You may have heard that John Noseworthy, MD, the president and CEO of the Mayo Clinic, recently told employees that the Rochester, MN-based health system will give preference to patients with private insurance over those who rely on Medicaid or Medicare.
At this point it’s safe to say he wishes he hadn’t said that.
Predictably, that statement opened up a nasty public relations crisis for which the health system has still not fully recovered, even two weeks later. I asked to speak with Noseworthy, but through a spokesperson, he declined to further address the issue beyond the written statement proffered after the Internet exploded in reaction to his comments.
HENRY KOTULA 