Today's Letters: USF's need for a teaching hospital is genuine
Letters to the EditorPublished February 25, 2008
New USF hospital wrong on all counts Feb. 18, editorial
As a Florida taxpayer, an alumna and immediate past president of the Faculty Council of the USF College of Medicine, I have serious concerns about the comments made in this editorial. Let me address some of its points.
- "Universities, including USF, are turning away students and imposing hiring freezes."
Actually, Florida desperately needs more opportunities for residency training to attract high-quality physicians. What's unsaid is why state budget cuts are now affecting Florida medical schools. The University of South Florida and the University of Florida lost several million dollars in their budgets because the Florida Legislature siphoned those funds into two new state-funded medical schools. The "need" for them is not a lack of educational options for highly qualified premedical applicants, but local economics and perhaps desire for prestige for the alma maters of some legislators. The net effect is a lowered bar for doctors-in-training and university staffing cuts. What a deal for Florida taxpayers.
- Legislation exempting medical schools from the state's certificate of need (CON) "would remove a major barrier by allowing the university to lobby for a hospital while avoiding the most important criterion: need."
This is a complete mismatch of missions. CONs use population numbers, local economies and politics to determine immediate "need," not the mission of educating and training the next generation of first-rate health professionals.
- "Giving USF or other medical schools a freebie on certifying need only invites a rush toward empire-building."
The Legislature effectively funded "empire-building" when it divided an already limited budget to start up two new and unnecessary medical schools built from the ground up.
- "Why not expand residencies with USF's existing hospital partners?"
Because USF has tried. It is naive to believe that a perfect union exists when partners must necessarily protect their own interests. Tampa General Hospital and H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center have different missions, as well as financial and political agendas. It's no surprise that private affiliates and the Florida Hospital Association should impede USF's growth. Because USF, hiring top physicians in academia, will become highly competitive and earn its keep.
- "But the issue here seems to be more about independence and self-image than medical necessity ..."
Sour grapes over USF's "independence and self-image"? Knowing the facts, it's obvious why the Florida Hospital Association aggressively opposes Sen. Dennis Jones' forward-thinking bill. Any trade organization will act to protect its interests. The real question is whether the Florida Legislature should budget only "just enough" to maintain private interests and a mediocre status quo. Shouldn't we invest wisely in the growth of state universities and higher education for our children? Can Florida taxpayers really afford not to?
Sandra G. Gompf, M.D., Plant City
Signing statements are an abuse of power
I recently read The Federalist Papers (Hamilton-Madison-Jay), and I cannot conceive how any of these three great leaders and authors, with others, of the U.S. Constitution, would accept the ability of the president to issue "signing statements" objecting to various parts of legislation he has signed, and indicating that he will not use his power as chief executive to enforce such legislation. The last paragraph of your editorial (President undercuts checks, balances, Feb. 12) included the statement: "His claims that the president has constitutional powers allowing him to disregard certain U.S. statutes are dead wrong." This will no doubt, at some future time, be subject to Supreme Court decision(s).
You and other news outlets will do the electorate an outstanding service by publishing information that may indicate how the candidates or their potential Supreme Court nominees stand on executive vs. legislative power.
Allen F. Tuthill Sr, Clearwater
Drug doesn't solve debate Feb. 19, Floridian story
Painful judgment
Because of Alex Berenson's article from the New York Times, and the St. Petersburg Times' reprinting of it, those of us who live with fibromyalgia (a very painful condition) will have to live with the pain of the judgmental attitudes of those who read this article and believe it.
It is too bad, because it has lately been such a comfort to hear words of encouragement. I hope we can learn to adapt.
Theodora Maier, St. Petersburg
Iraq war still a key issue
Why is it that the war in Iraq has dropped from the No. 1 concern of most Americans? Have the presidential primaries redirected our attention away from the war? Certainly the economy and the mortgage crisis are important issues, but in a few years these issues will just be things of the past, the ebb and flow of capitalism.
The Iraq war is another story. The thousands of American lives lost, the tens of thousands of Iraqi lives lost, the millions of refugees who have fled the country, and the half a trillion dollars or more so recklessly squandered is a much bigger issue. No-bid contracts and lack of accountability are additional concerns.
The repercussions of this war are like the ever-expanding ripples in a pond after a stone is mindlessly thrown in from the safety of land. Is it any wonder that there are more terrorists in the world now than there were when we invaded Iraq? How many more lives have to sacrificed? Just how much more money can we spend?
In recent news, accounts of bombings in Iraq hardly rated front-page coverage. Is it that the media are so tied up in the presidential primaries that we just push the war aside? Or are we so tired of hearing about more bombing that we have grown immune to the horrors of a war that the United States started? In either case it has taken the Congress and the president off the hook and allowed them to go on in their irresponsible way.
John Wynne, Dunedin
DUI officer notches arrest No. 1,000 Feb. 17
Not while driving
I'm grateful to St. Petersburg police Officer Robbie Arkovich for giving up so many evenings and holidays in the battle against DUIs. I'd like to add one thought on the subject. If someone (maybe someone you love) is killed or maimed while you are driving with your blood alcohol within the legal limit, you will never know whether alcohol was a factor. Were you too inattentive, too off guard?
Yes, I drink. Yes, I drive. But I don't drink and drive. If I'm ever in a collision, I don't want to live with that terrible doubt.
Gena K. Gorrell, St. Petersburg