Reader questions advice on combo OH/urgent care
To the editor: I have read the April 1998 issue of Occupational Health Management and wish to take issue with the guidance offered by Robert Goldberg, MD, of The American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.
(By request of OHM, Robert Goldberg, MD, FACOEM, president and medical director of Valley Occupational Medical Group in Modesto, CA, and De La Cruz Occupational Health Care in Sunnyvale, CA, provided advice to a reader who was weighing the pros and cons of combining an occupational health clinic with an urgent care facility. He also is first vice president of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine in Arlington Heights, IL. Goldberg suggested that combining an occupational health clinic with an urgent care facility could be a bad idea, partly because it would be difficult to provide truly comprehensive occupational health care.)
I won't go into detail, but I assure you that Goldberg speaks for himself when he vehemently puts down a reader's proposal of combining urgent care and occupational medicine clinics. Before he makes such comments, he needs to address the particulars of that specific proposal and/or allow that there are variations on the theme that could have measurable benefits for all concerned - employees, employers, and the "other patients" that exist in our society. With the proper delineation of the two clinics, there can be a co-existence that would not detract from the individual needs of these clients, and probably, in my estimation, be of increased benefit, as they share the strengths of each. But the particulars need to be addressed. What bothered me about Goldberg's comments was that he specifically excluded the possibility of proper coexistence. Let not the reader be deterred from pursuing the possibilities.
Arnold H. Wexler, MD, MPH, FACOEM
Medical Director, Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
Deaconess Medical Center
Spokane, WA
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