indy dec 14 2006 sml file

8/19/2019 Indy Dec 14 2006 Sml File

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Surgery Centero n S o n c y

3501 Soncy Road, Suite 118 • Amarillo, Texas 79119 • 806-359-7999 • Fax: 806-355-7598www.soncysurgerycenter.com

a part of Universal Health Systems

Solving the Healthcare Puzzle


2/8

The Amarillo Globe-News will foldits monthly business publication, theAmarillo Business Journal, and transferits community-contributed columns toits Sunday business section.

Les Simpson, Globe-News publisher,said through his administrative assis-tant Susie Self, that he was unavailable

for direct comment to The AmarilloIndependent because of travel commit-ments, but that he could be quoted froman article in Wednesday’s edition ofthe Globe-News. But, the Globe-Newsstory contained no such quotes.

The change appears to be less thansmooth, judging from a pair of e-mailsto contributors from Amarillo Globe-

News Business Editor Andy Ober-mueller.

In a message dated Dec. 4, Ober-mueller requested that contributors sub-mit their columns for a January editionno later than Dec. 15.

Instead of mailing out the publicationto Amarillo businesses and distribut-ing the remainder of the approximately

11,000-copy publication through freenews racks, Obermueller told con-tributors that, beginning in January,the magazine would be inserted in aSunday edition each month.

Three days later, Obermueller sentout a different message. In this one,he informed contributors, without anydetailed explanation, that a decision had

been made to ax the publication imme-diately, leaving the current Decemberissue as the last.

Their January columns would be

incorporated into the regular Sundayedition, Obermueller said.

That change suits Amarillo Chamberof Commerce President Gary Molberg just ne, given the greater circulation ofthe Sunday paper.

“That will be great for the chamber,”Molberg said.

Richard Ware, president of Amarillo National Bank, said the bank’s connec-tion with the monthly publication had

been limited in recent months, althoughin recent years, the bank’s monthlyEconomic Pulse was covered regularly

because of its popularity with readers.

Ware declined comment on the de-mise of the publication.

Editor’s Note: This is the second of a two-part story onthe merger between Baptist St. Anthony’s Health System andthe Don & Sybil HarringtonCancer Center

The merger betweenBaptist St. Anthony’sHealth System andthe Don & Sybil Har-

rington Cancer Center haschanged the way cancer patientsin Amarillo will get care and hasraised questions about the wayTexas Tech University Schoolof Medicine in Amarillo ts intothe scheme of things.

William “Rusty” Robinson, agynecologic oncologist on thefaculty at Texas Tech HealthSciences Center, was, at thetime of the merger, president ofHarrington Physicians, Inc., thedoctor group at Harrington.

Dr. Phillip Periman, who be-gan Harrington Cancer Centerin 1981, left the nonprot inSeptember 2005 and joined thefor-prot Texas Oncology Phy-sicians Associates, or TOPA.

Periman and Robinson each participated in this story by phone and with e-mails.

For Periman, the mergerthreatened the very core conceptof cancer care in the Panhandle.

“For me the central issue

Volume 1, Number 35 Thursday • December 14, 2006

F R E E T A K E O N E

Climb aboard theholiday express

Coors Calendarpage 4page 5 page 6

Dr. J:Addressing the reality of risky teen behavior

The trafc signal thatcould be

Tech excluded from BSA-Harrington merger

By George SchwarzThe Amarillo Independent

Racksto stayempty

continued page 3

By Greg Rohloff The Amarillo Independent

Amarillo Business Journal

folds, special columns

and reports

incorporated intoSunday edition

Even after the June2005 announcement,BSA and Harringtonworked hard to keepthe letters of intent

and other informationaway from the public.

www.amarilloindy.com

Amarillomay not havefunding tobe cancerresearch center

(Photo by Ralph Duke)


3/8

The Amarillo Independent • Thursday • December 14, 2006Page 2

Publisher/Editor — George Schwarz

[email protected]

News Editor/Writer — David Bowser

[email protected]

Business Manager — Dedra Stevens

[email protected]

Business Correspondent — Greg Rohloff

[email protected]

Production — Troy Foos

[email protected]

Voice: (806) 331-5066 Fax: (806) 331-5096Ads – [email protected]

Calendar – [email protected]

News – [email protected]

The Amarillo Independent is published by The AmarilloIndependent, L.L.C. weekly 52 times per year at 301 S. PolkSt., Suite 320, Amarillo, Texas 79101.

