A Smithfield father fighting a Raleigh hospital to keep legal guardianship of his son has been able to secure Medicaid benefits to cover the teen's treatment for a traumatic brain injury.
Freddie Lempe, 18, has been in a coma at WakeMed since a car wreck in March 2011.
His father, Fred Lempe, says Medicaid coverage for his son was dropped in December when he turned 18.
The hospital has said that the teen was denied coverage because his father failed to file the paperwork.
It wants the court to appoint a guardian for Freddie who would be legally authorized to make all medical decisions.
Fred Lempe has said he's gotten conflicting information from the Johnston County Department of Social Services about what was required.
Calls and emails to WakeMed were not immediately returned Friday afternoon, and it's unclear whether the hospital will pursue its request in the court system.
In this small city about an hour from Manhattan, pregnant teenagers, laid-off professionals and day laborers without insurance receive care at a community health center that has been part of the social fabric here for nearly four decades.
Because of the sweeping federal health care law passed two years ago, the center, part of the Hudson River HealthCare network, received a $4.5 million grant last month to expand. It plans to add six more medical and seven more dental exam rooms, allowing it to see as many as 5,000 additional patients, many of whom are without insurance, on Medicaid or have limited coverage. An additional 730 community centers or so like it are to be renovated or built across the country in the next two years for patients like that.
Unless the Supreme Court says otherwise.
By the end of June, the court is expected to decide whether some or all of the Obama administration’s health care law is constitutional. While speculation has focused on how the decision would affect the future of the nation’s health insurance market, little attention has been paid to the tens of billions of dollars in federal money appropriated for a host of other provisions in the law.
Exactly what happens to the money for those programs if the Supreme Court decides to overturn the entire law is unclear. Tens of billions of dollars could easily vanish, especially depending on the outcome of the November elections. Congress and the president could always decide to cut the funds for any of these initiatives, especially given pressing political and budgetary realities.
Critics of the law, particularly Congressional Republicans, argue that much of the spending already allocated and authorized is wasteful. They have been particularly concerned over the Prevention and Public Health Fund, whose funds have already been cut by a third as lawmakers sought to find money for other programs.
“Instead of helping Americans prevent health problems, the president’s new law actually uses this so-called prevention fund as a Washington slush fund,” Senator John Barrasso, a Republican from Wyoming, said last month.
He was one of a group of senators calling for the elimination of the fund. Critics cite programs like those improving sidewalks or creating community gardens as frivolous, and Republicans have argued for more accountability over how the money is being spent.
The Affordable Care Act allocates money for such diverse efforts as creating insurance programs for people who have pre-existing medical conditions and cannot find private coverage, offsetting employers’ costs for early-retiree health plans, bumping up the pay for some primary care doctors and a broad array of public health initiatives, like funds for state vaccination programs.
All told, at least $13.7 billion in federal money has already been spent, according to estimates from the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan research group that is closely tracking the federal funds. The largest share of future spending, some $1 trillion, is expected to pay for expanding coverage. But the law also calls for significant sums — $100 billion has already been appropriated — to be spent over the next decade on other initiatives aimed at improving the nation’s health care system.
Community health centers, for example, are to receive $11 billion under the law with about $10 billion more designated for a new effort to improve public health. An additional $2 billion has been appropriated to states for care for the aged outside of nursing homes, and there is also $350 million to combat fraud and waste in Medicare. About $200 million is to go to school-based health centers.
If the court strikes down the entire law, many experts are skeptical that lawmakers will go ahead with funds for programs like the new Prevention and Public Health Fund, even if they are completely distinct from the controversial aspects of the law seeking to overhaul the insurance markets.
“I have no confidence that Congress will turn around and adequately fund the public health system,” said Dr. Georges C. Benjamin, the executive director of the American Public Health Association, which represents people working in public health. The federal law sought to remedy years of underinvestment, he said.
The fate of programs like the federally financed state pools for people who cannot get private insurance that were expected to end as soon as the full law went into effect in 2014, when insurers would be required to cover everyone, is also unclear.
About 70,000 people have enrolled in these programs. About $1 billion has been spent so far to help subsidize their coverage and an additional $4 billion has been authorized under the law to keep the programs until 2014.
