WHO WE ARE & WHY WE ARE WRITING YOU

We are raising red flags about serious issues at UVA Health in the hope of motivating principled UVA stakeholders and Charlottesville citizens to address them.

Parrhesiastes

Jun 15, 2024

We are eternally grateful for the doctors, nurses and health care workers who brought us into this world and take care of us and our loved ones.

We are not nurses.

We are not doctors.

We are not attorneys.

We are not the media.

We are not powerful UVA alumni.

We are not wealthy UVA donors.

We are not elected officials in Virginia.

We are not faculty or employees at UVA.

We have no compliance oversight at UVA.

We have no fiduciary responsibility at UVA.

We have not accepted public appointments to be stewards of UVA.

We are just everyday citizens of Charlottesville and patients of UVA Health who were raised to look out for our family, friends and neighbors.

We were raised to do our civic duty.

We were raised to take responsibilities for our failures.

We were raised to acknowledge we are all unfinished business.

We were raised to try and leave things better than we found them.

We were raised to respect — and question — authority.

And when faced with tough choices and hard decisions...

When we worry that we haven’t lived up to our own ideals and the expectations of our loved ones, we think of a humble poem…

The Guy in the Glass
by Dale Wimbrow (1934)
When you get what you want in your struggle for pelf,
And the world makes you King for a day,
Then go to the mirror and look at yourself,
And see what that guy has to say.
For it isn't your Father, or Mother, or Wife,
Who judgment upon you must pass,
The feller whose verdict counts most in your life
Is the guy staring back from the glass.
He's the feller to please, never mind all the rest,
For he's with you clear up to the end,
And you've passed your most dangerous, difficult test
If the guy in the glass is your friend.
You may be like Jack Horner and "chisel" a plum,
And think you're a wonderful guy,
But the man in the glass says you're only a bum
If you can't look him straight in the eye.
You can fool the whole world down the pathway of years,
And get pats on the back as you pass,
But your final reward will be heartache and tears
If you've cheated the guy in the glass.

When you look in the glass, whether you’ve lived in Charlottesville your entire life or are new here, please ask yourself…

Are you doing all you can to strengthen and preserve the University of Virginia, University of Virginia Medical Center and Charlottesville Community that are of great value and importance to so many people?

We are Concerned Citizens of Charlottesville and Patients of UVA Health who are troubled by what we have heard from many UVA Health professionals over the past year.

These professionals are not only our doctors and nurses but also our friends, family and neighbors. They are not willing to use their names out of fear of retaliation by UVA Health senior leaders. We believe our community should value and protect its health care workers who have dedicated their lives to helping UVA patients.

We have been advised by counsel that merely asking these questions could result in UVA Health senior leaders taking the following actions against their patients and concerned members of their community:

Send threatening cease and desist letters in an attempt to silence these questions.
Retaliate against the UVA Health professionals who are speaking out.
Deny the validity of any of this.

We’re dismayed by all of this. Can you help us understand if this is true and if so…