Ellington

Nurse Tootie McBride: "What happens when a financially challenged individual without health insurance needs immediate medical attention for a large knot on the forehead? A nurse tells the individual to wait in the long line at the caseworker's desk.

"What happens when an insured middle-class person needs medical treatment for a deep, bleeding gash on the left foot? That individual must fill out a 20-page 'proof of medical insurance' form, provide a driver's license and have a credit card or checking account.

"I guess the medical industry has adopted the philosophy of being all about money—ain't a darn thing funny; got to have a job here in this land of milk and honey. Therefore without the proper insurance, the poor girl whose arm was severed from her body after being pushed in front of a train will not have her arm sewn back on. And the man who was stabbed in the heart won't get the transplant for a brand new start—unless he has enough money for the co-payment.

"I don't know how others in the medical profession feel about today's health care, but I remember one part of a very important oath that says that I must care adequately for the sick whose illness may affect the person's family and economic stability. I, along with Drs. Ben 'Casey' and Marcus 'Welby' McBride are for affordable health care through reform of the current health-care system, with the hope of making our medical profession and practice less hypocritical."