Column: Mismanagement at Queen’s driving physicians out of Hawaii

I will not be anonymous. My name is Mihae Yu, M.D., F.A.C.S. My father, who was a celebrated general and instrumental in winning the Korean War, told me that if you cannot be held responsible for what you say for fear of retribution, then do not speak, because you will not have the courage to carry out your thoughts.

I have been at Queen’s Medical Center (QMC) since 1985, and put in seven days a week and 24 hours a day, to care for those that are critically ill and provide a surgical safety net for any patient who has access problems to medical care. What happened to the current hospitalist group is the tip of the iceberg of how QMC administration has treated certain groups of dedicated physicians (“12 doctors fired in a shift to new contractor,” Star-Advertiser, Sept. 1).

There is a war against independent- thinking physicians and groups of physicians who will not conform to what QMC wants.

The current administration seems to care mostly about how it looks and not how to fix problems for patient safety. Look at the infected water at Queen’s last year that has harmed patients, and the sewage that spills into the operating room, for example.

If you look at what has happened in the last few years, there is unprecedented turmoil. Physicians are afraid to speak for fear they will be targeted next. Look at the physicians who were let go, or left in disgust in the following departments: cardiology, obstetric anesthesiology, psychiatry, liver center, radiation oncology, gastroenterology, surgical specialties such as urology, neurosurgery, cardiac surgery — and the list continues.

Soon to be targeted are the cardiac intensivist group, independent anesthesia groups, radiology, emergency room medicine, pathology/lab (although some of these groups may have temporary haven due to a liaison that will pander to QMC administration).

In this quest for control over physicians, the doctors who have made QMC what it is today are being discarded and replaced with docile physicians, or replaced with fewer physicians and more APRNs (physician extenders).

This past Sunday, as I made rounds at QMC, the nurses were distraught that no one had told them about the new group of physicians transitioning in that day, and there was no contact information for this group. From a patient care perspective, this is unacceptable and unsafe — but not unexpected.

We have a problem at QMC. It would have been more palatable if QMC administrators had stated their purpose and their cause honestly, but instead, the current administration has treated certain physician groups with disgrace and with disrespect, changing negotiation rules at every meeting, and with a hidden agenda. That is why the negotiations have not succeeded and we are losing valuable people from Hawaii when we have a shortage of physicians committed to Hawaii.

Physicians are also to blame for the situation because most of them are terrified so they will not speak up against the 10-ton gorilla, thinking it is hopeless. I keep reminding them that this hospital really belongs to the people of Hawaii, and not to any administration.

As I continue to roam the halls of QMC, I hear Queen Emma sobbing as her legacy is being destroyed. We need to have courage to fight for our colleagues who have provided exemplary care, and fight for our patients. Otherwise we will not forgive ourselves for not having tried.

Mihae Yu, M.D., F.A.C.S., wrote this as an independent physician.