Letters to the Editor
SSA manager rejects criticism of its maintenance
To the Editor:
As general manager of the Steamship Authority, I would like to respond to Michael Jampel's recent Letter to the Editor [March 5, "Islander's condition raises questions about SSA maintenance"] relative to a report on the M/V Islander's current physical condition. In his letter, Mr. Jampel wonders about the condition of the other vessels in the authority's fleet and suggests that the Coast Guard should investigate the issue of Steamship Authority vessel maintenance and safety.
I want to assure Mr. Jampel and the rest of the traveling public that the Coast Guard already inspects the safety and maintenance of the authority's vessels on a regular basis. Pursuant to the certificates of inspection issued by the Coast Guard, each of the authority's vessels is required to be drydocked twice every five years and at least once every three years. On each occasion (as well as at the end of each vessel's annual overhaul period even when no dry-docking is required), a Coast Guard inspector reviews the work that was done and the vessel's condition before allowing the vessel to be used once more to carry any passengers or vehicles. The Steamship Authority also uses a computerized maintenance management system to track scheduled preventive maintenance work orders and other maintenance work that needs to be performed on a regular basis, when each vessel is operating its regularly scheduled service.
The same was true for the M/V Islander. Over the last 10 years of the M/V Islander's service life, the Steamship Authority spent a total of around $5.5 million to maintain the vessel, including the cost of dry-dockings in 1998, 2000, 2003, and 2005. Further, this amount does not include the cost of the crew's labor involved in performing the additional day-to-day preventive maintenance while the vessel was in line service. As a tribute to all of these maintenance efforts, the M/V Islander missed only 12 of her 19,580 scheduled trips due to mechanical reasons during the last five years of her service life, before sailing on her last trip from Vineyard Haven to Woods Hole, in March 2007. I do not know how much, if any, maintenance work continued to be performed on the M/V Islander, after it was sold to Governors Island Preservation and Education Corporation later that year.
I am also constrained to note that Mr. Jampel is incorrect in saying that the M/V Island Home will have unwanted and ongoing maintenance problems as a result of her hull and engines being submerged during Hurricane Katrina. At the time of the hurricane, the two main engines waiting to be installed in the new vessel were stored on blocks in a warehouse, and the floodwater came up only to the oil pan at the bottom of the engines. For precautionary measures, VT Halter sent both engines back to the supplier where they were opened, inspected and cleaned before being returned to the shipyard. Although two of the vessel's five hull modules (the two end modules) were on the ground during the storm surge, they were later sandblasted down to bare metal and recoated. The other three hull modules were enclosed and on blocks, eight feet above ground level, and were neither submerged nor otherwise damaged. I am confident that the shipyard, as well as our own on-site representatives, did everything appropriate and necessary in response to any damage to the vessel or equipment in the weeks and months following the aftermath of the hurricane. In sum, the Steamship Authority does not have a practice of neglecting maintenance to cut costs. On the contrary, just last year the Steamship Authority spent almost $10 million dollars on maintenance to our vessels and facilities. I hope the traveling public shares the very high level of appreciation that I have for the work that our employees do to keep all of our vessels and facilities in safe operating condition 365 days a year.
Wayne Lamson
General Manager
Steamship Authority
Woods Hole
Sail on
To the Editor:
I would still rather ride the fuel-efficient M/V Islander through any gale or over any rock pile, even after two years of neglect at Governor's Island. She still has more steel then the present fleet. Incidentally, she always passed her Coast Guard inspections for water tight integrity, safety, and all other required tests.
Sail on, ol' girl.
Wayne Iacono
Chilmark
Get over the turf wars
To the Editor:
I was heartened to read of the Vineyard Nursing Association plans to bring a Medicare-certified hospice program to Martha's Vineyard. Twice in the last several years I've watched the families of friends of mine make the gut-wrenching decision to move their dying loved one off Island for lack of end-of-life medical care here that would be covered by their insurance.
These people - my friends, your neighbors - were forced to spend their last days away from their homes, away from their family and friends, because there was no Medicare-certified hospice care on Martha's Vineyard. Families sometimes have to choose between bankrupting themselves paying for private care or exporting the dying to an insurance-covered program off Island. This is a horrible choice that no one should have to make. It is not the death with dignity we strive for in a civilized society.
