BASTILLE DAY

In the same manner that the Twin Towers stood for the United States,The Eiffel Tower is the symbol of France. This picture originally in color which has deteriorated was take from the Trocadero across the Seine River with a direct view of the Tower.

July 14- Bastille Day- France's national holiday is the equivalent of our July 4th.

In July 1945 the 17th Airborne Division, 194th Glider Infantry Regiment, 1st Battalion had been redeployed from occupation duty in Duisburg Germany to Luneville France. Since the Division was being deactivated, individually we were waiting for reassignment to either the 82nd which was designated for the permanent occupation duty in Berlin, or among others the First Airborne Wing designated for the initial landings on Kyushu,the southernmost island of Japan.

Our Battalion including the Medical Detachment was to parade through the city that Bastille day. It was my turn to act as the medical unit's commanding officer for the march. This was something I detested since I had no sense of rhythm and inevitably after a few hundred yards the troops behind me were on the opposite foot from mine. Non-the-less I did survive that day and on the next day picked up orders to be transferred to the 82nd whic was in Epinal..

I thought that luck was with me for the day I joined the 82nd new orders had arrived at the 194th for me to go to the First Airborne Wing. I wanted nothing to do with that assignment. AS fate would have it my substitute was in transport via the States when the bombs were dropped He was 'home" months before I was.
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ABBEY ST. MICHEL DE CUXA

Sant Miquel de Cuixà) is a Catalan Benedictine abbey located in the territory of the commune ofCodalet, in the Pyrénées-Orientales département, in southwestern France. In about 940, under the initiative of Sunifred II of Cerdanya, a new church dedicated to Saint Michael was built. In 956 the building was refurbished and made more sumptuous; the main altar was consecrated on 30 September 974 byGarí, a monk from Cluny who led five southern monasteries. (from Wilkepedia}

To reach this off the tourist track 9th Century Abbey you have to take a jeep up a narrow winding gravel road to a point several hundred feet below the buildings. The trip continues on foot ,or by pack animal, if supplies are being brought in, up a rather steep dirt trail. The vista from the Abbey is as you can imagine spectacular especially of the village in the valley below. The aesthetic starkness of the sanctuary is matchless. It was worth the trip..

POTPOURRI

To Peg; you asked- "Do you remember the Garage Room" in Plainfield-on 7th near Park,I believe. There was a horrible murder there and a column from you would be great."

Thank you for the memory, I do not recall everything. That was perhaps in the 50s. I believe that the garage and its upper floor night club was on the northwest corner of 7th and Park where the strip mall is today. I do not recall the circumstances of the murder. I am sure that somebody can give more information.

As to the plaque in the old OR over what was the main entrance I can not recall paying attention to it. I have no idea who the individuals where. This brings up another interesting question about the gutting of the hospital. There were numerous memorial plaques scattered throughout the hospital buildng, some were quite large. They must be of value for their copper. Did Solaris appropriate them?

Does anyone remember Issac the doorman who greeted everyone entering the Hospital.? A gracious individual. Or Dave the ambulance driver and his wife Carrie the head nurse in the OR? They were wonderful people.

To Dan Damon; A propos of your comments about the Star Ledger's absent Editorial/Opinion page least Sunday, apparently that paper is without and opinion. My edition today,Saturday, lacks editorials, letters, or columnists. I do believe that the on line edition does have an editorial.

To anybody interested: Today 's bloggers I believe are filling the same role of the pamphleteers of the late 17th and 18th centuries who took advantage of the printing press to disseminate information both true and falsified about news and official corruption which the authorieites tried to suppress.

Today is to be a no brainer day, Thus without using 1000 words these pictures were taken, if I remember correctly, at the Arduaine Gardens on the west coast of Scotland. At least the general location would b e right. On a Loch near Oban. Few are aware that this part of Scotland is on the mae Latitude as the Hudson Bay. The difference is the Gulf Stream Current warms that coast and makes it possible to grow tropical and semi tropical plants. This particular garden includes small ponds and marshes where water plants grow.
The pinkish treetops are not the result of color tweaking.

POTPOURRI THOUGHTS

I received the following comment about today's story of the Plainfield Lions Club.

