Over the year, our nation has faced multiple crises due to a lack of transparency; Ferguson, Mo., and Edward Snowden come to mind. Whether we agree or disagree with the circumstances, it can certainly be suggested that in both situations, the perceived problem spun out of control when too much control over vital information was being exercised.
“You can’t handle the truth!” seems to be the sentiment of many leaders today. We all know where that got Col. Nathan Jessup, Jack Nicholson’s character, in the movie, “A Few Good Men.”
Georgia is facing a similar decision-making crossroads today. Our leadership has an opportunity to prevent unnecessary crises by striking a more effective balance between withholding and disseminating important health care information.
Currently, our local leaders are refusing to reveal the names of the six hospitals in addition to Emory University Hospital that are being prepared to treat Ebola patients. This only maintains the cloak of secrecy that prevails in our state. To date, we have already experienced negative consequences of denying citizens critical information related to their health.
By example, medical insurance coverage for state employees was originally cut so dramatically that a group of volunteer advocates intervened in an effort to prevent grave health consequences due to neglect. Backroom deals left 1.8 million Georgians without health care due to the denial of Medicaid expansion. More recently, the viability of Grady Memorial Hospital, our safety-net hospital, is being jeopardized by threats from discreet and discriminatory practices of insurance providers.
Another blatant disregard for transparency was the recent gag order on state and local officials, preventing them from promoting the Health Insurance Marketplace. This rash decision left thousands of Georgians without vital coverage that could have been assessed by the site. How can citizens entrust themselves to other crucial state decisions when their need to be part of the conversation is ignored?
It appears Georgia officials are afraid to have any conversation with citizens to address the needs of their communities and provide an honest response to their well-being and productivity. The lack of transparency is eroding Georgia’s public trust.
Unfortunately, this is not new to advocates who stand up for the rights of millions of low-income and underserved individuals, families and hard-working citizens who struggle to access affordable, quality health care. We have been trying to get a seat at the table with our local decision-makers for many years to discuss issues that directly affect the lives of Georgians and Georgia taxpayers.
Our leaders have an opportunity to develop trust by more effectively managing the Ebola message. It is understandable that announcing the names of the hospitals in preparation could cause public hysteria in the communities where these hospitals are located. Without directly communicating accurate information to the public, people could fear they are at greater risk in their neighborhoods for becoming infected through hospital workers, staff and relatives visiting contagious patients.
Health officials in New York City urged citizens to remain calm as they announced the hospitals ready to treat Ebola patients. This straightforward announcement helped to bolster their level of preparedness as well as expand the list of designated treatment centers to ensure geographic diversity. This was a simple example of uniformly coordinated efforts to ensure the public that officials were doing everything necessary to safeguard against the risks of Ebola.
According to New York Magazine, the city’s “press conference (at Bellevue) was thorough and engendered public calm by reiterating how difficult and rare it is to contract Ebola.”
The Ebola crisis is another significant watershed where Georgia seems to have lost our strongest ethical principle to oversee the protection of the public’s trust by maintaining open communication and access to the decision-making process. This neglect by our local decision-makers will lead to an emboldened culture of concealment, backroom deals for profit, and disregard for executing the best public health policies.
The nation deserves a surgeon general to provide advice and support on all public health issues. Georgians deserve to be treated with respect by keeping us informed about critical decisions that directly impact our health and well-being.
Dorothy Leone-Glasser is executive director of Advocates for Responsible Care, an Atlanta-based nonprofit.
