Question & Answer Session with Congressman L. Lance

Flemington Health Fair 2011

Flemington Town Cryer, Episode#1

The Health Van/ Bus at Hunterdon Mews in Flemington, NJ!

    For anyone passing by or living in the area, they can't help notice every Tuesday's this Bus to treat or better yet diagnose some health issues available to anyone that can pay their discounted fees (if they pay at all) especially for those people with little or no health insurance coverage in our area, yes in our area of Flemington, NJ. I spoke to a representative asking many questions about the purpose and benefits of having them do this every week and I was surprised to find out that they are doing this really to explore the possibilities of opening up a permanent clinic to address the needs of this particular group of people in our area so we may see a future clinic through this group/ company inFlemington, NJ area providing an alternative to the local Hunterdon Medical Center for health care issues and that is always good. In my view any institution needs competition especially our local Hospital who has turned into more office space then patient space for care. In fact on any given day you could see the majority of the room empty and its not because we live in a very healthy area but the financial gains the hospital wants is not there and so they do not hospitalize patients that would otherwise  be.

     The weekly visits of this bus mobile clinic is available to all who need it and all you have to do is go there and talk with the people waiting to take care of your needs. For more information about services they provide you can contact them at the number at the above flyer (908-968-0898), pass by the mobile bus clinic on Tuesday's, or visit their web site at: www.zufallhealth.org on your computer.

Thief or just bad luck and lost of package in Flemington?

     I have reported briefly in my past podcast shows the pending issue with the local postal service in loosing my package I sent back in July. I tried to work out this issue (after waiting more then the normally expected time) of not having the package move out of the Flemington Postal service realm and or control of the item, but we got nowhere even with the help of the local postmaster in charge. We were able to rule out the shipping of this package to the Kearny, NJ postal facility and even reaching the intended locals postal office leaving with a doubt that this item was just innocently lost but taken by someone in the Flemington Postal service. I managed to report it lost to various postal services office but the only thing I have received is multiple case numbers and a refund of the fees to ship, I guess thats better then nothing but not for me after all there is still doubt that someone stole this item inside the postal system. The postmaster seemed to lack in concern about this matter and at various times I had to push the issue about the status of my package to him in order to get some few results in information.

     Now I had made the mistake (which will never happen again) of sending this item without proper insurance coverage because I was too relaxed or doubted that someone would steal the item but I must pursue this until some real resolution to my satisfaction is reached like item found or person who stole it found. It would not surprise me in knowing that this local post office is under scrutiny by the powers in charge just because I have raised this doubt about my package. I we look at the facts, not speculation we find 1) The item was accepted at the local Flemington Post Office for processing (last known status even today), 2) The item never left Flemington's care of the item on record or reached its destination, 3) Printed shipping label returned was in tack except for rip through middle even though it was put onto the shipping box with very stick tape to secure it, very suspicious and stupid on the part of the thief, and finally 4) Even after reported lost if the package lost its shipping label the postal service would still have the box and item in a lost and found section within their system yet item does not appear anywhere. 

     Now if we would of had some tragic accident where the item was lost in a river, ocean, etc I could also understand but no such tragedy (thank God) has happened so was it lost or was it stolen you be the judge of it. I know one thing it has placed a great amount of doubt on the ability to serve the public and me my local postal office in Flemington, NJ and that I do not like because there are decent employees inside that do their jobs with integrity and honesty and unfortunately this puts a black cloud over their work as well. It is up to the US Postal system to investigate and find the real cause of this mysterious lost of a package.

Poor Medical Services, Somerset Medical & Orthopedic Group in Flemington, NJ!

     I have had in the recent past (like probably many of you) bad experiences with the medical system like hospitals, doctors and the unreasonably high charges implemented by these entities beyond what public and private insurances permit leaving us pay the rest unjustly. It is a common fact to all that most clinics, doctors and hospitals exaggerate the fees to submit to insurance without really being held accountable for their actions. We pay the fees because we consider disputing or complaining too much of a hassle mostly but is being given as real services? Unnecessary testing that has little or nothing to do with the medical condition just so these professional services get the most out of a single visit.You would think with such exuberant fees for services we would get quality but not too is not the case in fact many have become abusive in their handling of patients irritated when the patient or their families even ask reasonable questions about care. The media glorify the medical community and do not question what i really going on. One such institution is my beloved Somerset Medical Center which has made it a habit to mistreat both patients and families, I can attest to that fact many times over. Somerset Medical Center of course has a patient advocates representative taking in complaints but that's just about all they do, no action to correct leaving the guilty parties inside this institution free to repeat over and over again their abusive and sometimes incompetent actions towards their patients and families especially in the Emergency room environment. At times they use their internal security system (guards or glorified want-to-be policemen) to put their misbehaved visitors in their place verbally or even by physical actions. I have brought this issue to the proper person in charge but again all that is done is a nice phone conversation about the issues but absolutely no action or at least none that can be verified by the party making the complaint. Then there is the staff of doctors (some not all) that seem to think they have a free pass to do as they want without no fear of retribution from senior staff. One has to ask where is our protectors like the state government agencies in charge of overseeing these abuses or the Medicare/ Medicaid system, the largest source of income for most medical facilities and doctors regulated by our federal government. You have to wonder why no one really can understand why out healthcare costs has grown so large and unmanageable, the medical profession has a large chunk of the blame in my view and in many people out their that experience the medical Juggernaut.

     As a veteran I saw the need to seek out a private physician to take care of my ever growing medical issues knowing full well the the VA system is overwhelmed and under funded so I went to see what I thought would be a professional medical doctor (Hunterdon Orthopedic Institute in Flemington, NJ). In my first appointment (15 minute talk with doctor and over 2 hour wait in waiting room, medicare overcharged scamming), I couldn't help hearing the staff in the office talking about how to take advantage of their patients to pay more for services by billing practices, seems to be their main concern and I should of walked out with that small clue of what to expect.To much of my surprise and shock my so called well referred orthopedic doctor (Collata) turned out to be an arrogant pom-pas ass who's only interest is the bottom dollar in my view and pay little to no care to listen to the concerns of his patience. Maybe he doesn't like injured vets or he has an issue with Hispanic people, all I know is that he made me waste my time and money and rewarded me with what amounted to useless medical sound bites with an attitude (anger?) and could not manage to read the images on the CD from the VA, I guess he had no time while on vacation and rushed in frustration. God forbid a patient of Dr., Collata should ask questions or even update him with other issues which could be relevant. I walked out of his office angry about the way I was treated and I wouldn't recommend him to treat a cow let alone another person yet some choose to ignore this pom pas incompetent ass.

     So I warn all of you reading this article/ blog NOT to seek out treatment from this individual who claims to be a professional doctor and to complain to everyone (state & federal agencies, twitter, blogs, the media and if need be the the legal system) when you come across an individual or institution that have these bad practices in abusing the public in their time of need, when they are sick. Shame to all who do this and be warned you will be exposed at least by me.