" Olddoc, have you read "Bowling Alone"? It is about the decline of service organizations and other such affiliations. I recall once coming across a member directory of one of Plainfield's clubs in the newsroom library and it was like a "who's who" of the community. Of course now people connect electronically and a lot of community service comes through government agencies.For better or worse, times change"

There are several true statements above. The international service clubs Lions, Rotary, and Kiwanis charters limited club affiliation to one representative per occupation. Additional members in that classification had to be approved by the existing member, IE: if there was one general dentist no other dentist could become a member without active member's approval. Therefore there was an economic perk in being a club member. This distinction was not only afforded to the professions but to merchants and tradesmen. There could be only one owner of a shoe store, or one manager for a ten cent chain store or one electrician. Thus a broad but restricted microcosm of the community was created.

Each club was dedicated to certain needed community activities. After WWII and with the development of Johnson's "great society" , governmental agencies gradually began to provide services that were voluntarily done by the services clubs. In the urban milieu the clubs were becoming superfluous and degenerated into social organizations without realistic civic missions.. The clubs memberships also changed from strictly men only to mixed gender.

Service clubs still function as intended in the smaller communities especially in the rural areas.


TODAY'S PHOTO: Brill's Island, Schroon Lake, NY.



COMMENT.

All "bloggers" will receive comments from readers on various postings. Although we are flattered by those that are complimentary we also expect to receive some that take issue with our positions. Each blogger has the option of publishing those comments and, although not obligated to do so, will include the negative ones along with the ego satisfiers. However, I along with others will reject those comments submitted that reek from bigotry.

Since the senders of these usually hide in the vacuum of anonymity they would not be worth any contemplation except that by their nature they represent a single or group of individuals who are a danger to our society. A danger that in Europe led to the acquiescence to a genocidal government dedicated to "ethnic cleansing".

Too many forget that 99.999% of us or our ancestors arrived in this country, whether legally or illegally, as fugitives from religious or political persecution in the "old world". Indeed those of the great ethnic immigrations particularly the Irish , Italians in the century pre WW II were for many years victims of discrimination in this country. That does not give them the moral justification for themselves to practice such activities.

The United States is a very heterogeneous society that has been the basis of its success and continued its cohesiveness is necessary for this nation's future.

ANGIOPLASTY CERTIFICATION.

I can not be disturbed by the SHPB's approval of the request from JFK for the right to do elective angioplasty. That was a given the moment the Commissioner gave her tacit approval to close MRMC. This represents no change in the overall picture except a gain for JFK that would not have happened if MRMC was in operation.

Plainfield's Lions Club

I was invited in the fall of 1946 to join the Plainfield Lions Club. At that time its membership came from all three Plainfields and was one of the oldest Lions clubs in NJ dating back to 1921. Unlike Rotary and Kiwanis who met for lunch, the Lions’ thirty active members met weekly on Wednesday night for dinner in the Park Hotel. As a community Service club it was mainly involved in the Boy Scouts and aiding the blind.

In the twenties, a lawyer, Harvey Rothberg donated a wooded area on the side of first Watchung Mountains near Scotch Plains for the Scouts to have a local campsite. The club had dug a pond as a swimming pool and had built several shelters and a dinning/meeting hall on the site. The Lions would have an annual picnic and also a steak cookout at the site.

The club’s major fund raiser during the war years and for several years afterwards was a semi-annual waste paper drive. During the war this was a patriotic activity. Merchant members supplied the trucks and all the club members collected and loaded the waste paper. There was a great deal of camaraderie involved in these enterprises. We were tired but had a great time.

When it became unprofitable to collect old newspapers, the club had to seek other fund raising ventures. For a few years the club sponsored an annual AAU amateur boxing tournament in the roller rink building on the corner of East Fourth St. and Watchung Avenue. This building, which was near the old large gas storage tank, has since been torn down. The site was replaced by the extension of Fourth Street and a police station.

Much to my relief the boxing sponsorship was abandoned after three or four years. As expected from me as a member of the club, I had volunteered my services as ringside physician, but was never happy with the possible risks.

The club’s next major fund raiser was an annual car raffle. One of the members was a co-owner of the Studebaker agency, and provided the car at cost. Although Studebaker was never one of the most popular cars we were able to raise great deal of money from these raffles.

Over the years the clubs other fund raising activities included an annual fruit cake sale, light bulb sales, an Easter Seal solicitation to support the Regional Lions Clubs' "blind" projects including Camp Marcella for the blind, and a mobile for eye testing vehicle. Besides Lions major focus on Boy Scouts, and the prevention of blindness, the local club also provided an annual albeit small scholarship for a graduating high school student.