Unsolicited submissions, including but not limited to articles, artwork, photographs and résumés, are not returned.

© 2006 The Amarillo Independent, L.L.C. All rights reserved.

An Independent Attitude Dear Sens. Kerry and Clinton,

The big-name mainstream mediacontinue to report on speculationthat each of you is gearing up for arun for your party’s nomination for president.

Instead of pursingyour own politicalambitions, I urge youto place party aboveself and country aboveself.

Among thoughtfuland rational Demo-crats, neither of you isconsidered electable.

Let’s start with you,Sen. Kerry.

No one begrudges people whoacquire and retain honestly earnedwealth. But, Sen. Kerry, you are a patrician through and through andyour wealth doesn’t come across aswell-earned or well-deserved. The perception is that it’s the result ofyour marriage and, other than in politics, you’ve not worked an hon-est day in your life.

Further, no one believes that your patrician ways give you any portfo-lio to relate to the common man andthose folks who go through the ev-eryday struggles of earning a living.Your portfolio is made up of stocksand bonds and ketchup.

Then there was that horrible senseof humor and your attempted jokeabout failing to go to college andending up in Iraq. You fail, eventelling jokes, to connect with the

little guy — the regular guy.Then, Sen. Kerry, there is theother harsh reality: As much as I

believe you were a hero in Vietnam,the Swift Boat Veterans and theirsleazy Republican friends will un-leash their unrelenting attack on youas they did in the 2004 election. Ihave seen no evidence from you that

you know of any way to countertheir mendacious behavior. Youwere ineffective then and youwill be ineffective again.

For you, Sen. Clinton, the problem is similar. You are smart but ideologically driven. Andwhat horrible baggage you carry.

First, anyone who thinks theRepublicans won’t trot out allthe dirt they can, resurrecting theWhitewater investigation when

you and your husband were in theWhite House, is sadly mistaken.

The GOP hatemongers like RushLimbaugh and Michael Savage willattack and attack again, dredgingup half-truths and lies and, frankly, possible truths. How does the publicreally know you didn’t dodge yourown ethics bullet with the situation?Sad to say, we understand Demo-crats have ethically challengedrepresentatives.

Then, of course, the Republicanswill go after your husband. Theywill argue that you really won’t bethe president and that when he was president you were co-presidentsand this is just a subterfuge for thesame administration.

Never mind that during yourhusband’s presidency the economywas good. Opponents will also

drag out what a horrible job hisadministration did battling terrorists — and to my way of thinking they

may be right — and what a horrible job he did by sullying the virtue ofthe Oval Ofce. Do we need to gothere?

Finally, there is the ideologything.

Republicans will paint you as anideologue committed to left-wingagendas that go too far to the left ofwhat liberal agendas might normally be. Combining that with the secre-tive meetings you had with yourhealth task force, they will claimthat you are committed to someform of government-paid univer-sal health care and they will call it“socialized medicine.” They willuse that term even if what you wantisn’t some form of a federally runhealth system.

And they will say that neither you,nor Sen. Kerry, nor any other Demo-crat can be trusted not to raise taxes.

The best service you both cangive to the Democratic Party is tohelp support and foster the strongestcandidate to take on a Republican juggernaut. The Democratic can-didate for president for the 2008election must be as pure as thedriven snow, have no past or currentethical problems, have no skeletonsin his closet and be able to convincethe public he can hold the center. Neither of you ts that bill.

The best service that both of youcan give to the Democratic Partyis to recognize that the Republicancandidate will be a strong candidate, probably Sen. John McCain if the

neocons don’t undercut him, whowill make the Democrats vulnerableto the powerful draw of crossover

votes.The only answer to this is to have

an equally strong Democrat runningagainst McCain.

Sens. Kerry and Clinton, the bestservice both of you can give to theDemocratic Party is to be sure thatthe tons of campaign money youhave gotten in your misguided questfor the presidential nomination be put to good use further down theticket.

We know, for example, the Demo-cratic National Committee gavehardly a penny to Democrats againstentrenched Republican opponentsin Texas. The pendulum is swing-ing and needs to be helped along bymore campaign money.

Who are some other Democratswho cannot t the bill outlinedabove?

