Hospital ‘FIRES’ veteran doctor who publicly pleaded for more safety equipment to fight virus crisis
AN EMERGENCY room doctor claims he was fired for criticizing the hospital’s lack of protectives measures for employees as they fight the coronavirus. Dr. Ming Lee, an ER doctor who worked at PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center in Bellingham, Washington, for 17 years, says he was terminated on Friday. Lee said 20 minutes before his […]
AN EMERGENCY room doctor claims he was fired for criticizing the hospital’s lack of protectives measures for employees as they fight the coronavirus.
Dr. Ming Lee, an ER doctor who worked at PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center in Bellingham, Washington, for 17 years, says he was terminated on Friday.
Lee said 20 minutes before his shift was supposed to start, he was told it was covered — and his director told him he was fired from his role.
But TeamHealth, the national physician staffing facility that employes Lee, told The Associated Press the doctor had not been fired by them, and they were working on finding him a new place to work.
Neither PeaceHealth St. Joseph nor TeamHealth immediately returned The Sun’s requests for comment about Lee’s apparent firing.
Lee has been publicly criticizing what he said what the hospital administration’s slow response to the coronavirus.
The ER doctor claimed they were slow to screen visitors, negligent in not testing staff and were wrong to rely on a company that was taking 10 days to process coronavirus test results.
Lee also said the hospital was unreliable for getting protective equipment for staff.
The doctor himself tried getting cots and personal protective equipment that was being offered by local companies.
Lee said his superiors at the hospital warned him against speaking out.
He said his criticism of the hospital stemmed from what he learned while worked as an ER doctor near the World Trade Center on September 11.
The doctor said he worked at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Manhattan, and the facility’s reliable competent response that day was because of training and experience it had undertaken after being overwhelmed in the aftermath of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
Lin said: “I feel so overwhelmed.”
“We’re like a high school basketball team that’s about to play an NBA team. The storm is coming, and I don’t feel that we’re prepared.”
Charles Prosper, the hospital’s chief executive, told local news outlets the hospital was taking coronavirus preparations seriously.
Prosper said the hospital had started restricting nonessential visitors and screening those who did enter for fevers, among other steps.
He also said “several” staff employees at the hospital tested positive for the virus, but said it was not related to their work at the medical center.
PeaceHealth St. Joseph said in a statement: “We are committed to engaging with [Lee] to try to find a path forward.”
“Now more than ever, we need every available doctor, and we will work with Dr. Lin to find the right location for him.”
Lee said he expects the company might offer him work at another hospital, roughly 30 minutes to an hour away — but he said he’s not interested.
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Bellingham is located in Whatcom County, close to the Canadian border.
The county confirmed its first coronavirus case by March 10, and as of Saturday, had 102 positive cases and four deaths.
At least 27 residents and 18 staff at Shuksan Healthcare Center in Bellingham had tested positive as of Thursday.
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