Cross posted at Lutton Square
-a gross clinic indeed 
So a highly regarding teaching institution is forced to contemplate the sale of a seminal piece of its own history in order to fund its mission of medical education and health care. Thomas Jefferson University Hospital cannot educate the doctors, nurses and other medical professionals of the 21st century without an influx of money to build out its facilities. So an historical piece of artwork – Thomas Eakins’ masterpiece The Gross Clinic, irrevocably identified with Philadelphia and the University where it was painted – has been optioned to the National Gallery and an Arkansas museum funded by Wal-Mart heirs. The sale will fetch $68 million if it goes through, although there is a 45 day window to allow the Philadelphia fine arts community to attempt to match the offer.
One party to the purchase is the heiress of an American empire, an empire which continues to benefit from low wages here at home, cheap labor in far off contries, union busting tactics, state funded medical benefits for workers, tax advantages on both corporate and personal levels, etc, etc. As corporate empires replace smaller, family-run ‘main street’-type businesses and regional companies, the private wealth those latter business would have created and kept in the area is concentrated into a much smaller subset of owners.
Tax policy that benefits American empires while draining public treasuries across the country creates this horrendous situation. States are forced to spend tax payer money on primary care medical benefits for workers, and therefore don’t have money to fund the education and training of the next generation of American medical professionals. Instead billions of dollars are offloaded into private hands, hands which then contemplate trading some of that money in exchange for precious possessions. American history is sold into private hands to finance the systems which care for the entire population–systems which rightfully should be financed by our governments for the benefit of all Americans.
It is a moral failure that the future of American medicine is subservient to the needs of American heirs and heiresses.
Excellent. As a retired health care professional (who was trained in the days of truly “patient centered care”,) who has just emerged from the other end of todays assembly line meatgrinder of “cost effective” medicine ( after two cataract surgeries,) I have much to say on this issue in days to come.
It was a blinding (pardon the pun!) reminder of the process of “dehumanization” of the healing arts, as health care has morphed from being a patient centered healing arts profession,to the profit making profit making business model.
The worst part of us was watching the genuine battlement on the faces of the younger generation now dispensing this kind of care, when faced with feedback about their lack of listening skills and rushed and disrespectful treatment. It’s as if this was no part of thier understanding at all, of how care should be delivered. Outcome was all that seemed to matter: if the surgiical process was extremely efficient, fast, and sucessful what more could anyone possibly expect? And how, really, could they understand, when this is the only model of health care they have ever known to exist?
This is just one area where “privatization”, the selling off of basic American values and systems to big busines, is resulting in what to me, is the systematic dehumanization of all of us, for profit.
Great diary, Lutton.
Have you posted here before?
I believe one the of Walton’s was also involved when the New York Public Library sold significant art works to fund its endowment last year.
It is a shame that we have to sell off our cultural heritage to private collectors in order to keep important resources such as Medical Schools and Libraries afloat.
Most museums adhere to professional standards that permit deaccessioning only for the purchase of other works of art. I can understand why the library and hospital feel they need to sell these works, but it is a sad day when only the most rapacious citizens of our country can have access to these important artistic treasures.
I was able to find the reference to Ms. Walton’s earlier acquisition.
Have I posted here before?
Maybe a couple comments here and there…
But this really has me pissed off. Can’t people see how the money flows? They siphon it off from the public sector, then philanthopists (who would have still had beaucoup money even without the latest round of glorious tax cuts!) get some publicity and ego stroking ‘saving’ the institutions that had their funding siphoned off in the first place.
WTF?!?
This is one step removed from the US Government selling off it’s imprtant documents to renovate the Capital, or fund the war!
Anyway, this has me practicly type-sputtering; the thoughts are flowing through my head much faster than I can type them…
As for posting here at Booman, I’ll be around. I’m right here in Philly, so this is one of my backyard blogs. I usualy write up more wonky/action item type things over at mydd.
And I try to keep a decent pace of posting at my site: Lutton Square but sometimes I go a few days (or weeks) without updating that one.
Thanks for the kind words, and I’m glad I’m not the only one who sense the lunacy and loss I enumerated in my post…
L
So many outrages. So little time.
Anyway. I’ll be on the lookout for more of your writing.
I’m always looking for good anecdotes about the costs of free-market fundamentalism. This is a good one.
No matter how they play their little shell game, its the people who get screwed in the end – every time. When we’ve finished selling off all our treasured public assets, what then? It will be more of what we’re hearing now, “Oh its just become too costly to continue this or that program” or “We’re going to outsource and privatize because government can’t do it efficiently enough”. What wealth remains now will be in the hands of a very few and there will be nowhere to turn for those who need help the most.
When has anyone heard any of those asses gripe about the high cost of munitions? No money for health care, but plenty for high-tech laser guided death.
well we’ve been selling off our roads, water supply and soon our public schools. All tax payer built, public assets picked up by domestic and foreign corporations at a fire sale.
The high price of double taxation. What is needed is a second Boston Tea party.