Let’s try New Mexico Gov. BillRichardson, with his own baggagefrom the Wen Ho Lee scandals atLos Alamos National Labs and theinherent corruption of New Mexico politics. Barack Obama, the senatorfor Illinois, is not only too unsea-soned, but — as much as I wouldlike to see an African-American atthe top of the ticket — it’s also un-clear to me that we’re ready for this.

Who are the Democrats who cant the bill outlined above?

I’m not sure, but Evan Bayh, thesenator for Indiana, Tom Vilsack,departing governor of Iowa, andGov. Kathleen Sibelius of Kansascome to mind as viable candidates.

The party needs fresh faces.Please don’t stand in their way.

GEORGESCHWARZ

OPINION

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The Gift

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EatRite

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English Field Restaurant

Exclusively Rose

Fort Amarillo

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Gold’s Gym

Happy State Bank

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Kelly Services

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The Amarillo Building

West Texas RX

Western Bowl

Wolin Avenue Barbershop

WTAMU JBK

Amarillo’s premiersource found at:

Show me the news.


4/8

Page 7Thursday • December 14, 2006 • The Amarillo Independent

continued from page 6

A

powerful, almostincomprehen-sible Christmasstory comes from

the beginning of the GreatWar (World War I).

In his book,“Silent Night: TheStory of the WorldWar ChristmasTruce,” StanleyWeintraub de-scribes the unof-cial truce thatextended across“No Man’s Land,”a place in centralFrance where hun-dreds of thousandsof soldiers had

been killed andwounded.

For 24 hours,enemies shared food anddrink, buried their dead andeven exchanged gifts.

Carl Muhlegg, a Ger-man private, secured asmall tree and decorated itwith candles to take to hisFrench foes.

Although sporadic gun-re could be heard froman adjoining sector, hetraveled about a kilometerto deliver his gift.

He wrote, “After all,

I was Father Christmas bearing a decorated tree, al-though … with a gun overmy shoulder and a bag ofammunition. I handed thecaptain the little Christmas

tree.“He lit the

candles andwished hissoldiers, theGerman na-tion and thewhole world,‘Peace ac-cording tothe mes-sage of theangel.’”

Peace in

the midst ofthe storm ora truce in the

midst of war. Often, this isonly possible when peopletake a moment to considerthe bigger picture and havethe courage to take action

— sometimes in unexpect-ed ways.

To think about …

As wars are being wagedin every corner of theglobe, we need to pauseduring this season and givethanks for those who areserving their countries or

living in harm’s way.There are many fathers,

grandfathers and fathergures who are separatedfrom their children and aregiving their lives to protectothers, as well as dadswhose children are servingin the military.

Yet beyond the physicalconicts around the world,there is a larger group offathers who are facing con-icts in their hearts.

This season is particu-larly difcult for families

who have gone throughthe trauma of divorce, ormay be contending with alife-threatening illness orhelping a struggling child.

These families also needoutside support, a visionfor the bigger picture, andthe courage to respond totheir challenges.

As we learn to negotiatechallenges in life, having astrategy to resolve con-icts is vital to our father -ing skills. Here are foursuggestions for managingconict in healthy ways:

• Plan to be calm. Es-tablish a routine that willhelp you and your familymembers remain in control.Allow “time outs” for

getting away and calmingdown.

• Speak and listen non-defensively. Pay closeattention to what you’recommunicating — bothverbally and nonverbally.Try to avoid blaming,sarcasm, rolling your eyes,sounding contemptuous, or

jumping to wrong conclu-sions.

• Validate your familymembers. Let them knowyou understand their feel-ings by taking responsibil-ity for your actions and

giving a sincere apology.• Don’t argue about what

you said in the past. Admitthat you might not remem-

ber things as they reallyhappened, and that yourfamily member might becorrect. Then move on tothe current matter.

Your modeling of theseskills will be an invalu-able asset to your childrenas they grow up, relate to

people, and someday havefamilies of their own.

Action points for com-

mitted fathers

• Express your apprecia-tion for someone you knowwho is serving our country.Send a note, a gift or ndanother way to support him

or his family.• Talk with your chil-

dren about times that yousuccessfully dealt withconict and the times youfell short.

