Letters to the Editor: April 2-8, 2020

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The Editor:

I would like to urge my fellow readers of The Northern Light to answer the recent call for help from the newspaper’s management by contributing $24 for the continued local mailing of the paper. The source of funding is necessary as the local advertising market has collapsed because of the business shutdowns caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The sudden revenue shortfall has jeopardized the paper’s future.

I have a special reason for understanding this dilemma. I spent virtually my entire professional life working for newspapers. My local hometown paper bought freelance articles from me as a college student and hired me full-time in the summer of 1958 as their police reporter as long as I promised to complete my journalism degree in college. The paper allowed me to work a double shift every Saturday during the school year, which sustained me until I earned my B.A. degree in 1961. They then hired me and gave me one of the paper’s best jobs, covering county government.

Because of the solid training I received from my professional editors and colleagues at my hometown paper, I went on to become a reporter for a metropolitan daily, The San Jose Mercury News, promoted eventually to a regional news bureau chief position in charge of all news coverage of Silicon Valley, Stanford University, NASA’s Ames Research Center and some of Northern California’s hottest news stories.

In 1977, I became the newspaper’s television editor and a nationally syndicated columnist whose columns were distributed to more than 125 papers in the U.S. and Canada. I stayed with daily journalism until my retirement in 1999.

During all those years, I never lost my respect for the hard work and valuable contribution made by small town dailies and weekly newspapers like The Northern Light. I have been a steady reader of our local paper since my wife and I moved to Blaine in 2001 and consider it a vital asset to living here.

For that reason, I am happy to join what I hope will be a large number of readers who will rally to support our hometown paper in this time of serious need.

Ron Miller

Blaine

 

The Editor:

This letter is in response to the opinions made by Mr. Leering of White Rock, B.C. in the March 26 issue concerning how the United States is handling the COVID-19 virus. Stating that “the Republican administration has been slow to react to the COVID-19 pandemic” does nothing to help the situation. Mistakes were made and are being corrected. On March 14, while our borders were still open to Whatcom County, flights from China were still landing in Vancouver, B.C. Why didn’t the Canadian government stop the flights sooner? That was a mistake.

On television, we observed two Democratic New York officials telling their citizens to go to the New York St. Patrick’s Day Parade. It was a mistake. The Canadian health care system isn’t perfect. Unfortunately, it’s likely there are many more infections and deaths in Canada than Mr. Leering indicated. It is a terrible situation for both our countries and there is no value in making negative comparisons relative to health care systems.

People claim they would handle the pandemic differently than the present administration. It is convenient to be critical after the fact, and it is easier to criticize from the outside looking in. I am confident that our people in charge are doing their best. Pointing out mistakes is not helping. Overall, I have always been proud of how the United States of America has performed in dire situations. People are sacrificing their lives to help others and I am grateful for that. Can we agree to keep our negativity to a minimum, even to ourselves, and work at being part of the solution instead of the problem? Let’s pray for those who are ill, and that this pandemic will end soon.

Peter and Susan Werner

Blaine

 

The Editor:

Sinclair Lewis authored “It Can’t Happen Here” in 1935. Lewis’ novel was propelled to popularity by a sense of urgency that the United States, as some countries of Western Europe, might unleash unimaginable dark forces. Fast forward to COVID-19. While the issues are different, there are parallels between Lewis’ terrifying certainty that “it” could happen here to what is happening in Italy as it attempts to tame COVID-19.

Italy has a good medical system. The overwhelming catastrophe unfolding in Italy’s wealthy Lombardy region could happen anywhere, even here in Whatcom County.

Italy is learning that hospitals might be the main COVID-19 carriers. Infected patients pass the contagion to uninfected patients. Ambulances and personnel become vectors. Health workers are asymptomatic carriers. There must be rigorous hospital and population surveillance. Test hospital workers first. Use mobile testing units. Surveil the community and every corner of our county. Family Care Network (FCN) was quick to utilize more telemedicine, as one step, to keep staff and patients out of harm’s way. FCN also quickly implemented parking lot temperature and symptom checking before patients enter their clinics.

