I’m actually pretty excited about Dr. Chima coming to our city, especially his views on preventative care. This podcast gives us a hint of his thought process.
I also believe that he will be welcomed by our immigrant community and the healthcare community.
I do have concerns though, some are obvious, some are not.
First, it is safe to assume Dr. Chima was selected through a national search conducted by the city’s health board. It is probably safe to say that the mayor’s office and HR department had little to do with the selection, but I’m sure they had to put their stamps on it. I’m sure we will hear more about that in the coming weeks.
My biggest concerns are how he will be accepted by our Healthcare industrial complex in the city that thrives on keeping people just sick enough so they make money which goes against his philosophy of wholistic care and preventative medicine. This of course is not just a problem in our community but across America and why healthcare in this nation is so expensive and really not that good.
I also am concerned how he will operate openly in a very closed city government. Science and medicine performs the best under trust and honesty.
Lastly, I am concerned about the bigots in our city that won’t give him a chance. I think HE can handle it, but I am not naive, he will have some enormous obstacles to overcome when it comes to racism.
I wish him luck, I think he will be transformative, if we will let him.
Totally agree. ThuneHaken sure likes to play the black card though, doesn’t he? It’s quite obvious, but then again when you always going camping during SF PRIDE events, I guess that is what you have to do as a politician in this town to try to be relevant on equality issues.
On an other note, did you see Thune and Thunehaken running together? They’re like two identical bookends. All image, where’s the substance?
( and Woodstock adds: “Ya, I am always suspicious when I walk into someone’s home and they have two nice bookends with a lacking book in-between, like: “Politics for Dummies”…. )
The reason “why healthcare in this nation is so expensive and really not that good.” has little to do with a lack of a wholistic approach and is almost wholly (*and I use that word intentionally) due to the need for insurance industry investors and executives to accumulate wealth.
He’s more qualified than the outgoing director. Race shouldn’t be much of a problem amongst the population. Prejudice can be a problem within city employment. For example Parks has no minorities. He will be especially valuable bringing us out of the pandemic.
Great academic credentials in epidemiology and public health, recent focus of which has been assessing the needs of the impoverished in Mississippi.
I expect Dr. Chima to be a tremendous asset as The Link is launched into operation.
I pity the moment he will be asked to rationalize and carry water for the executives and administrators for the private provider of ambulance services in Sioux Falls.
Or, as a newcomer lacking previous influence on the decision and without preconceived notions/opinion, he might have just the courage to state the obvious truth in that matter.
Isn’t it interesting that a resident of Taupeville can muster more enthusiasm for and recognize greater potential for the community of Dr. Chima’s appointment than a would-be leader of the left, who would view this appointment through a lens on race and color (“… sure likes to play the black card though …”).
I am no big fanboi for PTH, but this looks to be a good hire.
Oh, it’s a good hire, indeed. But ThuneHaken’s playbook can be read from a mile away. To legitimize anything that ThuneHaken does, right or wrong, is to further legitimize a fluff run with Thune and Noem, when there are more serious issues to be dealt with instead, than a PR run.
I just know how this community is, and how some people will grunt and howl about hiring a foreigner from one of those S-Hole countries. I have always said South Dakotans are ‘soft’ racists. They would never say the N-word in polite company, but they are thinking it. You have to remember that Noemless and Stoneless blamed the Covid outbreak at Smithfield on the lack of hygiene by the immigrants that work there. I wonder if Paul asked Dr. Chima if he washes his hands before having a meal, after taking a leak or before cutting up a hog.
Many South Dakotans practice lower case ‘kkk’.
I’m reminded of Kenny Anderson, a black city councilor. It was a time before Home Rule Charter when nobody noticed skin color. I’d hoped he’d become mayor. What’s happened? There’s now oligarchy and greed. The last mayor became a multimillionaire from kickbacks. Scaled down, the corruption is worse than Chicago. Having grown up in a mixed race community, there was respect and honestly shared culture. Perhaps asian, Hispanic, etc. as political leaders is a method to overcome wealthy white dominance. Then, I’ll be proud of living here.
“Say, I just thought about this the other day”…. “Whatever happen to those proposed ‘Leadership Teams’?”…. “Shouldn’t they be leading us out of things by now?”….
PTH is such a pompous show horse and chickensh*t. He will never let the new Director do the job like he refused to follow even the weak advice of Franken. Everything about the new Director is opposite of the phony christian values PTH always shoves down everyone’s throats at Council meetings and Facebook posts.
If PTH actually lets the new Director do his job, the latest church PTH is part of will take him to task for abandoning their preaching. PTH does not believe any part of his job is in helping or guiding the underprivileged without the pressure and influence of his church friends.
When is the next bank financed PTH led trip to Haiti?
ThuneHaken says he goes to Haiti to know what it’s like to be a minority. Why not just go to Pine Ridge?