A Message to the Dallas Morning News

The people of Dallas—and especially the reporters of the Dallas Morning News—have to give us a break. We, the staff of Parkland and UTSW, are doing the best that we can, under extremely difficult and stressful circumstances, and our work goes by, largely unappreciated and unnoticed.

We occupy a unique place in Dallas County, being its only county hospital for the poor, indigent, and uninsured. No one else does what we do, nor takes care of the patients we take care of. That, in and of itself, should earn us a break for having to take on the responsibilities and burdens of this community that no one else is willing to take on.

But of late, the situation has become much more dire. Our work has been unfairly scrutinized and criticized by many outside agencies and organizations, who have no understanding how we conduct the business of a teaching program.

It’s time the people of Parkland and UTSW stand up and speak up for themselves against these slanderous and libelous claims by the news. Without us, where will the poor, uninsured, and indigent turn to?

The Dallas Morning News has always been jealous of our greater importance in this community. With the recent struggles of newspapers everywhere trying to survive in the age of social medial, traditional journalism is dead. Readerships are continuing to dwindle, which begs to ask if there is an ulterior motive for why the Dallas Morning News is so aggressively trying to follow and create news for this investigative news story.

No one does more or carries their own weight in this community than we do. We take care of those who no one wants to take care of. That includes the poor, homeless, uninsured, blacks, Hispanics, and other minorities, and we do it for free, with no charge to our patients. Without us, all these people would fall through the cracks or remain a burden to society.

Unless they can show they do more to serve this community than we do, the Dallas Morning News has no right to judge who we are.