Letters to the editor: An ode to Ginny Mabesoone; Frustration with Killingly school board
An ode to Ginny Mabesoone
My dear friend and colleague, Virginia “Ginny” Mabesoone, died on Jan. 12, 2023 at the age of 75. Ginny was the first Backus Hospital nurse to welcome me in 1985, an imposing figure, but gentle and disarming. She was eager to develop an oncology service and become one of the founding members of oncology service on ward B4, first as an IV therapy nurse and then later as the oncology nurse director. She was self-taught, and quickly mastered the clinical skills in oncology nursing. She had an instinctual, deep empathy for cancer patients and their families.
Her clinical expertise was matched by her administrative and leadership skills, mentoring many nurses in oncology who still practice at Backus Hospital and Eastern Connecticut Hematology and Oncology. I am most appreciative of her friendship and trust. She would rein in my excess with the often-repeated phrase “I understand why you’re upset, but this is what we have to do.” She would always listen and meet me halfway on solving problems. She and I had a singular animus, caring for cancer patients 24/7. She jealously guarded the beds on ward B4, then ward E3, and finally A2 - only oncology patients, only oncology nurses.
Ginny had that rare combination of a good heart, common sense, courage to stand her ground, curiosity, hard work, love of Backus Hospital and the Norwich Community. She comported herself with great dignity throughout her many years with cancer, never complaining, always hopeful, and always praising the courage of others. Hers was a life fulfilled. Bravo and rest in peace my good friend.
Dennis Slater, M.D.
Founding Medical Director at Cancer Services, Backus Hospital
What I think about the actions of the Killingly BOE, as a doctor
As a resident of a town which sends students to Killingly High School and as a Pulmonary/Critical Care physician who has cared for scores of teenagers who had either attempted or completed suicide and thereby ended up in my ICU, I was appalled by the Killingly Board of Education’s latest attempt to escape responsibility for not obtaining proper counseling help for their students.
Despite a valid survey last year showing that 28% of Killingly students in grades 7-12 had thoughts of harming themselves and that 14.7% actually had a suicide plan, this board rejected a robust proposal last year by Generations Community Health Center to provide full-time counselors in the schools at no cost.
The state department of education, after a careful investigation this fall, issued a report which concluded that the Killingly board acted with “deliberate indifference” in addressing the mental health needs of its students by rejecting the Generations plan and subsequently making no effort to increase its staff of school psychologists, social workers, or school counselors. A follow-up state board of education inquiry is to be held any day.
Most recently, in an effort to stave off the state board inquiry, the Killingly board entered into negotiations with Community Health Centers Inc. (CHCI) to provide a part-time counselor supplemented by tele-health, but it was not clear if that would have come anywhere close to meeting the schools’ needs and the organization would have charged a start-up fee of $28,703. CHCI ultimately withdrew their proposal, but it is not clear why. Most of the discussions with CHCI had been held out of view of the full board and there were reports that Republican board members insisted on multiple problematic changes to the proposed contract but the board says that it was board member Susan Lannon’s fault that negotiations fell through because she spoke directly to CHCI asking routine questions about staffing, cost, etc. In any event, last week the Republican members of the board (along with one Democratic member who regularly votes with the Republicans) spent a good part of a meeting lambasting Lannon and ultimately voting to censure her, a move not supported by any facts and shockingly vindictive and petty.Shame on the Killingly school board. They need to get their act together, take responsibility, and fix the problem.
John A. Day Jr., M.D.Woodstock Valley
This article originally appeared on The Bulletin: LETTERS: Backus nurse Ginny Mabesoone; Killingly school frustration
