The threat of a pandemic creates so many ways for parasites to prosper. Take Stefanie Kelley Haines, of Eastern Oregon, who is, surprisingly, the director of clinical services for Harney District Hospital.
Stefanie Haines is director of clinical services for Harney District Hospital in Burns. Like many rural health care workers, she plays more than one role in the region’s isolated health care system. Haines owns the only fitness center in a town, which isn’t just a gym. It’s also an affiliate of The Wellness Way, a chiropractic company selling pricey lab tests to diagnose all kinds of ailments. The program also markets treatment plans like the “vaccine detox.”
On her personal Facebook page, Haines advances conspiracy theories about the debunked dangers of vaccinations, while promoting services available through the fitness center. Through memes, articles and her own words, Haines has vilified immunizations that protect millions of people from communicable diseases like measles, influenza and polio.
Before people in the U.S. started dying from the new COVID-19 disease, for which there is no vaccine, Haines told friends and followers, “the flu shot increases susceptibility to Coronavirus.”
Don’t worry about Ms Haines, though. The hospital is distancing itself from her views, but isn’t doing anything about their employee spreading misinformation.
Great. There is always a line of frauds ready to take advantage of people’s fears.
And why is this woman still breathing free air instead of spending a considerable chuck of her life is a prison cell? Oh yes, “free speech,” “free enterprise’ and whole bunch of other libertarian bullshit.
Fuck this country and it’s shitty, stupid people.
@ 1
EDIT: …and its shitty…
Of course it’s fucking Burns. I grew up just over the mountain from there. You have no idea how pervasive the ignorance is there. This is where the Bundys had that standoff with the feds a few years ago. It’s also one of the hot spots for a particular group of deluded morons who want to lop off sections of Oregon and Northern California to join the PROUD AND VERY WHITE (but not actually racist at all) state of Idaho.
I grew up in rural Eastern Oregon and I spent half my life dealing with this level of ignorance. At one point I accidentally (long story) ended up at a Neo Nazi barbecue. Short version: I didn’t know until they started ranting against “The Jews”. I’m pretty sure most of you reading this have never seen this sort of stuff, just because you can read.
This country has real problems. Allowing people to “home school”, and it’s popularity in rural communities creates a vicious cycle of ignorance that isolates the young and hamstrings any opportunity for intellectual growth. The town I’m from, it had three TV stations you could pick up with a good antenna. Luckily one of them was Oregon Public Broadcasting. There was also a single radio station. Back in the 80s it was all country. Now it’s all gospel and Evangelical X-tian nonsense.
This is how shit like this happens. Support public education and science based medicine or you literally end up with a population that is too fucking stupid to live.
I’m fairly certain that the state medical board would be interested in a licensee selling quackery and anti-evidence based medical “interventions”, as would JCAHO at facility accreditation time. A director must be a licensed physician and espouse evidence based medical treatment, rather than quackery for profit.
@#3 Ray:
Yea. Just fucking yea. Spent my youth in Prineville. Only the vision of a few good teachers saved my sorry ass from this mindless shit. Otherwise, in terms of the community at large, well it was an intellectual wasteland. Still is in spite of the new server farm. Didn’t see that development myself, I left that puss bucket decades ago. Right after my father died and had no further ties to that puffed up smidgen of blow fish shit.
What a waste of human potential. It’s enough to make a cat laugh.
Jim Bakker has been busy as well.
Quite apart from the obvious, isn’t there a Stark law violation in there somewhere?
“Stefanie Haines is director of clinical services for Harney District Hospital in Burns” ok so far
“Haines owns the only fitness center in a town, which isn’t just a gym” hmmm, ok…
“It’s also an affiliate of The Wellness Way” Uh oh
” a chiropractic company …” Stop
“…selling pricey lab tests…” Oh crap “to diagnose…” No please “All kinds of ailments” for fucks sake stop
“The program also markets treatment plans like the “vaccine detox.”” And there it is “Haines advances conspiracy theories about the debunked dangers of vaccinations” OF COURSE SHE DOES
“Haines told friends and followers, “the flu shot increases susceptibility to Coronavirus.”” HOW ARE YOU A DOCTOR?!!
~tilts head~ …ummm… how… how is she even still licensed?