So the University of Idaho and the University of Utah have come to an agreement on medical education for Idaho. Maybe the legislative work group was involved, maybe not. This sort of deal is truly back room. It makes you wonder if there was some well-connected financier with a private island and young girls involved. But Idaho is not really in the Epstein Class.
It matters for Idaho taxpayers. It’s our money going down these drains to their powerful cesspools. But the deal is announced and the legislature must now decide.
There are some important questions.
#1. Do you have the vision?
Doing new things requires a clear and directive vision. I saw none of this from our legislative task force. What should the health care for Idaho look like in the future? Just what skills need to be trained and staffed? Who will be the “provider” in the small town or the big city medical center? I saw no plan for this.
#2. Do you have the money?
Doing new things costs money. The Idaho legislature has spent the last five years depleting the revenue stream. Our legislators have given tax breaks to the wealthy and corporations so we now, while our economy booms and population grows, have less tax dollars.
They will cut funding to K12 schools, they will cut funding for health care and prisons. But they will find money for this endeavor? We’ll see.
#3. Do we have the will?
Going a new direction requires fortitude. It will take years of dedicated work to build the relationships, the staff, the commitments from the medical community. Doctors are needed to train doctors. Nurses are needed to train nurses. Doctors and nurses and Physician Assistants have to learn to work together. Training them together is the best way to make this happen.
Nothing in this announced Treasure Valley plan describes this. And the idea that our legislature, who has spent years hating the medical profession, will jump on board, is ludicrous. The legislators who have put their thumb on the scale for medical education are motivated by their own petty grievances. None have a clear vision for the future of Idaho health care. Soon as their pet peeve is dispensed, they will fade. There is no will.
So I have asked my questions. Will the Idaho voters ask theirs?
I doubt medical education is at the front of any Idaho voter’s mind. Most are probably working to pay the rent and get to work in the morning. I have always wondered just why the Idaho legislature even cared.
Old Cece came up with the WAMI program as a band aid. It has worked for a while. Fifty years. Great band aid.
But we now need to move on. We have had a great affiliation with the University of Washington. I am a graduate of their medical school. Indeed, the top graduate going into Family Medicine in 1986. And I have practiced here in Idaho until a couple years ago.
I appreciate that the University of Idaho and the University of Utah have come to some agreement about medical education. But it seems to me they are just shrugging into more of what we’ve always done.
It’s time to do more.
It’s time to look at the big picture of health care in the state of Idaho and start building for our future needs.
We need more information.
We need to know how rural communities serve and struggle.
We need to know just what specialists are necessary to serve our people.
We need to understand the value of medical care; what works and what is waste.
I can’t right now believe our legislature, who represents us, gives a shit. But they represent us, don’t they?
I really wish we all cared.
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