Cartoon ‘cheap shot’
Cartoon ‘cheap shot’
While I understand that living here in Hilo we can’t expect to have what would be considered a world class editorial cartoonist, but I personally find Gary Hoff’s representation of our surgeons and surgical nurses at Hilo Medical Center to be offensive and without merit.
I might not agree with every decision that is made at HMC, but when you publish images that denigrate the dedication and hard work that is provided by the operating room staff and physicians on a daily basis, the Tribune-Herald needs to be held accountable.
In regards to patient safety, HMC has instituted many safety measures even before they became common practice in other island facilities.
This last May, our nurses gave a presentation in Honolulu at the Surgical Unit Safety Program (SUSP) conference. SUSP is a project that all hospitals in the islands participate in to share information in order to improve patient care and safety. Many hospitals, including those on Oahu, were impressed with the safety standards that HMC had already implemented. I personally have been contacted by some of these hospitals asking questions and wanting to know more about how our operating room went about putting these changes in place.
HMC operating room staff take their responsibilities very seriously; we understand that when our patients need us, they need us to do our best and to have their best interests at heart.
The way that we were portrayed in the Tribune-Herald’s editorial cartoon not only does a disservice to HMC, but also to the community.
Basically, it was a cheap shot that reflects more on your newspaper’s inability to provide accurate perspective, than it does on our ability to provide good patient care.
Dana N. Deranja
Hilo Medical Center,
Operating room supervisor
Coverage unfair
Regarding the Tribune-Herald’s election coverage on June 5, they managed to completely ignore Maddie Green and Dr. Roy Lozano in the Puna District 4 race, all the while seeming to give a preference to the incumbent, Greggor Ilagan.
If a news outlet is not going to give fair coverage to all of the candidates, they should not bother with election coverage.
Dave Kisor
Pahoa