Nov 9, 2007 8:38 am US/Central
EXCLUSIVE: UT Southwestern Offers Perks To VIPs
The CBS 11 Investigators Uncover List Of Special Services To Rich And Famous At UT Southwestern
DALLAS (CBS 11 News Exclusive) ―
A CBS 11 investigation uncovers how the rich and famous are getting VIP treatment at Dallas' UT Southwestern Medical Center, a taxpayer-supported state institution.
The hospital has a list of more than 6,000 movers and shakers who get perks, including special access to appointments. The names include high society figures, politicians, and even Arab sheiks.
The list, from 2003, notes the social status of each VIP with comments like:
• Close friends of George W. Bush Jr.
• World famous wedding cake maker
• Prominent family from Saudi Arabia
• Famous New York designer
• And the most common note, "HCP" which means "high community profile."
CBS 11 has posted the complete list of VIPs, including the hospital's notations on the individual's status in the community. You can see the list for yourself by clicking here.
UT Southwestern calls the people on the list "special assistance patients." They are entitled to red carpet treatment not usually available to ordinary patients.
For example, in a letter obtained exclusively by CBS 11, was sent by UT Southwestern President Dr. Kern Wildenthal to people on the list, expressing gratitude for their friendship and support. You can see that letter for yourself by clicking here.
Wildenthal provides an unlisted telephone number to special assistance patients. That number is 214-645-7111. By calling the number, these VIPs can request care on weekends or after hours when most patients can't get past a doctor's answering service. The letter states, "At all times, one of a special group of twelve highly-trained UT Southwestern physicians will be on-call to assist you."
Fred Lewis, an Austin attorney and advocate for access to healthcare for uninsured workers calls the special assistance list "one of the most outrageous things I think I've ever seen."
"You know what it sounds like to me? We have rich socialized medicine for people on the list and everybody else has crumbs," said Lewis.
Special assistance patients receive even more perks, including free valet parking and personal escorts to their appointments from hospital ambassadors. Ambassadors make sure VIPs move to the front of the line for doctor's appointments, according to current and former clinic employees who spoke with CBS 11 on the condition that we concealed their identity.
One former employee told CBS 11, "We all had feelings that that was not really the right thing to do, to give them special treatment over anybody else, and people who even had been sicker."
The former employee also said "I had patients ask me, 'why did that person get seen sooner?' And it was very hard to give them an answer because we knew what the answer was. They were special assistance patients. But we certainly couldn't tell the regular patients that."
Former and current employees say UT Southwestern officials would not allow them to the use of the term "VIP" for fear other patients might learn that not all are treated equally.
UT Southwestern's Executive Vice President for Health System Affairs defends the special assistance program. Dr. John McConnell told CBS 11 "This is a practice commonly used in the healthcare industry. Every major academic medicine in America has such a program. It has nothing to do with medical care."
But, CBS 11 found VIPs on the list do receive better access to medical care. UT Southwestern acknowledges, special assistance patients who used the private hotline number could often get appointments with doctors when they normally would not be available, including lunch hours and during academic time.
Most of the VIPs contacted by CBS 11 claim they did not know how they got on the list and never received special service. However, the list contained personal information, such as date of birth and Social Security numbers.
Taxpayers help foot the bill for physician salaries and operations that deliver the five-star service, uncovered by CBS 11.
If you want to request the same special access to medical care available to people on the special assistance list, you can call UT Southwestern at 214-645-7111. Ask them if a doctor will meet you at the hospital after hours or on the weekend.
(© MMVII, CBS Stations Group of Texas L.P. All Rights Reserved.)