• Help them thinkthrough healthy responsesto a variety of conictsituations. Institute a newfamily tradition over theholidays, like: caroling toyour neighbors, shovelingsnow or delivering food toa needy family.

In all things, listen, listenand love, love.

DAVE

CLARK

A Father’s Cry Managing conflict

New Orleans and it provided excellent rehabili-tation to patients.

Many rehabilitation hospitals also become ac-credited by the Commission on Accreditation ofRehabilitation Facilities.

Seeking such a designation is up to the localmanagement, said Lindsey Ryan, RehabCare’sdirector of communications.

Mark Kelly, the facility’s administrator, saidthe hospital already had 20 patients.

During the traditional Chamber of Commerceribbon cutting, the facility’s medical director,Keith Dyer, said this was his dream job.

Ofcials from the city of Amarillo and thetwo health companies hosted the party, withMayor Debra McCartt telling the facilities’ em- ployees, “You all who are going to work hereare going to make a tremendous difference inthe lives of the patients.”

Added Lopez, “What a great Christmas pres-ent for our community.”

New rehab facility a ‘great Christmas present’

Talk with your childrenabout times that you

successfully dealt withconict and the times

you fell short.Help them thinkthrough healthy

responses to a varietyof conict situations.

Institute a new familytradition over the

holidays, like: carolingto your neighbors,shoveling snow or

delivering food to aneedy family.

In all things, listen,listen and love, love.


5/8

Paramount Christian Church founda location with plenty of spacefor its diverse ministerial needs at

Hillside and Soncy not long ago.The church changed its name toHillside Christian Church and beganministering to its 4,000 to 5,000 member ock.

Perhaps the last thing on the minds ofchurch ofcials, excited about a beauti-ful new facility, was trafc control. The potentially dangerous situation created by heavy Sunday morning comings andgoings prompted the hiring of trafccontrol patrols.

Initial concerns raised were associ-ated with various youth events at thechurch and the need to provide a safedriving environment to inexperiencedcommuters, according to city ofcials.

Ofcials from the church didn’treturn calls to the Independent.

The potentially dangerous trafc ow problems supposedly promoted churchofcials to start a petition for a trafcsignal light.

But there’s only one problem. A peti-tion won’t do much good.

A strict code must be met before afull-functioning trafc control signalcan be warranted at Hillside and Soncy.

One of eight “warrants” must be metto justify a signal, although the trafccode carries the obligatory disclaimerthat satisfying one doesn’t automati-cally call for a signal.

“Warrants were established throughyears of study,” said David Szmagalski,

city of Amarillo trafc operations tech-nician. “They are not just city or state,they are nationwide and even interna-tional. These warrants are used all over

the world.”Szmagalski said

the city has talkedwith church ofcials

and understands theirconcerns. But theroad falls under TexasDepartment of Trans- portation control.

“Politically, if itwere up to the city, wemight be able to get itapproved through the political process herein the city,” Szmagal-ski said. With TxDOT,however, the strictcode of warrants istightly followed.

The city often participates in trafcstudies with TxDOT.A study at Hillside and Bell occurredabout two months ago.

The volume didn’t approach thewarrant for a light, Szmagalski said.Another study will likely be scheduledsoon, though, he said.

A consideration is that more ac-

cidents may actually occur, at least atrst, if a light is installed.

“You can trade right-angle collisionsfor rear-end collisions,” Szmagalski

said.This sentiment was echoed by Chris

Freeman, director of transportationoperations at TxDOT.

Fast-traveling trafc, nighttime con-ditions and unfamiliarity with a trafcsignal at that intersection could, at leastfor the short term, possibly be the causeof more accidents, Freeman said.

Basically, the warrants help de-termine when conditions are ripe to proceed with a trafc signal.

“We have done several things tomake that section of road safer,” Free-man said. One was to lower the speedlimit from 70 mph to 60 mph last sum-

mer. The department has also installeda ashing red light for Hillside trafcand yellow for Soncy trafc.

For now, installing a full trafc signal

could be a bad choice until the driving public is willing to recognize the lightand is willing to drive at a reasonablespeed.

“Drivers can’t see a visible reason togo slower than the posted speed limit,”Szmagalski said. Until they see a rea-son, a trafc light tends to be a less-safeoption.

