Satisfied...for now.

Busy week.  On Monday I had my meeting with the hospital staff.  My feelings about the incompetence of the Operations Manager (OM) I had been dealing with for the first two months of this self-proclaimed  pilgrimage were, in a word, CONFIRMED.  I felt as if there were only two ways this could go...very poorly or very productively.  I was prepared (I even brought them handouts from other clinics defining sb for them....heehee...sometimes these folks need a kick in the pants, right?).  Anywho...I got the chance to meet the new doctor in charge of the clinic... Dr. H. and I'm happy to say out loud...I think I'm in love!  Ok, maybe that's a bit drastic, but from the moment SHE walked in the room and started talking (she kinda railroaded the other two and I, of course, responded to that...about time somebody did), I knew we were on the same page.  She is a traditional MD with a neurology background and has spent most of her career with kids with MD (Muscular Dystrophy).  That said, I believe that her clinic experience is going to be invaluable to the underlings as they try to pull this mess of a clinic into shape.  She started barking out orders (in a nice way) to the VP & OM that the sb clinic needed a coordinator to run it, and only it...someone she could hand pick to mold to her vision of the clinic.  Uh, can I get a "What, What!?!?"  FI-NAL-LY!

OM couldn't get a dumb word in edgewise...what a delightful change.  To date, all that has dribbled from her mouth is corporate speak, double talk.  What I was hearing now, was actual plans to pull this off.  They are going to be looking to me to help get the work out to local parents and try to get their support and confidence back into the program.  It was interesting, at one point the VP said "Well, we just aren't sure there are enough in the patient population to need this clinic.".  Had I been drinking a coke at that time...it would have come out my nose as a guffawed and spewed it out at the ridiculousness of this comment.  I know 50 people who have sb for crying out loud.  How could a hospital with this size of service area not draw in more folks....Oh yeah, your clinic sucks, that's why.  BTW, I spoke to a Dr. at Duke Medical and they serve 500 patients with sb and neighboring UNC serves 400.  I guess the other 50 from  just couldn't get off the wait list...what a bunch of hooey. 

So, that was Monday.  Tuesday I had my first NC/SC conference call with the other board members and I think this is going to be really good.  I'm hoping to be in charge of the medical community sub committee...but we shall see.

On Wednesday, I watched the finale of So You Think You Can Dance...but don't tell me who wins, I DVR'd it and have yet to watch the last 30 minutes.

On to Thursday...I trekked back down to the hospital (during a Panthers game....yikes! The score and the traffic were equally terrible) to go to the info session for the hospital Family Advisory Board.  I got a good overview about what they do, but it's not for me so I'm not going to apply for that...this year.

So that's about all the update.  To end on a fun note...we went to a neighbors birthday party over the weekend and two very special guests showed up...and they saved me about $3K and 7 vacation day...Can you tell who liked them and who liked them...from a safe distance?  Till next time...