Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Bryn Mawr Care's treatment of Crystal Newell will improve or I will not endorse them.

If my nursing home, Bryn Mawr Care, wants to culture my approval, it will improve its consideration of my girlfriend, Crystal Newell. The clinical director has said to me when I indicated I was pursuing a romantic relationship with her that, "with Crystal, I'm afraid what you see is what you get." High level staff have described her as a "runner" because she doesn't adjust her pace on the public sidewalk to those in her party. I have met her half-way with a brisk walk of my own and she markedly provided her half of the deal, so now we usually keep a pace we both like, though it can be a bit of a strain for me. I consider it nothing more nor less than good exercise to walk with Crystal. I see no validity in prescription of one person's pace over another's. To put her on restriction, as they have done repeatedly, for exercising her right to keep her own pace is ignorant and totally without judicial merit, in my view. Let us hope the current pause in such restrictions is permanent.

But other things are also bothering me about the way they treat her. This statement by the clinical director, Pat Blumen, is not what I would expect from someone who has responsibility for a large group of people of widely varying characteristics, such as we have at Bryn Mawr Care. I said to her that I chose to exercise patience in assessing Crystal's character. Miss Blumen, said that was my right, and clearly thought I was a fool.

Bryn Mawr Care needs to do better before I issue any endorsement of it, and I withdraw the unofficial endorsement I previously gave it for installing free WiFi, which has been anything but constant in service, thus my refusal to make the endorsement official at this time. Crystal's handling will improve before I utter any more endorsements.