As a result, people like Linda Ellis, 64, are now insured. Ms. Ellis could not find a private insurance company to cover her when she lost her employer-sponsored plan after being laid off. Her husband is already enrolled in the federal Medicare program, so she had to try to find coverage on her own. She was not eligible for the state Medicaid program. Because of a shoulder condition and minor ailments like sinusitis, no one would offer her a policy when she scrambled to find coverage.
“People don’t realize you can get rejected in the private market even if it’s not life-threatening,” said Ms. Ellis, who now pays $428 a month for insurance from a federally financed state program in Ohio. Ms. Ellis had contacted Families USA, a consumer advocacy group that provided her contact information to The New York Times.
But Ms. Ellis said she had no idea whether she would continue to be covered if the Supreme Court declared the entire law unconstitutional. When she asked the office of her United States senator, she was told no one could say, and federal officials declined to comment on what might happen to any program now financed under the law. “Obviously I’m concerned,” she said.
The largest share of the money to date, about $5 billion, has gone to employers, public retirement plans, unions and others that provide insurance coverage for workers who retire before they are eligible for Medicare. Under this early-retiree program, General Electric and the United Automobile Workers were among those entities receiving money.
G.E., for one, said it had used the $39 million it received under the program to reduce its costs and the costs of both active and retired employees. Republicans like Senator Mike Enzi from Wyoming have argued that much of the money went to unions and state retirement plans as a way of rewarding “politically connected constituencies.”
But Larry Levitt, a senior executive at the Kaiser Family Foundation, said, “Retiree coverage has been under threat for quite a while now.” One of the law’s aims, he said, is to create programs to help companies and workers make it to 2014, when all the insurance regulations was expected to go into effect.
Richard Holbrooke, a veteran U.S. diplomat who was the architect of the 1995 Bosnia peace plan and served as President Barack Obama's special envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan, has died, NBC News reported, citing a U.S. official. He was 69.
Officials were speaking on condition of anonymity because the family had yet to make a formal announcement of Holbrooke's death Monday in Washington.
Holbrooke's forceful style earned him nicknames such as "The Bulldozer" or "Raging Bull." He was admitted to George Washington University Hospital on Friday after he became ill. He had surgery on Saturday to repair a torn aorta.
The hospital was referring all inquiries to the State Department, which was expected to make an announcement.
His death came just hours after Obama had called Holbrooke "a towering figure in American foreign policy" who was a critical player in developing the administration's policy on Afghanistan.
'One of the Giants'
"He is simply one of the giants of American foreign policy," Obama said Monday during a holiday reception at the State Department. Obama met briefly with Holbrooke's family before his remarks.
Earlier Monday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton hailed Holbrooke's long service.
"He has given nearly 50 years of his life to serving the United States," Clinton said during a meeting in Canada.
Holbrooke was stricken Friday while at the State Department and was rushed to the hospital, where he underwent more than 20 hours of surgery to repair the tear and bleeding in his aorta.
A torn aorta is a condition in which a rip develops in the inner wall of the body's largest artery, allowing blood to enter the vessel wall and weaken it. The problem can lead to rapid death if not corrected. It causes serious internal bleeding, a loss of normal blood flow and possible complications in organs affected by the resulting lack of blood, according to medical experts.
It’s a rare condition, with cases estimated at between 5 and 30 per 1 million people each year. About 2,000 new cases occur in the U.S. annually. It’s more common in men than women, and in those between 60 and 70.
Holbrooke served under every Democratic president from John F. Kennedy to Obama in a lengthy career that began with a foreign service posting in Vietnam in 1962 after graduating from Brown University, and included time as a member of the U.S. delegation to the Paris Peace Talks on Vietnam.
His sizable ego, tenacity and willingness to push hard for diplomatic results won him both admiration and animosity.
"If Richard calls you and asks you for something, just say yes," former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger once said. "If you say no, you'll eventually get to yes, but the journey will be very painful."
He learned to become extremely informed about whatever country he was in, push for an exit strategy and look for ways to get those who live in a country to take increasing responsibility for their own security.
"He's a bulldog for the globe," Tim Wirth, president of the United Nations Foundation, once said.
The bearish Holbrooke said he has no qualms about "negotiating with people who do immoral things."
"If you can prevent the deaths of people still alive, you're not doing a disservice to those already killed by trying to do so," he said in 1999.
