Originally Posted by twinklesweep
I am away from TV for extended periods working 24/7 and rarely have the chance to connect to TOTV. I am now FINALLY here for a short rest and had the chance to read through this very revealing and today very relevant thread. I am quoting many posters, though I have deleted what I perceived as political comments that are inappropriate not only on TOTV but also concerning this public health issue.
Though there were appointees by presidents to posts without necessity of Senate confirmation, the first "czar" called by that revealing name was Carlton Turner, the "drug czar," appointed by President Reagan. Since then there have been many such appointees, with President George W. Bush topping the number at 49, followed by President Obama at 44. Yes, it would be an interesting research project (perhaps some doctoral candidate's thesis) to study the effectiveness of this position.
I respectfully disagree in that the solution will not be based solely on "intelligence" but rather in the ability to manipulate and control. Personally I am suspicious of doctors who become politicians. I consider service as a physician to be one of the highest and most respected; who is more associated with healing than a doctor? Politics? Well, let's not get into that, though we can keep in mind the old saw: "Pro is to Progress as Con is to Congress"!
Seriously, doctors' most important role is NOT as administrators, coordinators, managers, even dictators. The most recent CV I'm able to find online of the CEO of our Villages Regional Hospital was Timothy Hawkins, who served in this capacity (more specifically "CEO Villages Regional Hospital, Executive VP and Chief Operating Officer, Central Florida Health Alliance") until 2012, whose educational qualification for this position was an MBA degree (that is, business administration) and NOT a medical degree. His job was to operate a program, not do patient care. No doubt, he utilized the services and relied on the expertise of doctors to perform his job, just as the newly appointed "ebola czar" will likely do. But the job involves far more than treating patients!
Yes, I agree; a "political operative" is an appropriate choice, much more so than a physician, though of course it has to be the right political operative. Since the person occupying this post primarily has to deal with a multitude of governmental agencies, not simply those concerned specifically with the medical sphere (e.g., CDC, NIH, and so forth), based on her or his experience cutting across agencies and, if needs be, juggling and even forcing cooperation is something a political operative CAN do, whereas this would presumably never have been the bulk of the career experience of a doctor.
If the last poster above is referring to Senator Bill Frist (not "Frisk"), he is not a "sitting senator," having left office in 2007. While it certainly was his right to choose what to do with his life, it seemed to me at the time he ran for and was elected to office that his departure from medicine was tragic. Our country certainly needs cardiothoracic surgeons more than more politicians....
I keenly remember in the 1980s when these quarantine stations were closed down, as were many chronic care mental health hospitals, with patients turned loose and who frequently became homeless and problems in other ways. Though I didn't live through the influenza pandemic of 1917-1918 during which millions died, I knew of family members and parents and grandparents of friends who did, some of whom died. I knew it was bound to happen again (and this is not to say necessarily that it will be ebola) and was flabbergasted at the shortsightedness of doing this. Now there is the possibility of the chickens coming home to roost based on the stupidity of the shutdown of these quarantine stations....
I had been working my way through this long thread, waiting to see if anyone had the courage to bring up the AIDS epidemic of the 1980s, during which time the leader of the Western world treated this terrible disease as a moral issue rather than as, well, the terrible disease it was--and still is. And yes, thousands and thousands died, including much of a generation of creative and artistic people. It was a tragedy AND a travesty! And though I cannot remember who or what year, a speaker at a convention subsequent to the 1980s who was stricken with AIDS spoke passionately about the need to recognize this dreaded disease for what it was. Sad to say, but again the chickens coming home to roost....
And, sorry to say, I'm not a doctor, I'm not a political operative, I'm not even a businessperson, and concerned as I am, no, I have no solutions to offer.
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