Warrants for trafc signals are:1) Eight hour vehicular volume2) Four hour vehicular volume3) Peak hour volume4) Pedestrian volume5) School crossing6) Coordinated signal system

7) Crash experience8) Roadway network (Source: Texas Manual on Uniform

Trafc Control Devices)


A consideration is that

more accidents may

actually occur, at least at

rst, if a light is installed.

Te inevitablegrowth ofcommercialactivity willundoubtedly

warrant a signal,God willing

By Troy FoosThe Amarillo Independent

The intersection at Hillside and Soncy roads is now home to Hillside Christian Church with several thousandmembers. Trafc concerns have prompted requests for a full-functioning trafc signal. But TxDOT code requiresspecic “warrants” be met rst. TxDOT has taken some safety measures, such as lowering the speed limit from 70mph to 60 mph and installing a ashing light. (Photos by Troy Foos)


6/8


December 17

Gorillas vs. Laredo Bucks @ Civic Center

Coliseum 7:00 p.m. Panhandle Tickets

outlets (806) 378-3096

“A Christmas Carol – The Musical” @

Amarillo Little Theatre Mainstage 2:30

p.m. 806-355-9991

December 14

“A Christmas Carol – The Musical” @

Amarillo Little Theatre Mainstage 8:00

p.m. 806-355-9991

December 15

Gorillas vs. Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees @

Civic Center Coliseum 7:00 p.m. Panhandle

Tickets outlets (806) 378-3096

December 16

Gorillas vs. Odessa Jackalopes @ Civic

Center Coliseum 7:00 p.m. Panhandle

Tickets outlets (806) 378-3096

WTAMU Women’s Basketball @ First UnitedBank Center (Canyon) 6:00 p.m. (806)

651-4424

WTAMU Men’s Basketball @ First United

Bank Center (Canyon) 8:00 p.m. (806)

651-4424

THE CALENDAR

c a l e n d a r @ a m a r i l l o i n d y

. c o m

Catch the Santa train.


7/8

Patients who need rehabilitation services haveanother option for care

— and in Amarillo.Although Northwest Texas

Healthcare System and Rehab-Care, based in St. Louis, beganserving patients in mid-Octo- ber in a new 45,000-square-

foot facility, the two organiza-tions celebrated the openingThursday, Dec. 7.

But the real story isn’t thecelebration. It is how fast thetwo rms not only put the dealtogether but also that it alreadyhas accreditation from the JointCommission on Accreditationof Healthcare Organizations — a national voluntary orga-

nization that inspects health providers.

“This project was a year indevelopment,” said Dr. John H.Short, an economist and Re-habCare’s president and chiefexecutive. “People in Amarillo pulled it together quickly.”

The 44-bed facility, on thenortheast corner of NinthAvenue and Coulter, passed itsaccreditation on the rst try,

with ve recommendations,two of which were correctedon the spot, in part because“we eat and sleep rehab everyday,” Short said.

Frank Lopez, chief executiveat Northwest, said RehabCareand Northwest teamed up, in part, because he had experi-ence with the rm in his native


T

eenagers are a won-derfully interestingand challenginggroup of people.

When I arrived at TexasTech in 2004, Iwas asked to beginan adolescent andteenage obstetricsand gynecol-ogy clinic. I seeyoung women atthis clinic all dayMondays and I amchallenged everyMonday. Medical

problems are easyto solve comparedto the social,emotional andfamily issues posed

by these youngwomen.

When these issues are dis-cussed with the public, thequestions from educators,

parents and others in thecommunity reect commonconcerns:

• How can we recognizewhen one of our children isin trouble?

• How can we tell if theyare experimenting withharmful things?

• Once we see the warningsigns, what should we do?

• Or, how do I deal withmy child who believes I am

the world’s oldest livingfossil?

By seeking answers tothese questions, we can

begin solving teenage prob-lems.

Teenage sexual behavior National statistics from the

Centers for Disease Controland Prevention state that onein ve adolescents will haveintercourse before age 15.One in 10 adolescents whohave sex when under age 15describes it as nonconsensu-al or unwanted sex. Twenty-

ve percent of adolescentsreport using drugs or alcohol

prior to sexual activity. Onein 3 parents knows their

child is sexually active.The followingsituations may

put your child atincreased risk ofearly sex:

• Havingunsupervised freetime. (I can’t tellyou how manygirls tell methey and their

boyfriends havesex before their

parents get homefrom work.)

