Gibbon's Bad Moves

It is considered old news that a Las Vegas clinic was found to be using unsafe medical practices, putting the health and safety of Nevadans at risk.  Now, being nearly 3 weeks since this crisis unfolded, the heat is on yet another governor.  Governor Jim Gibbons of Nevada just announced Monday that immediate, aggressive action is needed to restore public trust in the health care system.  However, rather than journalists focusing on the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada, where several Hepatitis C cases broke out, attention is on Gibbons and his failure to act fast enough.

Not only is he being accused of not taking the hepatitis C outbreak seriously and delegating his responsibilities, but his leadership is being questioned.  This has led to a series of denials by Gibbons, which is not seeming to help this ordeal he's in.  So how is he handling his current situation?  When I was trying to determine my thoughts on the issue, it helped to get a feel for what he has done and said since the outbreak became public.  Here is a general timeline, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, so you can decide for yourselves if Gov. Gibbon's actions, words, and timing has been appropriate:

February 27 - Crisis becomes public:  Notices sent to 40,000 patients to test for hepatitis and HIV

March 06 - Gibbon's first official response to the health alert in the form of a news release. He called on the Department of Health and Human Services to address the "public health emergency" by using any and all resources, including the Disaster Relief Fund.  "With the health of so many Nevadans seemingly at risk, as governor, I feel it is imperative that we act swiftly and decisively to help restore public trust and to ensure that unsafe medical practices are halted immediately."

March 08 - Senator Joe Heck (also a physician) publicly accuses Gibbons for failing to take more action.  "Nevadans deserve much better than this, and they are looking to their elected leaders and the medical community for a swift, thorough and decisive response to this crisis in order to regain their trust and confidence."

March 10 - A news conference is held by Gibbons to answer media questions.  He stated that he believed criminal action should be taken against the clinic workers who purposefully endangered the public.  However, when asked on his thoughts of clinics receiving more oversight, he compared the situation to speeders.  "We could inspect surgical centers annually and then pretty soon, have we done overkill?"

March 15 - Gibbons explains to the Reno Gazette-Journal that the unnecessary "media buffoonery" is to blame for scaring the public.  He stated that six hepatitis cases was actually a small number.  This causes shock amongst the public.

March 16 - The governor declares that he is asking three members of the medical board, including the executive director and the head of the Bureau of Licensure and Certification to step down.  He publicly apologized for his "buffoonery" statement.

March 17 - Gibbons announces that an advisor to Dr. Dipak Desai, the clinic's owner, is resigning.  He calls for strong action to be taken immediately.  "We cannot wait.  We cannot linger until all the information is in while we are under this crisis of confidence in our public health care system.  He have to take action."

This brings us to the current day and the current situation.  In my opinion, which is the general consensus for the LV community, the call for action three weeks after the outbreak is just too little too late.  Especially after several appalling comments, I would have to agree with questioning his leadership.  Even with all the criticism, Gibbons defends himself.  "I don't think we waited long.  Additional information was coming in daily.  When I received additional information after Saturday, it became very clear that we needed to take action, and that's what we're doing today."

This won't save the governor though, and unfortunately for him, this is not a good public relations pickle to be in.  Not shockingly, political scientist Eric Herzik, explained that with the governor's longtime press secretary leaving last month, his public relations team is in transition with a new one scheduled to start next week.  Hmmm....well this could explain his lack of appropriate action and comments.  It's crazy to think how much politicians rely so much on public relations to get them through, and out of a crisis.

Eric Dezenhall, CEO of the international crisis-management firm Dezenhall Resources, states, "People are looking for a pathway out of the wilderness.  Ideally, you'd be able to say, 'problem solved.' But in the absence of that, people want to know what your plan is for getting through the uncertain future, and that you're taking a personal interest in seeing in through."  

At this point, it doesn't seem that Gibbons has proven he can lead his people out of the wilderness.  It makes me wonder where this crisis-management advice when the governor needed it?