University Hospital (Indianapolis), part of IU Health Group, is a wonderful place to be if you are seriously ill. It’s early on a Monday morning and the energy in this place is palpable. Perhaps that’s because it’s a teaching hospital. There’s an abundance of bright, young, energetic doctors eager to investigate your particular ailment(s). The place is tailor-made for hypochondriacs.
Of course there’s more to this hospital than interns. Placards proudly proclaim that “Over 80 percent of Indiana’s Top Doctors Practice at IU Health.” We are here in order for my wife to undergo lung surgery. We’ve utilized this facility for years. It’s only 70 minutes from our driveway to the main entrance, at which point I hand my car keys to a valet who parks our vehicle.
At one end of the hospital is the Simon Cancer Center (a wonderful place within a wonderful place). This will be our first stop today. University Hospital is where bicycling legend Lance Armstrong elected to have his cancer successfully treated. Even though Armstrong resides in Houston he opted for this facility because of its groundbreaking work in cancer research and treatment.
Yes, every city has good doctors. But not every city has great hospitals. Whether you live near a great hospital has more to do with geography than anything else. Let’s face it: large cities tend to attract the best of the best for all the obvious reasons. Small towns simply lack the money and resources needed to compete.
Should people “up shop” for medical care as they do for consumer goods? It depends. If the physicians in your city are utilizing the local hospital for their own needs, and the needs of their families, when it comes to complicated medical procedures, then you can probably stay home. However, if they are opting to go elsewhere then you should, too.
Richard Brookhiser says every hospital has its saints. “You know them when you meet them. They can appear in any guise, from surgeons to sweepers. They are the people who take interest and pleasure in you as they take care of you, and who (you are certain) take everyone they meet in the same spirit. When you see them you think of sunlight and gold.”
University Hospital has an abundance of such staff. Like the RN who noticed I was lost and accompanied me from one wing of the facility to another and down two sets of elevators to get me to my destination (while on her lunch break with her fiancé).
My wife’s operation will be performed by Dr. Karen Rieger, a cardiothoracic vascular surgeon who is a member of the hospital’s thoracic oncology program. After her initial briefing, Dr. Rieger patiently answers all of our questions. When our questions are exhausted she takes us through her analysis (again). Then she moves the discussion to other areas, some of which we had not considered. Thirty minutes later we are still discussing my wife’s case. Cordial and calm, Dr. Rieger’s approach is such that there’s no sense one is being rushed away so she can race to her next patient. How refreshing.
Yes, there’s a comforting thoroughness to this place, tempered with copious amounts of compassion that, I suspect, is not duplicated at most hospitals. My wife has been seriously ill for years. But she has always borne her illness with dignity and grace. Disease may have ravaged her body but not her spirit. Faced with Pam’s reality I would succumb to self-pity and bitter resentment. Not her. There is nobility in her cheerful approach and unique way of looking at things. I guess it boils down to acceptance. Pam is especially deserving of this place and it of her.
It’s Friday afternoon and I’m standing outside the hospital’s main entrance, waiting for the valet to ease our car up to the curb. The week has gone by so fast. You’d think it would be just the opposite. My wife is coming home! Glancing to my right, I notice a lone, lovely Easter Lilly sticking up out of the snow. I kneel down to brush the snow away, allowing the sunlight to warm it. “I’ve been here eight years and that’s always the first one up,” says one of the valets. “She’s a brave little flower, ain’t she?”
“Yes,” I smile, “she certainly is.”
Reggie McConnell is a resident of Terre Haute.
Flashpoint
FLASHPOINT: Wonderful place to be during a very hard time
- Flashpoint
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FLASHPOINT: A legislative session of missed opportunities
Given the nature of politicians, grand claims of accomplishments and overblown rhetoric about “historic” efforts are to be expected at the close of any legislative session.
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FLASHPOINT: Again in 2013 General Assembly, middle class generally ignored
Last year, the people of Indiana entrusted the Republican Party with some of their most precious possessions.
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FLASHPOINT: Indiana lawmakers reinforced school safety mechanisms
Nothing is more important to me than the safety of my children. Every parent has felt that instant, apprehensive rush when their child plays too close to the street or falls down while playing soccer and it is our responsibility as parents to implement every safety mechanism we can muster to protect our kids.
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FLASHPOINT: Lessons from the legacy media — get it right, first
Enough mistakes and maybe we’ll learn: When in doubt, leave it out.
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FLASHPOINT: Hoosiers got steady hand in recent session
As the General Assembly began its work last November, as Speaker of the House, I pledged a renewed spirit of bipartisanship with legislators working together to solve our state’s most pressing challenges. As this year’s legislative session concludes, representatives from throughout the state — Republican and Democrat — have joined together to address those issues at the forefront of Hoosier minds: maintaining our state’s fiscal integrity, spurring job creation and expanding education opportunities for every Hoosier family.
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FLASHPOINT: Time has arrived for overhaul of TV news
Former FCC Chairman Alfred Sikes gave an address in 1992 in which he claimed television news was too superficial and too focused on visuals.