• Dating an“older boy.” If

your daughter is dating anolder boy, she is 3 times aslikely to have sex. (Morethan 50 percent of adoles-cents who test negative for

pregnancy will be pregnantwithin 18 months. If no pro-tection is used, 85 percent ofcouples will have an unin-tended pregnancy within oneyear.)

• Experimenting withalcohol or drugs. The use ofalcohol or drugs increasesthe risk of early sex by 80

percent.• Being depressed. De-

pression is one of the keyreasons young people beginto experiment with sex.

As parents you are the bestsource of information yourchild has. If the rst timeyour child asks you aboutoral sex, your head spinsaround three times and youturn purple and threaten toground her from here untileternity, I promise it will bethe last time she asks youanything.

That doesn’t mean shewon’t nd out what oral

sex is — she just won’t ndout from you. She will hearfrom her friends that she canstay a “virgin” if she hasonly oral or anal sex, buther friends don’t tell her that

the chance of contracting asexually transmitted diseaseis three times greater if sheengages in oral or anal sex.Wouldn’t you rather give herthe whole truth, even if it isuncomfortable to talk about?

Teenage alcohol use/abuse

The average age a childwill rst try alcohol is 11years for boys and 13 yearsfor girls. The average ageAmericans begin to drinkregularly is 15.9 years. Ado-lescents who begin drinking

before age 15 are four timesmore likely to develop de-

pendence. The three leadingcauses of death in 15- to 24-year-olds are motor vehicleaccidents, homicide, suicide

— and alcohol is a leadingfactor in all three causes.

Teenagers in our com-munity struggle with alcoholabuse every day. The biggestissue I address regularly is“binge drinking.” The nexttime your teenager comes infrom college, just ask howmuch she drinks when shegoes out to a party.

Most teenagers don’tunderstand that vomiting

is the body’s rst defensemechanism in trying to pro-tect from alcohol poisoning.Please tell them that if theykeep drinking, they mightquit breathing.

Teenage drug use/abuseAddicts come from every

age, race and socioeco-nomic class. On average,teenage addicts take theirrst drug prior to the ageof 15. In Amarillo, I mostoften see teenagers abusingmethamphetamines, cocaineand marijuana. The most

common warning signs area change in personality,stealing, lying and socialwithdrawal.

Most teenagers say therst drug they tried was al-

cohol. When I ask teenagerswhy they tried drugs the rsttime, they often reply either“out of curiosity” or “every-one else was doing them.”

One of the things weforget is that adolescentsdon’t think about the future;instead, they live for the mo-ment. They aren’t thinkingto themselves that one hitcould lead to an arrest recordand a lifetime of rehabilita-tion.

Often, teenagers ndthemselves in risky situa-tions. Parents have to givetheir children the wordsto use the rst time theynd themselves in a situa-tion they know is bad, butthey can’t gure out how toget out of it without losingface. Parents should thinkabout what they would sayif they were in a room fullof “friends” and were askedif they wanted a hit? When

parents bring this up in con-versation with their teenag-ers, they must not get angrywhen their children start to

be honest.Teenage depressionIf high-risk pregnancy,

infections and medical prob-lems were all I had to dealwith everyday, I would haveit easy. But teenage depres-sion and anxiety and familyconicts are extremely dif -cult problems to solve.

In 2003, 29 percent of stu-dents in grades nine through12 reported being clinicallydepressed more than twoweeks during a year. Forty-four percent of all teenagemothers screen positive forclinical depression. Depres-sion and social conicts lead

to a majority of the risky behaviors teenagers engagein.

I often tell the youngwomen in my ofce thatthere is no way in the world

anyone could get me to go back and relive junior highand high school. I am notsure there is a more difculttime in life. Part of the prob-lem is that, when you are14 years old, you have verylimited defense mechanisms;so when you get hurt, youaren’t expecting it and it justhurts worse.

This moment as a parentis your chance to make adifference.

The day you nd yourteenager depressed and sad,you need to drop whateverelse is going on and focuson your child because, if youdon’t, then sex, alcohol anddrugs are going to becomean awfully easy way foryour teenager to “numb the

pain.” What if you and yourteenager go for a walk andtalk about life today? Youmight nd you have more incommon than either of youthink.

