[northernlady]

hello all

I am new to posting here. I am having a medical procedure at the end of the month and am traveling to Dothan. I will be staying for four days. I was wondering if i will be safe as i am an African- American woman traveling with my daughter? I already tried to google Dothan ,but all the info was old.I did a search here and only came up with a post from last year. Hopefully someone here can help me with more info.


thanks

[Frankie117]

I was born in Dothan, and lived there for quite some time, not once did I ever here about any race issues. Unlike what a lot of stereotypes instill, Dothan (and Alabama as a whole really..) actually has great race relations.

[Threestep]

Originally Posted by northernlady

hello all

I am new to posting here. I am having a medical procedure at the end of the month and am traveling to Dothan. I will be staying for four days. I was wondering if i will be safe as i am an African- American woman traveling with my daughter? I already tried to google Dothan ,but all the info was old.I did a search here and only came up with a post from last year. Hopefully someone here can help me with more info.


thanks

All I can do is shake my head. Please answer this question for me. What do you base your question, your concerns on? Thank you.

[cpg35223]

Hi. Forgive us if we get testy on this question. It's 2008, not 1958. I'm originally from Chicago, and race relations are a lot better in Alabama than they are in Illinois. You'll be fine.

[heathanoah]

Originally Posted by northernlady

hello all

I am new to posting here. I am having a medical procedure at the end of the month and am traveling to Dothan. I will be staying for four days. I was wondering if i will be safe as i am an African- American woman traveling with my daughter? I already tried to google Dothan ,but all the info was old.I did a search here and only came up with a post from last year. Hopefully someone here can help me with more info.


thanks

Don't worry, you will be fine! Don't let others on here make you feel like an idiot for being scared/nervous. Dothan is big enough that you shouldn't have any problems though. Where are you staying.....hospital/hotel? Honestly you won't have any problems. Good luck with your surgery!

[Bravo35223]

I'm having a hard time with this....Alabama is approximately 25% black. Black people are everywhere....they work in healthcare, deliver healthcare, receive healthcare. You cannot drive anywhere in Alabama without seeing a very healthy number of black people...you are going to see people of your race working at the hotel, in the hospital, in the stores you shop in, both shopping and working. Frankly, I'd think you'd feel pretty much at home if you are black and are doing anything in Alabama.

Do you think that because you are receiving healthcare in Alabama that somehow you would be discriminated against?

Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Alabama has about 90% marketshare in this state and I can tell you with confidence that they insure hundreds of thousands of Afro-Americans, and our hospitals and clinics are filled with many fine Afro-American healthcare providers.

Now, let's talk about Afro-American physicians in Alabama..........Regina Benjamin MD.

In 1995, she became the first African-American woman, and the first person under 40, to be elected to the American Medical Association (AMA) Board of Trustees. Dr. Benjamin also serves on the Board of Physicians for Human Rights.

Uhhh....that was 13 years ago. She was also President of the Medical Association of the State of Alabama...

Now, another Afro-American product of Alabama, Marlon Priest MD....he has gone to Maryland and look at what they have put him in charge of......

[SIZE=4]Bon Secours Health System Appoints Marlon L. Priest, M.D., System Chief Medical Officer[/SIZE][SIZE=2]Marriottsville, Maryland, October 12, 2006 -- Today, Bon Secours Health System (BSHSI) announced the appointment of Marlon L. Priest, M.D., as chief medical officer (CMO) for the nine-state system. Dr. Priest will assume his new responsibilities on December 4, 2006. As CMO, Dr. Priest's responsibilities include the oversight and achievement of the strategic goals related to aligning with premier practitioners and providing safe, compassionate and high quality care to all we serve. Dr. Priest will lead the development and achievement of System-wide clinical outcome indicators and care management improvement strategies and tactics. He will advise governance, management and clinical leadership at both the System and local system levels in the assessment and development of patient care programs and services that will serve the community needs effectively and efficiently.

Dr. Priest has more than 28 years of experience and most recently with the University of Alabama (UAB) at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, where he currently serves as a professor of emergency medicine and surgery, senior associate chief of staff and chief quality officer and medical director for national acclaimed critical care transport.

