Author's posts
Did the unvaccinated just save my rural hospital?
It’s no secret that rural hospitals have been struggling. According to online data from the University of North Carolina, 137 rural hospitals have closed in the U.S. since 2010. In Appalachia, the rural hospital where I work, which is staffed by …
Parallels between Alec Baldwin’s Rust movie set and the unvaccinated
The recent tragic shooting on the Rust movie set shocked me. A good friend, a prominent cinematographer in Hollywood, texted me his blunt assessment: “Live rounds on a set. Ridiculously unprofessional.” Humans are naturally shaken when ther…
Metric shock: the unintentional consequence of measuring
Health care in U.S. hospitals is suffering from three under-recognized conditions that I will refer to as “Metris,” “Severe Metris” and “Metric Shock.” Metris occurs when a health system begins to focus more on achieving certain metrics than on improvi…
Food safety and the neglect of the unpeeled potato
Judging from the shortage of canning jars and lids in grocery stores recently, the COVID-19 pandemic has spurred fresh interest in home canning (a potentially dangerous practice that has declined since its peak in 1943); and because the public expects …
Immunity passports: How to eventually climb out of the COVID-19 pandemic
During the influenza epidemic of 1918-1920, my great-grandfather, Ralph Norton Mitchell, was in the military. He helped stack the corpses of those who had died from the infection. I shudder to think about what type of personal protective equipment he u…
Patients: Take back your health information. Here’s how.
Have you ever wondered why your personal health information essentially belongs to your health care provider or institution? I mean: why do they keep your information under lock and key, and you have to sign a release to get it? After all, it’s your bl…
