A partner bites the dust
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I don't know if anyone remembers...
About 5 years before I retired, we had to terminate the contract of one of our partners. She had developed a noticeable deterioration her ability to function as a gas-passer. It was our group's judgment that she had become a liability to our practice, and this was confirmed with accounts from surgeons and staff.
Of course, she sued us for wrongful termination. The contract we all had specified that we could terminate someone without cause, and that's what we did. We won the suit.
Two days ago, she passed away due to a progressive neurologic disease.
As much as I was disappointed that our defense of the lawsuit was expensive (probably about $25K per partner), I still am sorry that she's passed away. I've known her since about 1980, when she was a medical student at Northwestern, and one of our residents.
She was 69.
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Sad, but it sounds as what you did previously to get rid of her was the correct decision.
Oftentimes, it is hard for a person to see themself as others see them.
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Sad, but it sounds as what you did previously to get rid of her was the correct decision.
Oftentimes, it is hard for a person to see themself as others see them.
@taiwan_girl said in A partner bites the dust:
Oftentimes, it is hard for a person to see themself as others see them.
Yes...there was a huge amount of denial in her disability.
One time, in the middle of heart surgery, she froze. Difficulty getting the patient off the heart-lung machine, and she didn't know what to do. Surgeon called for someone else to help out, and I was available. We got the patient off the pump and out of the OR. He was grateful.
There are more instances that I won't share semi-publicly, but you get the gist.
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One of my partners went to her wake today.
Here's what she had:
https://www.ataxia.org/CANVAS/
Incoordination, marked by an unsteady gait, stumbling, and imbalance
We would see her bouncing off the walls when she walked down the hall.
problems coordinating muscles that control speech and swallowing
She was always choking and coughing
Problems with the nerves that carry signals about what people feel through their skin, including touch, pressure, pain, and temperature.
In the last few years before she was let go, she couldn't put an arterial line to save her life.
The age at onset of CANVAS symptoms is usually around 50 years old. However, there can be a lot of variation, with some people having symptoms early in their 20s or later in their 70s. ... Lifespan generally is not shortened by the disease. Treatments such as physiotherapy, occupational therapy, and speech-language therapy can significantly improve the lives of people with CANVAS.
Yup
She was 55 when we let her go, and she lived another 14 years.
Her husband is an interventional cardiologist who had to quit working because of Parkinson's.
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She was not all that debilitated when we let her go. She was non-functional as a gas passer, but from what I heard, she was doing ok. Not great, but OK.
I did not attend the wake because of the bad blood that existed between her (and by extension, her family) and our group.
I should add that it was not one of my "partners" that went to the wake (he had no voting in the corp), but an employee of the group. In our group, the only difference between "partner" and "employee" was ownership of the corporation and voting rights with respect to corporate matters. Call, salary, vacation, etc., were all the same.