Dr. Priest has served as project director for the high school partnership program, Health Professions Partnership Initiative. He also served as principal investigator and project director for the Minority Medical Education Program, an initiative focused on increasing access to care through expanding academic preparation for college students from disadvantaged backgrounds seeking careers in the health professions.

During his career, Dr. Priest has served on a variety of national and community boards including the National Environmental Policy Commission, the Catholic Health Association, sisters of Charity of Nazareth Health System and the St. Joseph Health System as Chair of the Quality committee and a member of the Executive Committee.
Dr. Priest currently serves the Sisters of Mercy Health System in St. Louis as chair of the quality committee and a member of the executive community. He has been very involved in successfully introducing quality systems into health systems. He is well versed with information technology through his efforts serving on Catholic health systems boards of directors and the installation of a new ED clinical information system. He served a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation funded health policy fellowship in the Institute of Medicine and US Senate.

Dr. Priest received his undergraduate in chemistry from the University of North Alabama and his medical degree from the University of Alabama School of Medicine. He was an honors graduate of both the college and medical school, and was elected to membership in AOA –Alpha Omega Alpha. Dr. Priest completed an Internal Medicine residency at UAB and Baptist Medical Centers. He also was a Scholar in Academic Administration and Health Policy with the Association of Academic Health Centers and had a PEW Fellowship with Association of American Medical Colleges, Executive Development. Dr. Priest is board certified in internal medicine and emergency medicine, holds internal medicine admitting privileges and is experienced in both inpatient and outpatient areas.

“Dr. Priest’s values and principles are consistent with our health system’s, and we are confident he will be a strong addition to our team,” stated Sister Anne M. Lutz, executive vice president for Sponsorship. She added, “Dr. Priest has significant experience working with communities in improving the community health status.”

Rich Statuto, BSHSI chief executive officer, stated, “Dr. Priest has a depth of experiences at the practitioner, board and management levels. The knowledge of quality improvement systems and physician integration he brings to BSHSI will significantly enhance the achievement of our strategic goals for clinical excellence and physician relationships.”

“I am very excited about becoming part of the Bon Secours organization,” stated Priest. “My own philosophies of care through service are very compatible with those of BSHSI. I look forward to becoming a contributing member of the leadership team and furthering the mission of the system.”

Bon Secours Health System, Inc. based in Marriottsville, Maryland, is a $2.2 billion dollar not-for-profit Catholic health system that owns, manages or joint ventures 20 acute care, 6 long term care, 6 assisted living and independent living and other facilities, primarily on the East Coast. Bon Secours Health System consists of more than 20,000 caregivers helping people in 12 communities in nine states. Its vision is to be recognized for its leadership in justice, transforming the communities in which it serves and works into places of health and hope, and being a prophetic voice for systemic U.S. health reform and a more humane world.[/SIZE]

[Keeper]

I think Frankie says it best. You don't have to worry. Folks here get upset because the sterotype still exist.
After reading many state forums here I can tell you there are more racist post in northern states than you will ever find on the AL forum.

[pvjd]

There are racists in AL, but I am not sure how to scale it based on elsewhere. It would be real easy for me to scoff at the thought, but I'm not black so I really don't know what it is like to experience racism. It must be real tough--I can see why you might be stressed about it. I live in Birmingham, and though I have heard senseless comments from people before, most of the people I come into contact with don't seem racist, and there are multi-cultural schools and neighborhoods, mixed couples, etc. Good luck to you.

[southernnaturelover]

I live in south Alabama and most of the towns down here have at least 30% black populations. You will not have a problem.

[DCedder]

Originally Posted by northernlady

hello all

I am new to posting here. I am having a medical procedure at the end of the month and am traveling to Dothan. I will be staying for four days. I was wondering if i will be safe as i am an African- American woman traveling with my daughter? I already tried to google Dothan ,but all the info was old.I did a search here and only came up with a post from last year. Hopefully someone here can help me with more info.


thanks

I have lived in Dothan as well as Ashford and can say Dothan truly has NO racism! I can't say that about all the surrounding small towns, but you shouldn't have any trouble in dothan itself.