In the Spy’s ongoing efforts to continue the community discussion on health care, longterm Chestertown resident and dentist Neil Brayton talks about Shore Health’s Regionalization plans, the place of dentistry in the Affordable Care Act, Maryland initiatives on providing dental coverage for poor children, and his pro-bono dental work with Crossroads Community for the mentally ill.
Spy Profile: Dr Neil Brayton on Hospitals and Health Care
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mary wood says
I feel Dr. Brayton understands our community and our deep regret that the hospital, which was started by the community to minister to its needs, has changed into a business. I wish those who feel the same way could organize to do something to enlighten those in control of the hospital . He suggests that Doctors and their patients need to be listened to. I feel the hospital lost the confidence of many in the community when it discontinued obstetric service. To keep our community growing and vibrant we need to attract young families . A hospital that no longer takes pediatric patients,and will no longer deliver babies, is not a place where a young family would be likely to settle.
Thanks to the Spy for letting its readers hear about this issue.
Marty Stetson says
Neil is a great guy and has done so much for the community, he is too modest to list all that he has done for the people of Chestertown both young and old. ( He is not my denist but I consider him a friend and a very valuable member of the Chestertown community.) What he says about the hospital is what I hear in some version one way or the other each day. I agree it may be too late to go back but some how we have to get the hospital to rccognize they are more than a place to make money to send back to the corporation.
Roy Kirby says
In the spirit of “full disclosure”, I’ll preface my comments and state that Neil is one of my best friends. However, my comments will not be tainted by friendship; they will speak to the talent/execution/quality of work and professionalism of my past experiences with dentists. I’ve had four dentists in Baltimore prior to moving to Chestertown nine years ago. While two of the four were good dentists, they had problems with geography; they thought that they were in Hollywood. Their prices were exorbitant and they would not take dental plans. If most people are like me, I don’t have a clue
about what’s going on when three pounds of cotton are stuffed in my mouth and my only means of communication are by grunts and hand signals.
My point is, it’s important to have a professional in whom you trust. Neil rivals or in most cases, surpasses the above mentioned dentists.
To say that Neil is over talented for this town is probably true, but he, like many of the M.D.’s here, have disregarded the Siren Song of Hollywood and chosen to live in a town that may not be on the upper end of the salary spectrum, but has many more attributes than does Hollywood. In closing, the other advantage of being Neil’s patient is that money is saved on anesthesia. When he starts telling his corny jokes in the middle of a procedure, one is oblivious to the pain.