Danbury doctor to oversee two clinics
2 nurse practitioners will have supervision during Stokes inquiry
DANBURY (Winston-Salem Journal) - Stokes County officials have an interim doctor on the job after last week’s suspension of the county’s only doctor for its public-health clinics in Danbury and King.
Dr. Sean Smith, who has a practice in Danbury, is overseeing the work of two nurse practitioners who are seeing patients in the county health clinics, County Manager Bryan Steen said.
Nurse practitioners are not allowed to practice without a doctor’s supervision, said Dave Kalbacker, a spokesman for the N.C. Board of Nursing. However, there is a 30-day grace period for authorities to find a replacement supervising doctor.
Smith, who couldn’t be reached for comment yesterday, was called upon after Dr. James Stewart Campbell, 63, of Pfafftown was suspended with pay last Thursday.
Steen declined to comment further about Campbell’s suspension, but Campbell said last week that he thought the suspension concerned an OxyContin prescription. OxyContin is a painkiller similar to morphine and is a controlled substance.
He said he wrote two prescriptions for four pills of OxyContin for a patient - one for three pills that the patient’s Medicare would pay for and one for one pill that the patient would pay for.
DANBURY (Winston-Salem Journal) - Stokes County officials have an interim doctor on the job after last week’s suspension of the county’s only doctor for its public-health clinics in Danbury and King.
Dr. Sean Smith, who has a practice in Danbury, is overseeing the work of two nurse practitioners who are seeing patients in the county health clinics, County Manager Bryan Steen said.
Nurse practitioners are not allowed to practice without a doctor’s supervision, said Dave Kalbacker, a spokesman for the N.C. Board of Nursing. However, there is a 30-day grace period for authorities to find a replacement supervising doctor.
Smith, who couldn’t be reached for comment yesterday, was called upon after Dr. James Stewart Campbell, 63, of Pfafftown was suspended with pay last Thursday.
Steen declined to comment further about Campbell’s suspension, but Campbell said last week that he thought the suspension concerned an OxyContin prescription. OxyContin is a painkiller similar to morphine and is a controlled substance.
He said he wrote two prescriptions for four pills of OxyContin for a patient - one for three pills that the patient’s Medicare would pay for and one for one pill that the patient would pay for.
posted by BP News Bureau | 12:06 PM
3 Comments:
Why does Stokes County need a doctor on staff anyway? There are plenty of doctors in neighboring towns and counties; why does Stokes County need one on its payroll?
There is no rational or logical reason for Stokes County to have a doctor on staff, so we have to look for alternative reasons.
It helps to know that the Stokes County Health Department is also known as the Buster Robertson/Jimmy Walker Friends and Family Full Employment Service. Having a doctor on staff lends credibility to the dozens of positions in the Health Department that have nothing to do with septic tanks, immunizations, or restaurant inspections. Not surprisingly, those same positions are the ones that are, quite often, filled via nepotism.
Most Stokes County residents would be appalled and angry at how the County spends its Health Department money. Then again, maybe they are just sleeping too soundly to care.
Shouldn't Jimmy Walker recuse himself from health department matters since he has a conflict of interest? I think Walker has a son on the Stokes Health Board and a daugther doing something in the health department (I don't know exactly what.) If that's not a conflict of interest, I don't know what one is.
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