Bell could be back in old post

Texas Tech physician Todd Bell drew much praise and support during his 10-month tenure as health authority for Potter and Randall counties.
His resignation, which came amid an investigation of a Stratford nurse practitioner he oversaw, was as a surprise to many around him. It was a sign of weakness from a highly-regarded man.
However, Bell’s replace to the post, Dr. Roger Smalligan said after his appointment from the Amarillo Bi-City-County Public Health District board last night that Bell could return as health authority.
“I would not want to rule that out,” Smalligan said. “It was just an unfortunate situation that happened from someone so far away abusing the supervisory position.”
The nurse practitioner in question, Ward Palmer, drank on the job and inappropriately prescribed narcotics, according to the Texas Board of Nursing. He has resigned his nursing license.
Charges have not been filed in the case and Bell is not the subject of any investigation.
Those who know Bell have nothing but positive things to say about him.
Bell has kept his duties with the Texas Tech School of Medicine in Amarillo, but also gave up his license to issue certain controlled substances as well as his health authority position on Nov. 23.
I analyze Smalligan’s comments from last night as saying Bell gave up some of his responsibilities to save face and could return once the legal cloud over Stratford settles.
Regional School of Medicine Dean Richard Jordan called Smalligan an “emergency replacement” for Bell.
No one has expressly said Bell will return as health authority, but Smalligan is at least hinting such a thing may occur.

Bush received $10,000 for her appearance

Texas Tech paid Jenna Bush Hager $10,000 for her appearance in Amarillo Friday at a fundraiser for the women’s health institute named after her mother, the school said this week.
The Laura W. Bush Institute for Women’s Health held the $75-per-plate luncheon last week to generate money for its InfantRisk Center, a nationwide call center for pregnant and nursing mothers who seek information on how medication may impact their children or nursing. The event raised more than $150,000 for the cause, organizers said.
For Hager’s $10,000 fee, Bush spoke for nearly 15 minutes mostly on the topic of education and left the Amarillo Civic Center Grand Plaza immediately after finishing her speech at the podium.
Dr. Marjorie Jenkins, executive director of the Bush institute, said the entire event was underwritten by sponsors and money from the more than 700 attendees.
“I think it’s good for the area to bring in national speakers,” Jenkins said Monday.
Bush’s fee wasn’t included in last week's story. Jenkins avoided answering the question of Hager’s payment (but answered others on the event) in an e-mail and voice mail late Friday.

Another note of updating info from a story:
Gray County ended up spending $885,000 to bring capital murder charges against Levi King to trial, according to County Auditor Elaine Morris.
King pleaded guilty last year to the shooting deaths of three Pampa residents in September 2005. Lynn Switzer, 31st District attorney, wanted to pursue the death penalty against King despite his already serving a life sentence in Missouri. A Lubbock jury sentenced King to life without parole.
I wrote a story a couple of weeks ago on the difficulty of pursuing the death penalty.
I was unable to get a final tally for the King trial because heavy snow closed county offices that Thursday and Friday. The county auditor was not in the office before my deadline passed.

No raises for Tech docs in Amarillo

A story appeared in Saturday's Globe-News on pending raises for Texas Tech faculty.

"Faculty and staff for almost all Texas Tech institutions will receive up to 6 percent more in pay under a budget approved by the system's governing board Friday," the story by the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal's Elliott Blackburn stated.

However, I ran into Tech School of Medicine Regional Dean Richard Jordan at a meeting early Monday morning and he said faculty at the Tech Health Sciences Center in Amarillo will not be received raises this year.

Things are looking pretty tight this year, he made it seem like.