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Hospitals Tell Doctors They’ll Be Fired If They Speak Out About Lack of Gear

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Re: Hospitals Tell Doctors They’ll Be Fired If They Speak Out About Lack of Gear

#31
post #19
post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We already shut down our entire civilization so that the healthcare status quo could be maintained and bills can keep getting sent to the correct address. How on earth is that pragmatic? We could open up massive free clinics in every city tomorrow morning. Nothing is stopping us.

>We already shut down our entire civilization so that the healthcare status quo could be maintained and bills can keep getting sent to the correct address. What a garbage interpretation of what is going on. Jesus Christ, I'm jaded and cynical, but that's just too much. Saying that we don't want to overwhelm our medical capacity because of the billing, versus the actual reason of human deaths. Too much. That's just to…

The amount of medical capacity around is very much a function of "status quo" institutions and frameworks. Maybe not billing per se, but plenty of other stuff that's nonetheless quite relevant.

Re: Hospitals Tell Doctors They’ll Be Fired If They Speak Out About Lack of Gear

#34
post #5

In practical terms: is there any way to short / defund / LBO / reorganize the NYU Langone Health system. Who runs this?

Can you kindly wait a few months first? Pragmatism before virtue.

The administrators who were doing the firing don't seem to believe in that maxim.

Either the rules of civil society apply to everyone, or they apply to nobody.

When people with power brazenly disregard those rules, but expect everyone else to keep following them, the correct response is to not sit down and shut up.

Re: Hospitals Tell Doctors They’ll Be Fired If They Speak Out About Lack of Gear

#35
post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is the rationale for not being allowed to bring stuff from home?

I think officially it is that they don't know what the employees are bringing from home. They could be bringing some knockoff mask that offers very little protection. But come on, you can't use a mask with 3M stamped on it that you bought at Home Depot? I'll also speculate that it could create friction between staff - How come you get protect and I don't? It could be a problem.

If you allow it, then it could also be seen as a tacit acknowledgement that n95 masks are really the proper equipment. Logical, in a terrible way.

Re: Hospitals Tell Doctors They’ll Be Fired If They Speak Out About Lack of Gear

#36

Anonymous new profile, my apologies. My partner wasn't comfortable with me saying this stuff in a public way. They work in the emergency department of a hospital in North America. It's not just that they'll be fired if they speak out... The hospitals are also threatening to withhold worker's compensation payouts if a staff member is caught using anything brought from home, even if it's real, name brand equipment. Got…

> They also risk long term litigation by admitting they can't protect staff.

Actually failing to protect staff seems a worse litigation risk.

Re: Hospitals Tell Doctors They’ll Be Fired If They Speak Out About Lack of Gear

#37
Isn't this a violation of OSHA safe workplace conditions?

It's a known, lethal, virus, and they're not letting people protect themselves, especially if they aren't providing that protection themselves.

They must "Provide a workplace free of health and safety hazards that can cause death or serious injury;"

https://employment.findlaw.com/workplace-safety/protecting-y...

Perhaps they'd rather get a call from OSHA? Would they perhaps prefer their nurses call OSHA first?

In Florida, there's a law for whistle blower healthcare workers. https://www.nationalnursesunited.org/whistleblower-protectio...

If the choice is be fired or die (or have a better chance of dying), they should file an OSHA violation and call out.

Re: Hospitals Tell Doctors They’ll Be Fired If They Speak Out About Lack of Gear

#38
post #29

Remember when authoritarian countries were punishing doctors for whistle-blowing? Anyone who has ever worked for a living should not be surprised that this sort of behaviour is alive and well here, too.

In the USA we have free market oppression, not State-controlled.
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