My support for the VNA proposal in no way denigrates the work of the volunteer-run Hospice of Martha's Vineyard. I've also watched as these selfless volunteers provided countless hours of care and support in the most difficult circumstances, to help a family provide that dignified death. Hats off to these people. Helping another person die is the noblest act imaginable. It's just that in some circumstances, whether due to the nature of the illness, the frailty of the patient, or the finances of the family, it's not enough.
I don't understand why we have to choose between the two. Can't we have insurance reimbursed end-of-life medical care and hospice volunteers to help the patient and families? In this crucial matter, can't we for once get over the turf wars and find a way to work together?
Ebba Hierta
West Tisbury
Invaders
To the Editor:
Rugosa rose a wash-a-shore?
In regards to invasive plants on Martha's Vineyard, crowding out the native species is only one negative impact; other invasive species can alter soil chemistry, interfere with delicately balanced lifecycles of certain insects, and, as Mimi Wells correctly pointed out in her article concerning the excellent volunteer effort to clean up Eastville Beach, impact other plants by "releasing toxins that halt the growth of native Island flora such as rosa rugosa."
However, rosa rugosa, the plant Ms. Wells identifies as threatened by the menacing spotted knapweed, is itself a non-native, invasive species. The familiar, showy beach rose is actually a native of eastern Asia. Naturalized in many areas of eastern North America, it has become so tightly woven into not only the physical landscape of Martha's Vineyard but also the cultural one; it is simply accepted as a native element of the Vineyard landscape.
The problems that non-native, invasive organisms inflict upon the native ecosystems can be devastating. It is a global problem, and Martha's Vineyard is susceptible to negative impacts caused by a wide range of invasive species. On the most basic level, invasive species usurp resources that would otherwise be used for the benefit of native species. Native plants are often put at a competitive disadvantage due to the introduction and spread of overly aggressive invasives like beach rose and many others. Its beauty has afforded it a certain level of amnesty, similar to what black locust's utility has afforded that invasive species.
It is heartening that so many Island citizens and organizations realize the overwhelming threats posed by invasive species and are educating others of these threats, studying and implementing measures to control existing invasives, while diligently keeping abreast of emerging or future threats. I applaud the efforts of all who are foot soldiers in this worthy cause.
Tom Clark
West Tisbury
Agreed: Martha's Vineyard Commission is over
To the Editor:
I, also, will agree with Bob Mone and Don Lambert. The Martha's Vineyard Commission has served its purpose.
I believe that town boards can sufficiently perform on our behalf.
Approving the color of brick for the new hospital doesn't merit a million dollar budget.
James Paquette
West Tisbury
Welcome Dr. Koehler back
To the Editor:
It is disheartening and foolish for the Martha's Vineyard Hospital not to offer Dr. Richard Koehler privileges. I know from personal experience, he is an expert in his profession. I had two surgeries performed by him, one in 1996 and one in 1999. The first followed an emergency hospitalization in Cambridge, for an intestinal obstruction of unknown cause. After five days, my condition improved enough to be released, without surgery, under the agreement that I would follow up with an immediate appointment with a doctor at home. I saw both Drs. Kathleen and Richard Koehler, and it was determined after looking at my x-rays , that I should have exploratory surgery. I was pleasantly surprised when Dr. Koehler told me he could do the surgery laparoscopically, for when it had been looking like I would have to have surgery in Cambridge, my surgeon said that he would not do it that way. The surgery would have had to have been much more invasive.
At that time, in some East Coast hospitals, laparascopic surgery was not performed routinely for certain conditions, mine being one. Dr Koehler had trained in California, where it was being used more often than here. For those of you not familiar with abdominal surgery, the recovery time for laparoscopic surgery is about 10 days; for other abdominal surgery, it is months. The difference in the amount of pain following surgery is accordingly less with laparoscopic surgery.
My surgery was a success. Dr. Koehler was thorough and respectful. His follow-up was superb.