In 1960-61 I was club president. By that time we had reached a membership of about 140. Both South Plainfield and North Plainfield had formed separate clubs. When North Plainfield club was first formed in the early fifties, we had sincere discussion among ourselves of terminating our affiliation with Lions and joining another national service organization. Plainfield already had active Rotary and Kiwanis clubs.

The only other national services clubs to affiliate with were the Optimists and the Ruritarians. The first was too small and had little prestige, and the other was obviously an organization aimed at rural areas and would not be acceptable. Therefore we swallowed our anger at the national’s money oriented policy to created new clubs in the domain of existing clubs, and remained Lions. Each of the other Plainfields' clubs had distinct personalities and were in their own right great organizations. However, I never could have been as comfortable if a member of either of the other two.

The year that I was president was financially the most successful year in the club’s history. That success was not due to my expertise but rather due to the extremely dedicated and capable board members who were my committee chairmen. Besides the small money raisers, instead of the yearly car raffle, we held two. I felt like every week I was begging the members to sell this or that. Fortunately no one objected

We were forced to have the two major drives because the incoming president was a Methodist minister who was vehemently against gambling which in his view included raffles. He could not condone drinking alcohol beverages and would not even attend our executive committee meetings if we held them in our customary nook in the bar.

Incidentally, many years latter that minister began to lose his eyesight and decided to leave the ministry. He became executive director of the Presbyterian nursing home near Atlantic City. No longer a Methodist minister, He began to enjoy his evening cocktail.

One of the highlights of my years Presidency was a visit by Eleanor Roosevelt to our club while she was in town. She only stayed but a moment and was very gracious.

Plainfield Lions Club from its inception made no religious distinction. Rotary and Kiwanis did not admit Jewish members until the 50s. However both had Afro-American members long before the Lions.

When I and another physician sponsored a black surgeon for membership in the 80s there were more then the two needed blackball votes. At that meeting I and an other former president, an educator who had very firm social opinions, told the club that we found racism unacceptable and were immediately tending our resignation unless the club would reconsider the vote. To our relief there was an immediate re voting and he was elected a member without a dissenting vote. . That doctor is still a member of the club and has served more than once as president.

The Plainfield Lions club is still in existence to this day. However although I became a life member, after 50 years I am no longer affiliated. In recent years the club has dwindled to about 20 members. The Club meets biweekly in an out of town restaurant, since there is no adequate facility in Plainfield. I left the club after one member had become overbearingly obnoxious in his behavior toward the other members. To compensate for his life failures, he decided that Lionism was a religion to be followed blindly and the” fellowship be damned”. This fanaticism was not rare phenomena, but one I also had observed in past members.

State regs

Thanks to anonymous I went back and found the Statues, Rules and Rules Proposal, Health Facilities Evaluation and Licensing. I have extract portions and made comments in italics. It seems that the rules have been followed to date, but in my opinion has there a been tweaking of facts or procedures. That is open to questioning.

8:33-3.2 Termination/discontinuance of service or facility and/or reduction of licensed bed capacity
(b) Voluntary closure of a facility or discontinuance of all of its services does not require a certificate of need, except that the closure of a general hospital requires a certificate of need and shall follow the full review process. Applications for the closure of a general hospital shall be accepted on the first business day of any month. Where a certificate of need is not required pursuant to this section, written notification shall be filed with the Department's Certificate of Need and Acute Care Licensure Program, 30 days prior to the proposed closure of a facility or discontinuance of all of its services. Full compliance with all applicable Department requirements contained in this chapter and in service-specific chapters for closure/discontinuance shall be required.
(c) Discontinuance of a component service of a health care facility or satellite emergency department shall not require a certificate of need where the discontinuance will not result in problems of access to populations historically served and is not a service which is required to be a component of an inpatient health care facility. In these instances, the licensed entity shall notify the Department's Certificate of Need and Acute Care Licensure Program in writing 60 days prior to discontinuance of the service. Such notice shall include a rationale of why the licensed entity anticipates that discontinuance will not result in problems of access, including
access to women’s reproductive health services, where contextually applicable. The Department will notify the provider whether the proposed discontinuance requires a certificate of need. If a certificate of need is required, the certificate of need application shall follow the expedited review process set forth at N.J.A.C. 8:33-4.1(c). The provider shall not discontinue the service until the Department provides notice that no certificate of need is required or that a certificate of need is approved, as applicable

We should presume that Solaris followed the procedure in 8:33-3.2 (c), However it would be interesting to find out why the relocation of OB services to Trinity in Elizabeth would not result in problems of access especially if realistic travel times were used.