For the mildly ill, deliver early oxygen therapy, pulse oximeters and nutrition to where they live. Hospitalization would be limited to the severely ill. We’re in a humanitarian and public health crisis. It is not just an intensive care crisis.

In hospitals, protection of medical personnel must be prioritized. As one local emergency department physician stated, citing his concerns about provider safety going unaddressed, “We don’t need more donuts and pizza, we need protective equipment.” That sentiment is repeated around the country. How did the world’s wealthiest nation get caught so flat-footed?

Let’s all do our part to help frontline providers stay safe. And then, when this current pandemic is over, let’s prepare better. Because it can happen here and there will be a next time, and a next time after that. 

Micki Jackson

Bellingham

 

The Editor:

I am a nurse, working at the Veterans Administration. I’ve worked at PeaceHealth, so I am familiar with their corporate culture.

Dr. Ming Lin, a 17-year emergency department physician at PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center in Bellingham, was fired for speaking out publicly about the lack of proper safety protections and policies for frontline doctors and nurses. Dr. Lin, a physician for about 30 years, worked at St. Vincent’s Hospital in New York City when 9/11 happened – he has experience in public health crisis situations.

There is widespread outrage about Dr. Lin’s firing, specifically in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, when we need experienced physicians.

The public deserves honest, transparent information. PeaceHealth must re-evaluate how they have mishandled communications and preparedness. This isn’t about recriminations, it’s about reminding PeaceHealth – now – that they must be honest going forward. The truth will always emerge, so it makes more sense to be transparent. Admitting you haven’t done everything right is never easy, but it is a sign of strength and leadership.

Nurses at St. Joe’s have filed complaints with the Washington State Nurses Association pertaining to PeaceHealth’s actions and the hospital’s failure to provide a safe work environment. The American Academy of Emergency Medicine issued their own position and statement on Dr. Lin’s firing.

A foundational principle in health care is, “If you see something, say something.” That’s precisely what Dr. Lin did, but he was fired for honoring his sense of duty.

PeaceHealth must abide by its mission statement. Sadly, they are not.

Rebecca Rech Cutler, RN, BSN

Bellingham

 

The Editor:

“Stay at home” or “shelter in place” has provided, for Americans, an abundance of precious time that previously may not have been allocated toward viewing cable news stations. This time allocation has taught me an invaluable lesson about American politics and America whether left, moderate or right. Be it CNN on the left or Fox on the right, each venue has a shocking slant. The only difference is that the left tends to present more verifiable facts with fewer inaccuracies than those proponents of right-wing cable positions.

It is time for Americans to stop listening to what they think they want to hear to justify their personal beliefs and positions and to stand up and demand from the cable stations more authentic, truthful and neutral news presentations similar to those of most network news.

I am as displeased with CNN as I am with the misinformation and dishonesty on Fox. I listened as I heard a very soft CNN interview with the former surgeon general following a tough and direct interview of a Republican senator covering the same topic, COVID-19. Left, right or moderate, all stations should be fact-checking government officials. It is one thing to report verbatim what an official says, accurate or inaccurate, and it is another to not verify the information and present the statement as being factual, which is dangerous, especially now. The same concept applies to social media. Facebook, for example, is not a reputable news source. It is a social source to connect people and families with similar goals and interests. A perfect example is the deadly and inaccurate misinformation it has spread regarding vaccines.

America, as you work from home, educate your children from home, help others from home and further protect yourselves and your families by separating fact from fiction. Sadly, people have been and are sick and dying, in part due to the last month of continual misinformation from the same sources over and over again. There is a clear difference between not knowing the answer or an outcome and purposefully fabricating information.

Social distance and stay well.

Beth Tableman

Blaine

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