I don’t pretend to have allthe answers. But I do thinkthat honesty works. I alsothink you have taken a criti-cal step when you identify ateenager you know is at risk.

It is easy to ignore the warn-ing signs. It is harder to facethe facts.

I encourage you to be proactive and nd somethingyour teenager really enjoys

— art, music, volunteerwork, sports, cooking oranything else that is positive.Help teenagers nd ways to

believe in themselves andtheir dreams. Risky be-haviors hold less appeal toyoung people who believein themselves and what theyhave to offer our world.

Dr. J’s Medical Minute

TeresaBaker ,M.D.

High-risk teen behaviors

continued page 7

Rehab hospital celebrates opening, accreditationBy George SchwarzThe Amarillo Independent

At the ribbon cutting for the Northwest Texas Healthcare System rehabilitation hospital, FrankLopez, CEO at Northwest, third from left, joins John H. Short, CEO of RehabCare and Mark Kelly,administrator of the rehabilitation facility, as Amarillo Mayor Debra McCartt conducts the obliga-tory ribbon ceremony. (Photo by George Schwarz)


8/8

came down to the vision ofthe future of HCC,” he wrote.“As the founding father of thecenter, I know we intended thecenter to provide cutting-edge

cancer care to this region.”In the e-mail to the Indepen-dent, Periman wrote that pa-tients shouldn’t have to go toHouston or Dallas for advancedcancer care — which is stillexperimental in some respects — and a close afliation with amedical school is essential.

“In short, HCC had a choiceto pursue a future with a goalof becoming an NCI (NationalCancer Institute) designatedcancer center strongly afliatedwith Texas Tech or of becom-ing a hospital-based commu-nity cancer center,” he added.

“Every well-known rst classcancer center in this country isstrongly academically afliatedand is headed by physicians; forexample, M.D. Anderson, Me-morial Sloan-Kettering, etc.

“There are no communityhospital-based cancer centersin the rst ranks.”

The parties, in particular thelay leadership of Harrington,really didn’t intend for Techto have a signicant role in themerger, he wrote.

“I believe they also haddisdain for Tech because it is

based in Lubbock and becausethey consider it a second rate

school.”On keeping Tech out of the

loop, Robinson agrees: “With-out question, Steve Berk andTexas Tech did get excludedfrom the decision to mergewith BSA. We all did.”

Dr. Steven Berk was theAmarillo-based regional deanat the School of Medicine andis now in Lubbock as the deanof the medical school.

Berk said in an interviewDec. 4 that both Periman’s andRobinson’s characterizationsof the merger discussions wereaccurate.

“As far as being a full part-ner, that was something thatwas brought up at the very rst

press conference, but reallynever got followed up on after

that,” Berk said.That press conference, called

in the late afternoon of June5, 2005, caught the physiciansand most of the medical com-munity by surprise.

Berk said he hadn’t heardanything from the parties inseveral months and thinks Techis out of the picture.

Even after the June 2005announcement, BSA and Har-rington worked hard to keepthe letters of intent and otherinformation away from the

public.Those letters, exchanged

among BSA, Harrington andTexas Tech, contained little ofsubstance, but, when Tech, a

public university, received a

request for copies of the letters,BSA and Harrington led ob-

jections with the Texas Attor-ney General’s Ofce.

The AG eventually ruled the

initial letters of intent were public.

The second stage of discus-sions focused on whether Techmight play a role in the re-search side with an endowment

— there might be a foundation,Berk said.

“We were, of course, veryinterested in that. I don’t knowif they’ve given up on that ornot.”

Robinson questioned wheth-er Tech and the communityhave the nancial resources foran NCI designation.

“Neither Texas Tech-Amaril-lo nor HCC is anywhere closeto having the resources to com-

pete for that,” Robinson wrotein an e-mail on Dec. 4.

“An institution must have aminimum of $5 million to $10million in NCI-funded basic re-search up front just to be com-

petitive for that designation.Most of the 30 or so NCI-des-

ignated comprehensive cancercenters have much more thanthat.”

But whatever happens withmoney for cancer research

— and Tech recently got a $1million endowment from theJ. Avery Rush family — themerger still cost Harringtonsome physicians.

Berk said the doctors whomoved to TOPA were the onesto whom Tech was close, butthe merger and doctors movingalso put Tech in the middle.