The history I just discussed is obviously my own. I am an acupuncturist practicing in Vineyard Haven for 22 years. I have had many patients who are also patients of Dr. Koehler, some who have gone off Island recently to have surgery done by him on the South Shore. Clearly, they are as happy as I with his work, and as a healthcare provider I feel comfort and support when I hear someone is under his care.
In the past few years, the hospital has gone through some positive changes. It has done a huge outreach program to the local community; Therefore, I am appalled that the current administration is not listening to the voices who want Dr. Koehler to return. He would bring quality of care and money to the hospital. He clearly has personal ties to Martha's Vineyard. When he and Dr. Kathleen Koehler left Martha's Vineyard, we lost two amazing doctors. We would be crazy not to welcome Dr. Richard Koehler back.
Marjorie H. Lau
Vineyard Haven
Thank you all
To the Editor:
It was a cold and icy day when our house caught fire, but the fire departments fought long and hard to try to put it out. It was amazing that no one was hurt sliding around on the ice.
We will be forever grateful to the brave men and women of the Tisbury, West Tisbury, and Chilmark fire departments for all of their efforts, as well as the EMTs and police departments in Tisbury and West Tisbury. We are humbled by all of your care and concern and appreciative of everything.
Thank you all very much.
Patty and Toby Codding
Tisbury
In the boardroom
To the Editor:
I can see it now, the board of Martha's Vineyard Hospital, sitting around the table during one of their meetings, drinking coffee, maybe a plate of doughnuts or sweet rolls. The phone is in the center of the table on speaker, so everyone can speak to everyone else all together, speak even with members who are in warmer climates or at least away from their summer homes. They speak of relevant issues, particularly, I'm sure, the new building and whether it's on time or not and who should be called for this or that. Several new doctors have been hired, including a new Oak Bluffs/GYN and an orthopedic surgeon.
When anyone mentions the name of Dr. Richard Koehler, the room grows quieter, and the subject is dropped as soon as possible. They feel insulated from the news that there just very well may be a reasonable case that could be made against the hospital by Dr. Koehler for not letting him apply for privileges.
After all, this is not a private hospital. It accepts Medicare, and we all know what that means. They have been sweeping Dr. Koehler under the carpet for months, almost years now. Even though Dr. Koehler says he has had many an encouraging communication with the administration, it seems that they could have two faces. It seems that floating around in the ether has been that great phrase that Big Daddy used so powerfully: "Yes indeed, there it is, I can smell it right now, it has that undeniable stench of mendacity."
There must be a particular bee in one of the board member's bonnets about his (Dr. K's) previous departure over political differences with the board in 2002. ("Hell will freeze over before Koehler ever steps foot in this hospital again.") He lulls himself to sleep with this mantra and probably rolls this mighty phrase around and around on his tongue like a pearl as he dares to eat a peach, concluding that all this rubbish is not worth his time. Perhaps their insulation and their false hopes may hurt them in the long run.
Let's just keep on getting those positive blogs about Koehler on the Martha's Vineyard Times site balanced out by negatives.
You gentlemen of the inner sanctum, don't worry about those guys out there. It's just Bob and Carl.
Woodward and Bernstein can wait for you. And in the meantime, they can wait in the meditation room.
Mary Duarte Smith
Chilmark
Clean up the graffiti
To the Editor:
It seems once again Tisbury citizens must bring to the attention of the Vineyard Haven postmaster concerns we have about post office issues.
Before, it was about him flying the American Flag and the POW / MIA flag in a terribly shredded condition. Then, some of us had to complain and get some unpatriotic war protesters removed from federal land.
We now have to ask him if or when he plans to remove or paint over the graffiti on that U.S. Post Office building, which was vandalized sometime between 4 pm on January 31, and noon February 1, 2009.
I happen to think we have seen enough of that mess, and just leaving it is adding to the deterioration of that area between the post office and the Thrift Shop.
Tisbury has a greatly appreciated beautification committee, and to see that area daily splattered with graffiti when we get our mail is quite depressing.
Our town has been plagued enough lately with major drug busts, robberies of old men on Main Street, and a few other incidents.
It would be nice if everybody including the postmaster would do just a little to keep some sections of our town from looking like we live in a third world country.
Woody Williams
Tisbury and Port Royal, S.C.