8:33-3.4 Changes in licensed beds and/or services
(a) The following criteria apply to changes in licensed beds and /or services:
3. For services for which there is no specific licensed bed complement, relocation is not permitted, unless the service is otherwise exempt from the certificate of need requirement in accordance with those rules. For services for which there is a specific licensed bed complement, the relocation of a portion of a facility's licensed beds or the entire service from one licensed facility (sending facility) to another (receiving facility) located within the same planning region requires a certificate of need and shall follow the expedited review process, unless the beds or
service at issue are otherwise exempt from the certificate of need requirement in accordance with these rules. The application shall be considered pursuant to the following criteria:
i. The relocation shall take place within the same planning region where the
sending facility is located;
ii. The receiving facility shall already hold a license for the category of beds proposed for relocation. The Commissioner may, in the case of proposed bed relocations, waive this requirement when the receiving facility is the site of a general hospital proposed or approved
Types of Certificate of Need Applications

Unfortunately relocation of OB/GYN beds is exempt. Reference: EXHIBIT, 3Certificate of Need Review BED-RELATED HEALTH CARE FACILITY/SERVICES .A CON would not be required, but was procedure under8:33-3.2 followed?

8:33-4.13 Role of the State Health Planning Board
(a) The State Health Planning Board shall review applications for certificates of need subject to full review and make recommendations to the Commissioner in accordance with all applicable health planning regulations.
(c) The State Health Planning Board shall furnish written decisions to the Commissioner which provide the explicit basis for any recommendations made by the Board on certificate of need applications. Such written decisions shall be forwarded to the Commissioner within 90 days after the application is deemed complete for processing unless the application has been deferred pursuant to N.J.A.C. 8:33-4.7 or because of the conduct of an administrative hearing regarding one of the batched applications. These written decisions may take the form of minutes of the State Health Planning Board.

Has the SHPB written decision been forwarded to the Commissioner? If so is it available for review by the public?

8:33-4.15 Procedures for Commissioner review
(d) After the commencement of a hearing pursuant to (c) above, and before a decision is made, there shall be no ex parte contacts between any person acting on behalf of the applicant or holder of a certificate of need, or any person opposed to the issuance of a certificate of need, and any person in the Department who exercises any responsibility for reviewing the application. Ex parte communication is defined as an oral or written communication not on the public record with respect to which reasonable prior notice to all parties is not given. It shall not include
requests for status reports on any matter or proceeding. Any communications made after commencement of the fair hearing that are placed in the record of the proceedings are made available to all parties are not ex parte and are not prohibited.

Could Commissioner Howard's comments before the public hearings regarding how JFK would benefit by closing MRMC be in violation of 8:33-4.15? Although there is no specific information relating t o actual contact between the Commissioner’s office and Solaris there is implied evidence of discussion between the two. The timing of all would be critical.

EXHIBIT 3
Certificate of Need Review
BED-RELATED HEALTH CARE FACILITY/SERVICES
RELOCATION OF LICENSED BEDS OR AN
ENTIRE SERVICE SUBJECT TO CN REVIEW
Within the same planning region in accordance with
N.J.A.C. 8:33-3.4(a)3……………………………. Expedited
RELOCATION OR REPLACEMENT OF AN
ENTIRE LICENSED BED RELATED FACILITY
SUBJECT TO CN REVIEW
General hospital/within or outside county............. Full
All other/within same planning region
in accordance with N.J.A.C. 8:33-3.5(a)4........... Expedited
All other/at the same site in accordance with
N.J.A.C. 8:33-3.5(a)2 ............................................ Exempt
TERMINATION/DISCONTINUANCE OF LICENSED BEDS, SERVICES OR FACILITIES
General hospital (all beds/services)……………... Full
General hospital (some beds/services)…………...
No access problems……………………………... Exempt
Access problems………………………………… Expedited
All other health care facilities…………………….. Exempt