I remember the first time someone threatened my life as a
physician. It was my day off, so I was
not in the clinic that day; a Children’s Hospital specialty group was working there
instead, and after a staff member called the police, she notified me. A father had walked in saying he wanted to
kill me for “taking his children away from him.” Wracking my brain as to this man’s identity,
I drew a blank.
The police found him in a local park a short time later and
judged him to be “harmless.” Somehow, I
did not share their reassuring sentiment.
I figured out who the individual was, tracked down his mother, and
promptly explained the situation. She provided
a recent photograph so my staff could be trained to recognize him and contact
the authorities the moment he entered our building. That photograph still hangs in our “Most
Wanted” section of my front office, amongst other pictures which have been
added. Occasionally, I request an
updated picture to make sure we are keeping our office environment safe.
The second time a parent threatened my life was over the
phone. I was taking call on the weekend
for a group of pediatricians. One of
them had evaluated a child for a finger injury and had not quite done their due
diligence. It sounded infected and in
need of repair as the father described its appearance over the phone. I recommended he take his daughter to the
local Emergency Room. He threatened to
stab me instead. I called to warn the ER
staff and then notified the other practice.
The response was less than vigorous from my call partners, “you must
have done something to upset him.” Their reaction astonished me; “blame the
victim” is an unacceptable response to a colleague in this situation.
When a patient or disgruntled coworker threatens to kill us,
that threat should be taken very seriously.
Physicians
must become less tolerant. Tolerance is defined as an objective
or permissive attitude toward opinions, beliefs, and practices that differ from our own. In my opinion, the administration of
hospitals and some large clinics are far too permissive of violent threats against
their staff. I have heard numerous
stories from across the country of physicians being told the “patient is always
right” as patient satisfaction scores reign supreme.
We have been taught when a patient threatens to commit
suicide, we take them at their word. Why
is it any different when our very own lives are at stake? The idea that physicians, nurses, pharmacists,
and ancillary medical staff are expendable is ridiculous and policies must be enacted
to protect the lives of medical personnel.
As I reflect on the tragic events that unfolded inside
the Bronx-Lebanon Hospital last weekend, it is difficult to comprehend. My
first thoughts are for the victims and their families, in particular those who
knew Dr. Tracy Sin-Yee Tam. She was a
family practice physician in the hospital that day by chance, filling in for a
colleague. My second thought is to
recall a quote from Maya Angelou, “When people show you who they are,
believe them the first time.”
According to the New York Times, Dr.
Henry Bello had a background which spelled trouble right from the
start. His life story reveals a chaotic
trajectory of bankruptcy, alleged addiction, workplace difficulties,
homelessness, and brushes with the law. He declared
bankruptcy in 2000. In 2004, Dr. Bello was charged with unlawful
imprisonment and sex abuse involving a 23 year old woman in Manhattan. In 2009, there were allegations of unlawful
surveillance when he was caught using a mirror to look up the skirts of two
women.
In 2014, he was hired by Bronx-Lebanon
Hospital as a family practice physician with a limited medical license and in
February 2015 was forced to resign in lieu of termination after an allegation
of sexual harassment. After his resignation, Dr. Bello warned former colleagues he would return
someday to kill them. On Friday, June 30, he exacted
his revenge, entering the Bronx-Lebanon Hospital carrying an AR-15 rifle and
opening fire — fatally shooting a physician and wounding six others before
killing himself. Something more should
have been done about this man to protect the hospital staff and patients.
This post was not penned to “Monday-morning-quarterback” the
events of last Friday. I want to emphasize
in the future, these threats should be taken seriously and closely monitored to
keep those inside the hospital, medical facility, or clinic walls safe. Two
hours before the shooting, Dr. Bello emailed the New York Daily News to say the
allegations that ended his medical career were “bogus.” He stated, “This
hospital terminated my road to a licensure to practice medicine.” In addition, a week prior to the rampage, he
was reportedly fired from
his job assisting AIDS and HIV patients by the city. This was a clear sentinel event and foreshadowed
the possibility of something ominous.
Physicians on the “front-lines” are facing a battle for their
survival, literally and figuratively.
Friday, June 30, I lost a physician colleague in a senseless
tragedy. We do not handle threats
haphazardly when they occur in airports, schools, or police stations. We cannot properly care for a patient when we
are in fear for our lives. It should not
be tolerated any longer. There are many
valuable lessons to be learned from the events of June 30th. We need to sit up,
pay attention, and make changes. The
loss of Dr. Tracy Sin-Yee Tam and injuries to the other victims
should not be in vain; physicians and other medical staff deserve to feel safe
in their work environment while trying to save the lives of others.
My sincere condolences go out to the friends and family of
everyone inside the Bronx-Lebanon Hospital that day. May you find peace, hope, and healing and may
we, as collective communities of healers, refuse to tolerate serious threats to
our lives, those of our colleagues, and those of the patients we serve.
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