It seems just a matter of time before Sutter Lakeside makes another decision that decreases the accessibility and quality of medical care in Lake County. This time it is to close the Interventional Pain Clinic, which has been under the direction of Dr. H. Vernetta Johnson.
I am unfamiliar with medical finance, the role of California Pacific Medical Center and the federal government in these determinations, and Medicare, Medi-Cal and Comp reimbursement rates.
What I do know is the personal and human side of the results of intervention by the clinic and the improvement in quality of life. My late husband Richard McCarty was a patient at the pain clinic where he found the most relief possible through insertion of the pain pump considering the extensive damage to his back. I have also become a patient of the pain clinic and my experience has been positive and encouraging.
The number of familiar faces from all walks of life who have availed themselves of the pain clinic”s services is impressive. How many people have been spared a life confined to a wheelchair thanks to the professionalism and skill of Dr. Johnson? What dollar amount can you possibly apply to the independence and dignity restored to so many patients of this vital department?
Dr. Johnson”s knowledge, compassion and ability to put patients at ease, along with her dedicated and hard-working staff, are critical components in patient success. The hospital should have been seeking solutions for financial issues as they became aware of them, and not blindside the clinic staff and patients with sudden news of closing.
It seems that closing the pain clinic can”t be without other consequences and will inevitably have a financial ripple effect felt by medical imaging and other hospital departments and staff. It is my hope that Sutter Lakeside can somehow continue pain clinic services before such closures eventually leave us with Redbud or no hospital at all.
Dace McCarty
Upper Lake
