Mad As Hell Doctors to promote universal health care at forum
Sign with an attitude
SEQUIM -- The big sign was up for a short time and then taken down because, well, it has an attitude.
The 4-by-8-foot banner broadcasting that certain doctors are "Mad as Hell" and coming to speak about health-care reform, on Tuesday at Sequim High School, was put up at the school Wednesday morning and removed Wednesday afternoon.
The message doesn't belong on a campus, Sequim School District Superintendent Bill Bentley said Thursday.
"I'm not making any judgments about the group," Bentley added.
But on school grounds, "the signs we choose to put up have to adhere to the standards we set."
Nelson Cone of Reform Health Care NOW, the coalition bringing the "Mad as Hell Doctors" tour to Sequim, said he obtained permission from a woman in the district office to hang the sign on the brick wall. A maintenance worker helped him put it up, he added.
But Bentley said he knew nothing of the sign until he saw those words, visible from Sequim Avenue.
"My personal feeling is that's not the kind of attitude we want to model for our students," he said.
"We have expectations of our students" to shun profanity. "And we have the same expectations of the adults" who post messages at schools.
Cone said he'll pick up the sign soon and return it to the touring doctors.
Bill Kildall, coordinator of Reform Health Care NOW, said the coalition respects the school district's decision to remove the sign, though he doesn't agree with the reason.
"We're not going to contest it," Kildall said.
Cone added that the doctors won't argue the matter either.
"They've made their point," he said.
SEQUIM -- The big sign was up for a short time and then taken down because, well, it has an attitude.
The 4-by-8-foot banner broadcasting that certain doctors are "Mad as Hell" and coming to speak about health-care reform, on Tuesday at Sequim High School, was put up at the school Wednesday morning and removed Wednesday afternoon.
The message doesn't belong on a campus, Sequim School District Superintendent Bill Bentley said Thursday.
"I'm not making any judgments about the group," Bentley added.
But on school grounds, "the signs we choose to put up have to adhere to the standards we set."
Nelson Cone of Reform Health Care NOW, the coalition bringing the "Mad as Hell Doctors" tour to Sequim, said he obtained permission from a woman in the district office to hang the sign on the brick wall. A maintenance worker helped him put it up, he added.
But Bentley said he knew nothing of the sign until he saw those words, visible from Sequim Avenue.
"My personal feeling is that's not the kind of attitude we want to model for our students," he said.
"We have expectations of our students" to shun profanity. "And we have the same expectations of the adults" who post messages at schools.
Cone said he'll pick up the sign soon and return it to the touring doctors.
Bill Kildall, coordinator of Reform Health Care NOW, said the coalition respects the school district's decision to remove the sign, though he doesn't agree with the reason.
"We're not going to contest it," Kildall said.
Cone added that the doctors won't argue the matter either.
"They've made their point," he said.
By Rob Ollikainen
Peninsula Daily News
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The meeting begins at 6 p.m. at the Sequim High School Auditorium, 601 N. Sequim Ave.
"We have, for the first time, a group of physicians that is stepping forward in this moment of total confusion and fear that's been fomented on the health care issue," said Bill Kildall, coordinator of Reform Health Care Now, which is sponsoring the event.
"These doctors will give us their personal opinion in regard to what the problem is, and what the solution is."
Kildall is expecting a packed house from "Bremerton to Forks" in an auditorium that seats about 670.
'Educational' meeting
He does not expect it to resemble the contentious political town hall debates on health care reform.
"This will not be a 'political town hall meeting,'" Kildall said. "This will be an educational town hall meeting. We don't anticipate any kind of disruptive behavior."
People are invited to e-mail questions or personal stories -- focused on denial of coverage from unemployment, pre-existing conditions or other pretexts -- to qorstory4docs@yahoo.com.
Submissions must be no longer than 250 words.
"I've received questions and several personal stories," Kildall said.
Doctors on tour
"Mad as Hell Doctors" is kicking off a 20-city "care-a-van" in support of a single-payer health care system Sept. 8 in Seattle.
The group will travel to Washington, D.C., in a branded motor home stopping for town hall meetings.
"We have a crisis," Kildall said, citing the 67 million uninsured in the U.S.
"The doctors believe there is a solution, and they have looked at the whole equation and believe the best way to do a health care program is to have everybody in and nobody out -- in other words, a universal program, whereby the total pool of people are covered by the program.
"There's only one provider that could do that," Kindall added. "That would be the federal government."
"Mad as Hell Doctors" will be contrasting the Obama Administration's public option, which Kildall describes as "very undefined," with the single-payer option.
"They will also talk about status quo and why we can't continue with status quo," Kildall said.
"It's an issue that touches everyone."
Dr. Tom Locke, health officer for Clallam and Jefferson counties, will be a panelist at Tuesday's meeting.
Kildall said insurance and pharmaceutical companies are "making profit off of our health care problems and are contributing" to the crisis.
Reform Health Care Now is a coalition formed by the Clallam County Democratic Party, Clallam County Green Party and Veterans for Piece.
It is supported by the Clallam County League of Women Voters and Citizens for Health Care Access in Jefferson County, Kildall said.
________
Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
Last modified: August 20. 2009 9:17PM
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