Doctor

Doctors are dropping like flies. The Affordable Care Act is the impetus for that.  Doctors that are close to retirement age are retiring rather than face the omnipotent government machine making demands of high production for reduced pay.  No free market here, the government will be setting the prices and the work flow. Does that sound like anything from Atlas Shrugged?  Well read this letter that my wife received from her gynecologist of over thirty years.  He is going to continue work, but for free, in other countries. Read this sweet letter received early this week.

To My Beloved Patients:

This letter is meant to explain to those of you who may want to know that I am leaving #-###-#####. This decision has been a difficult one-and a very recent one-one I probably had not made at the time of your last visit. I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for the most rewarding, fulfilling, and satisfying years of my life.

As a young doctor, I was an idealist. My reasons for entering medicine had to do with an internal drive to help others, and as my mother's son I was particularly motivated to help women. The prospect of bringing new life into the world thrilling and challenging. I have never lost those feelings, and there has never been a time when I was present at the instant of birth that I didn't thank God for the opportunity given me to be present at that moment. It has also been my great honor to share with so many of you those first wondrous moments of beholding-and actually holding-that new life which was the miracle of childbirth and love. For those memories, I thank you.

There were other memorable and challenging times, times when some of you fought to live, struggled with debilitating pain or doubt, hours when I struggled with you to understand, question, and dedicate every ounce of strength and medical training that I had to assist you to a better, healthier life. Sometimes we were disappointed, but more often than not, we found resolution, with God's help. Again, I thank you for entrusting your gynecological wellbeing to me, and it should go without saying that I would never knowingly let you down. That statement is part of the reason I' ~ writing you today. Because you have believed in me enough to entrust your health to me, I want to clarify my reasons for leaving the practice.

As most of us know, in recent years there have been many changes in insurance and medical practice that have affected all of us. During those years, I have managed to endure, and my practice has endured. In more recent years, however, there has been a turn to what may be called "corporate medicine," and now I find myself in the unwanted and unanticipated position of being forced to come to terms with my idealism and sense of loyalty to my patients. It is my loyalty to you-in particular, the longer-term patients who have been with me through the years and those who have only Medicare Insurance-that brings me to this moment.

As most of you know, as the founder of ##-###-#####, I brought in many other physicians over the years. I sought always the best and the brightest, and we worked as a team to provide the best possible medical service to our patients. I believe that we succeeded, and often felt a sense of pride in that.

However, all of the other current members of ##-###-##### have recently decided to affiliate the ##-###-#####, which is a very large combination of many other Atlanta area ob-gyn practices. This affiliation is scheduled to be effective as of February 1, 2015. Earlier this month, the other members of ##-###-##### notified their Medicare patients of this impending change and announced that as a condition of the affiliation, they would be required to opt out of the Medicare program. This means they will no longer bill Medicare, and all Medicare patients who want to continue to be seen will be given a discount, with payment due at the time of service.

For reasons which all of you who know me well will understand, I cannot and will not continue to practice medicine with ##-###-##### under these circumstances. Thus, I will not be joining in the ##-###-##### affiliation, and will no longer be a member of ##-###-##### as of December 31 , 2014. This has been a difficult, gut-wrenching decision, but one that is demanded by my personal values and my sense of loyalty to my Medicare Insurance patients. The evolution of corporate medicine has brought about many changes, but over the past few weeks, I have come to realize this is one I simply cannot live with.

Following my last day with ##-###-#####, I hope to take time off to take a mission trip to West Africa. Upon my return, I may continue the practice of medicine on a part time basis, but I have not made any final decisions about my future plans. In the interim, it is important for you to make arrangements to continue to receive quality medical care. Your medical records will continue to be on file at the offices of #-###-#####. If you decide to become a patient of one of the other physicians at ##-###-#####, your medical records will be made available to the new physician. Should you decide to use a physician outside of ##-###-#####, you should authorize your new physician to obtain your records from ##-###-##### by signing a release.

I do not intend to discourage anyone from continuing with the group of doctors I am leaving, but for those who may want recommendations, I strongly recommend the following physicians as extremely bright, kind, and surgically skilled:

Here are names I will not include.

I want to state for the record that I treasure the friendship of my colleague, close friend, and confidant, Dr. #####.

In closing, I want to add that I have received my fair share of honors, but none exceeds the honor I have felt resulting from your faith in me, and the friendship you have shared during the course of my career. I take pride in never having missed a scheduled workday except for three days following cardiac arrest and the insertion of four stents in 2008 (but I still managed to run the NY Marathon three weeks later) . Finally, as a physician, I take pride in having delivered more than 15,000 babies since the beginning of my training, military service, and private practice.

I want to thank you also for enabling me to pursue another passion, participation in medical missions in faraway countries where medical care is the exception and not the rule, including Bolivia, Iraq, Haiti, Vietnam, Cambodia, Argentina, Indonesia, Kenya, and Albania. As mentioned, I hope soon to leave for West Africa, and I anticipate that the desperation of the people in that part of the world will inspire and motivate me and remind me of my many blessings-among which I count all of you as the greatest.

I want to thank the staff at ##-###-#####. In particular, I thank ##### and #, two of the most caring, smart, and professional nurses' that I have ever known. Last but not least, I thank the best ultra-sonographers in the USA:

Here are names I will not include.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your loyalty, I will remember it as long as I live. May my legacy to you be the gratitude I feel, and my acknowledgement that without your support, I might never have made it to this hour. I look forward to serving you in the future, as the Good Lord directs me. '

With deep appreciation and warm regards,

So we we have a good man, a devoted man, who loves women, who loves god.
A far better man than the one who drove him to retirement.
My wife is beside herself.

The Democrats and President could care less, they've gotten the expanded government control they sought. Next stops, police uniformity, and collegiate regulation. In the end the only people who get quality care will be the politicians and the extremely rich.