For What It’s Worth

Ok, so here’s the latest scoop on the medical situations regarding my last several columns, having to do with inability to get to a doctor from Cleveland Clinic in a timely manner. Yes, for those of you who insisted I name the dreaded hospital that I was writing about, it is, in fact, Cleveland Clinic. e reason I am now going to put a name to the place is because I was invited by Dr. Singh, the President of Cleveland Clinic to have a meet and greet this a ernoon. Just when you think you know how your week is going to go, wham, a personal invitation to speak with the president himself, who read my articles and wanted to talk. Okay, so I’ll admit I was nervous, anxious, worried, but also armed for bear in the event that he wanted to minimize the situation, but in fact, surprisingly, he was caring, open to suggestions, and transparent with regard to how Cleveland Clinic took over Martin Memorial North and South, and what he strived for going forward. I was impressed, and I’m not easily sold on lip service, but between him and the head of Patient Experiences, Karen Ludwig, who was also present, it was apparent that he knew and understood the frustrations the general public has been experiencing getting seen by a physician in a timely manner.

I have to give him credit. His information was forthcoming, addressing my concerns, sometimes even before I had

by Dr. Melfi, Ph.D.

the chance to list them. Also to his credit, he was young-ish, a physician himself, and has only been the president of the hospital for one year. In that year, he and Karen had an earful of complaints and they had plans to address all of them by way of hiring almost 60 new physicians, twice as many nurses, and ongoing training for those people on the front lines, who take the calls and make appointments. I was shocked, in a good way. He never tried to make excuses, nor did he make false promises. He said getting things turned around was not going to happen overnight, but he does strive to make this hospital the best it can possibly be, within a reasonable amount of time. He is there to speak with, to read emails, and to even give out his cell phone number (No, sorry, I can’t pass it along, lol) but from what I understand, he has done that frequently to others as well.

He loves this community, he loves this hospital, and he loves medicine. He is not one of those people who sits in their ivory tower, having no pulse on medical practices. He wants to do better, and promises he will do better, but this is what he has been handed, well, that, and the pandemic, which has seen the resignation of good nurses and doctors who no longer wish to expose themselves and their families to infection. I get it. Much as I loved hospital nursing, I have asked myself many times if I had stayed in nursing, would I quit? I feel like the answer is a hard “no” but it’s easy to say from the sidelines, and not in the midst of potentially deadly chaos.

My point is this. He wants things to change, and he has ideas to change them, many of which it is not my place to share. I came in with a list of suggestions, but before I could get my ideas out of my mouth, he already verbalized them. We were on the same page! So, the bottom line is this.

For What it’s Worth, he’s young, he’s enthusiastic, he wants to make things better, and he wants Cleveland Clinic, Stuart, to be exactly what we all want it to be, a place we can trust with our very lives. Let’s be fair and give him time to get it together. If I was a gambler, I think I’d put my money on him.