I want to thank Dr. Mihae Yu for her dedicated service to patients at The Queen’s Medical Center.

For 25 years, Dr. Yu responded quickly to physicians requesting help with patients. Day and night, weekends and holidays, she saw patients as if they were family, worked to assure what was best for them and mentored young physicians to do the same.

Dr. Yu’s commitment to patients was deep enough that when there were differences of opinion — as there so often are with complex patients — she found a way to effectively speak up for her patients. She had the courage to share the facts as she saw them in order to get the best outcomes.

Dr. Yu recently publicly stated her concern that new policies at Queen’s could negatively impact patients (“Mismanagement at Queen’s driving physicians out of Hawaii,” Star-Advertiser, Island Voices, Sept. 5).

I applaud her courage to speak up even when politically risky. I hope that the leaders at Queen’s will take a mindful approach to listening and working collaboratively with Dr. Yu and her colleagues who serve patients at Queen’s.

Sharon Vitousek, M.D.

Kamuela, Hawaii island

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