“In fairness to the cancercenter, as the physicians we

were very close to decided tomove over to join TOPA, wewere kind of in the middle,trying to be supportive of bothgroups, which is still our stance

now,” he said.Drs. Sam Needleman and

Sean Tedjarati will be on theTech faculty, but Tech has lostDr. Seah Lim, who has gonefull time to TOPA, Berk said,adding Tech’s commitment tocancer care and research hasn’t

wavered, citing a list of otherresearchers.

Lim, who specializes in stem-cell transplants to treat bloodcancers, has funding from the

NIH and was based at TexasTech in Amarillo.

In response to a request totalk to personnel at TOPA,Shana Bristow, of Fleishmanand Hilliard, issued the follow-ing non-statement by e-mail,“Dr. Seah Lim joined TexasOncology based on the strengthof the network, managementexpertise, ready capital for theacquisition of leading edge

technologies and access to best-in-class research.”

Several sources said Lim’s parting with Tech was conten-tious, but Berk characterizedthe move of going full-timeTOPA as Lim’s decision.

The problem was that if Limwas with TOPA but still ran his

NIH grants through Tech, itwould be a model the univer-sity had never had, Berk said.

But, Lim, whose last day atthe medical school was Nov.30, will base his grants atHarrington Regional MedicalCenter, said David Sougstad,

HRMC.Frank Lopez, presidentand CEO of Northwest TexasHealthcare System, said Lim’sdeparture was “fallout fromthe Harrington-BSA merger”

because when Lim left Har-rington, he joined Texas On-cology, but Texas Tech wantedLim full time.

Lopez characterized the splitas “mutual.”

But the split wasn’t all thatsudden, said Dr. Jim Rutledge,

president and CEO of CoffeeMemorial Blood Center.

“He actually met with us acouple months ago,” Rutledgesaid. “So this has been devel-oping for a while.”

Rutledge said he recognizedthe blood center has a vestedinterest in Lim’s staying inAmarillo because the centercollects stem cells for Lim andthe process is a source of sub-stantial revenue.

“Dr. Lim has been an ex-tremely important part of themedical community here. Hisstem-cell transplant program is

a one of a kind for Amarillo,”Rutledge said.

“Through his efforts, peopleare able to have transplants herewithout having to go to Dallas,or Houston, or wherever.”

Lim will stay in the commu-nity and will continue provid-ing stem-cell services, Berksaid.

“Obviously, Amarillo will be a more competitive placewith respect to medical on-cologists. That could be good.I believe both groups – well Iknow – both groups will be hir-ing medical oncologists,” Berk

said.“We want to build clinicalservices in cancer research andeducation working with every-

body – both hospitals and bothgroups.”


Disdain for Tech may have roots in Lubbock continued from page 1

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Ralph Routon, former executive editor at theAmarillo Globe-News, will return to ColoradoSprings at the start of 2007.

Routon will lead the editorial team at theColorado Springs Independent, no relation toThe Amarillo Independent.

“My chance to go back to Colorado Springs,where our kids and grandkids are, was some-thing we ultimately hoped might happen,” said

Routon, contacted Tuesday at Florida Today inMelbourne.

John Weiss, the Colorado Springs Indepen-dent publisher, made the announcement onDec. 7 in a release posted on the Association ofAlternative Newsweeklies Web site.

“His love of and knowledge about the PikesPeak region were what made Ralph Routonstand out in a eld of more than 80 very stronglocal and national candidates,” Weiss said. “Hisroots are here. His kids are here. He will take

our excellent paper to even a higher level.”Routon had spent from 1977 to 2001 in

Colorado Springs before taking a job in north-west Florida. He came to Amarillo in Septem-

ber 2003 and left in a newsroom purge some 18months later.

“Our time spent in Amarillo, although itwasn’t a happy ending, we have a lot of greatmemories, especially of the people,” Routon,

said.The Colorado Springs Independent is an al-

ternative newspaper on the order of the DallasObserver or the Houston Press. It has a weeklycirculation of about 36,000, according to theAAN Web site.

Leading the newsroom at this type of paperwill be “an interesting new challenge,” Routonsaid. He contrasted the weekly with a daily bysaying “It’s more about the quality, not quan-tity.” — George Schwarz

Former Globe-News exec editor heads home to new position

indy dec 14 2006 sml file

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