid, in part responsible for both our low vaccination rates and high mask resistance, violating their hippocratic oath. People - including our local political leaders - go away saying their doctor is cool with natural herd immunity and may not even be asked about vaccination.
As I left, I told him he's going to be damn busy over the next month, what I thought about their moral and ethical accountability as preventable hospitalizations and deaths mount.
I called Douglas Public Health and told my story, asking for them to address this unsafe situation in private and, if necessary, to use their bully pulpit in public. Because I suspect this is a political situation, I'm also telling you my story.
Now, I must find a new doctor who believes in vaccination and masking, one who believes in science. A practice and hospital that is not a threat to our community.
Chris Zinda
Elkton, Oregon