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FLASHPOINT: Fiscal cliff, Obamacare have already raised taxes enough
Our history is rich with stories of people who have immigrated to the United States for a chance at the American Dream. The American Dream, in its truest form, is the opportunity to achieve success by working hard and playing by the rules; to make it on your own and to say, “I earned this.”
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FLASHPOINT: Expanding Medicaid coverage makes sense for Indiana
Since last summer’s U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling on the Affordable Care Act effectively gave states the option to expand Medicaid, policymakers across the country have debated if and how to extend health programs to millions of uninsured Americans.
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FLASHPOINT: Improve public education, stop experimenting with it
In January, the four of us who serve as the Democrats on the House Education Committee outlined our hopes for the 2013 session of the Indiana General Assembly, particularly in joining with Superintendent of Public Instruction Glenda Ritz to offer common sense solutions to improve the quality of education for our children. With the halfway point of this session past us, we remain optimistic that positive steps can be taken … but that optimism is tempered by the reality that education policies are being directed by a legislative majority that has a radically different agenda.
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Healthcare law anniversary no reason for celebration
March 23 marked three years since the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was signed into law, yet this is not an anniversary that deserves celebration.
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FLASHPOINT: Defending state’s authority is attorney general’s obligation
The law of the land recognizes the authority of states to license marriage.
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FLASHPOINT: Stability key for state’s future
Hoosiers have the unique luxury of being the fiscal envy of the nation due to the sound fiscal policies of the last eight years.
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FLASHPOINT: House budget offers Medicaid solution for Indiana
This week, my U.S. House Budget Committee colleagues and I introduced a federal budget resolution for fiscal year 2014. Our budget is a responsible plan that stops spending money and balances in 10 years — largely through making key reforms to drivers of our debt like Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.
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FLASHPOINT: Problem gambling in Indiana: A new understanding of community concern
The week of March 3 was designated as National Problem Gambling Awareness Week.
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FLASHPOINT: Eastern time in Indiana defies common sense
Nobody complains more than Hoosiers about changing their clocks. And there’s a valid reason — daylight-savings time in Indiana’s Eastern Time Zone is painful.
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Praying for civil resolution to debate over gun control
Guns are lively ammunition for passionate debate these days.
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FLASHPOINT: It’s not too late to expand health services
This week, state leaders euthanized the biggest, boldest Hoosier jobs proposal of the 2013 session of the Indiana General Assembly.
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FLASHPOINT: You can’t go back again — and that’s OK
Our progressive colleagues have been telling us for years that the 1950s were a horrid time.
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FLASHPOINT: The fierce urgency of now — nation needs to protect youth
The alcohol-fueled alleged serial rape of a 16-year-old Ohio girl by two of her similarly impaired classmates — not to mention the drunken videotaped commentary of others — points yet again to the imperative that adult America renews its commitment to address as a true national community those issues that most threaten the health, safety and forward development of youth.
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FLASHPOINT: A pastor speaks out against Sullivan’s ‘traditional prom’
I am a pastor in Sullivan, Ind., and I am outraged.
Recently, two young students applied to walk the Grand March together in the school prom in Sullivan. -
FLASHPOINT: 0wning firearms is a First Amendment exercise, too
Following the hysteria generated by gun prohibitionists in the wake of the Sandy Hook tragedy, a nationwide rush on gun stores began as citizens bought semiautomatic modern sporting rifles, handguns and ammunition, in effect “making a political statement” about proposals to ban such firearms.
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FLASHPOINT: Maintaining the priority
Recently a newspaper article has been written about a change in the by-laws of the Indiana High School Athletic Association which speaks directly to attempted undue influence exerted upon students below the level of grade nine and their parents.
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FLASHPOINT: The fairness of marriage
What is the current Indiana law concerning marriage? Our state defines marriage in a singular way — between a man and a woman.
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FLASHPOINT: We ask state legislators to abide by their oath of office
All of us relish giving unsolicited advice to our elected representatives.
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FLASHPOINT: Mentoring is having major impact on public education
While managing local utility services, Mike Martin found a new way to energize his community, and students are starting to benefit.
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FLASHPOINT: Common Core standards should be common sense
Years ago, when state officials and education experts came together to create new model standards for schools, they probably never expected it to be controversial.
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FLASHPOINT: Milestone year for Rose-Hulman
The Rose-Hulman campus traditionally quiets down this time of year, yet for me I sense a renewed energy from the phenomenal year just closing.
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FLASHPOINT: ISU’s reasoning flawed in flight school planning
ISU and the taxpayers of Indiana and Vigo County are being led down a path of deception once again.
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FLASHPOINT: Incessant attacks on Christianity by the ACLU
It is obviously apparent that the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is continuing its onslaught against religious freedom in the United States.
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FLASHPOINT: Americans deserve more value for their tax dollars
While traveling the 8th District and listening to fellow Hoosiers during my first term in Congress, I have reached the conclusion that many constituents do not believe they are getting value for the tax dollars that come out of their paychecks and are sent to Washington, D.C.
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