Archive | February, 2014

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Why We’re Planning A Digital Detox in Africa

Writing those words makes me feel horribly spoiled: I am planning a digital detox while in Africa. You would be justified in asking why? To cleanse my Facebook-polluted brain? To “fit in” in a third-world environment where electricity and the Internet are not guaranteed? For convenience sake, because staying “connected” might be difficult? The answer […]

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Africa Travel Jitters

The long distraction of our impending trip to Africa is coming to a close. The mental rehearsals of packing and organizing are giving way to actual packing, selection and rejection of items, organization of papers and reviewing the weather channel with an eye on the next blizzard. The challenge of packing for hours of driving (from […]

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When Insurance Companies Don’t Care About the Caregiver

A recent article in the Bangor Daily News has struck me deeply. It crystallizes so much of what is wrong with American health care. It relates the story of Sandi Tucker Kennedy, a 38-year-old mother of four and a nurse at the Maine Medical Center, who is rapidly deteriorating from a degenerative neurological disorder. The […]

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Why Are Medical Executives Paid So Much?

One of the interesting perks of joining the Board of Trustees of a hospital is the ability to view the inner workings of the institution and to learn a few secrets. Knowledge of the good, the bad and the ugly adds a stimulating dimension to board work. During my decade as a board member, one […]

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