Re: What is Your Vision?

[Debbie Gray <dgray@uidaho.edu>]

I'm curious about some of your answers, could you expand?

On Sun, 29 Sep 2002, Donovan Arnold wrote:
> 2) I would like to see improvements to our hospital. I was born in Latah County at Gritman
> Memorial and it use to be an excellent place for health and medical help. I am fearful of
> the treatment people get there now.

My family and I have been unfortunate enough to have to deal with a ton of
surgeries and other medical crap in the last 4-5 years. We've been at
Gritman (surgeries, 2 babies born, ER for many things), Deaconess in
Spokane (pregnancy complications), UW Medical Center (multiple surgeries)
in Seattle and St.Joseph's (back surgery) in Lewiston. Of them all,
Gritman is definitely my favorite. They are very qualified but not so big
that they forget who you are and why you are there. I'd rank them as
follows: 1.Gritman 2.Deaconess/UW and a far far far 3rd. St. Josephs
(where my husband actually opened the lid on his tray of hospital food and
found his antibiotic IV bag nestled with the turkey surprise). The quality
of care is excellent and I feel very confident that the doctors know when
to refer to a specialist and know what they can handle here. You must
remember this is a rural hospital and cannot possibly cover everything a
larger medical center can (eg. Spokane hospitals), but those regional
centers draw from Wenatchee to Riggins to western Montana and that's their
function.  Why are you fearful of the treatment at Gritman?

> 3) I would like to see a greater crack down on drunk drivers.

By greater crack down, what do you mean? More arrests, higher penalties,
or what? Latah County just filled a grant position that deals only with
DUI's. I think they are fairly aggressive in their DUI enforcement.
However, I think the problem needs to be addressed long before drunk
driving happens. Unfortunately, alcohol abuse is rampant in our
society--how can we lessen that behavior? Why is it soooo acceptable for
people to drive drunk or otherwise under the influence? I also think the
penalties for DUI's need to be a lot stronger once a DUI person is
convicted.

Debbie Gray

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  Debbie Gray      dgray@uidaho.edu      http://www.uidaho.edu/~dgray/
  We must be willing to get rid of the life we've planned, so as to
  have the life that is waiting for us." --Joseph Campbell
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