Born in New York City on April 24, 1941, Richard Charles Albert Holbrooke had an interest in public service from his early years. He was good friends in high school with a son of Dean Rusk and he grew close to the family of the man who would become a secretary of state for presidents Kennedy and Johnson.
Holbrooke was a young provincial representative for the U.S. Agency for International Development in South Vietnam and then an aide to two U.S. ambassadors in Saigon. At the Johnson White House, he wrote one volume of the Pentagon Papers, an internal government study of U.S. involvement in Vietnam that was completed in 1967.
The study, leaked in 1971 by a former Defense Department aide, had many damaging revelations, including a memo that stated the reason for fighting in Vietnam was based far more on preserving U.S. prestige than preventing communism or helping the Vietnamese.
After stints in and out of government — including as Peace Corps director in Morocco, editing positions at Foreign Policy and Newsweek magazines and adviser to Jimmy Carter's presidential campaign — Holbrooke became assistant secretary of state for Asian affairs from 1977-81. He then shifted back to private life — and the financial world, at Lehman Brothers.
A lifelong Democrat, he returned to public service when Bill Clinton took the White House in 1993. Holbrooke was U.S. ambassador to Germany from 1993 to 1994 and then assistant secretary of state for European affairs.
One of his signature achievements was brokering the Dayton Peace Accords that ended the war in Bosnia. He detailed the experience of negotiating the deal at an Air Force base near the Ohio city in his 1998 memoir, "To End a War."
James Dobbins, former U.S. envoy to Afghanistan who worked closely with Holbrooke early in their careers, called him a brilliant diplomat and said his success at the Dayton peace talks "was the turning point in the Clinton administration's foreign policy."
Holbrooke's efforts surrounding Dayton would later lead to controversy when wartime Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic told a war crimes tribunal in 2009 that Holbrooke had promised him immunity in return for leaving politics. Holbrooke denied the claim.
'No apologies' to Milosevic
Holbrooke left the State Department in 1996 to take a Wall Street job with Credit Suisse First Boston, but was never far from the international diplomatic fray, serving as a private citizen as a special envoy to Cyprus and then the Balkans.
In 1998, he negotiated an agreement with Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic to withdraw Yugoslav forces from Kosovo where they were accused of conducting an ethnic cleansing campaign and allow international observers into the province.
"I make no apologies for negotiating with Milosevic and even worse people, provided one doesn't lose one's point of view," he said later.
When the deal fell apart, Holbrooke went to Belgrade to deliver the final ultimatum to Milosevic to leave Kosovo or face NATO airstrikes, which ultimately rained down on the capital.
"This isn't fun," he said of his Kosovo experience. "This isn't bridge or tennis. This is tough slogging."
Holbrooke returned to public service in 1999, when he became U.S. ambassador to the United Nations after a lengthy confirmation battle, stalled at first by ethics investigations into his business dealings and then unrelated Republican objections.
At the U.N., Holbrooke tried to broker peace in wartorn African nations. He led efforts to help refugees and fight AIDS in Africa. He also confronted U.N. anger over unpaid U.S. dues to the world body and persuaded 188 countries to overhaul the United Nations' financing and reduce U.S. payments.
"What's the point of being in the government if you don't try to make things better, which means trying to change things," Holbrooke told The Associated Press in a 2001 interview, reflecting on his time at the United Nations.
Holbrooke, with his long-standing ties to Bill Clinton and Hillary Rodham Clinton, was a strong supporter of her 2008 bid for the White House. He had been considered a favorite to become secretary of state if she had won. When she dropped out, he began reaching out to the campaign of Obama.
Reflecting on his role as Obama's special envoy, Holbrooke wrote in The Washington Post in March 2008 that "the conflict in Afghanistan will be far more costly and much, much longer than Americans realize. This war, already in its seventh year, will eventually become the longest in American history, surpassing even Vietnam."
Strained relations with Karzai Holbrooke's relationship with Afghan President Hamid Karzai was strained after their heated meeting in 2009 over the fraud-tainted Afghan presidential election. Karzai brushed it off, saying he had "no problem at all with Mr. Holbrooke." But the U.S. military commanders in Afghanistan, not Holbrooke, were the ones who ended up developed the closest relations with the mercurial Afghan leader.
With his decades of service and long list of accomplishments in U.S. diplomacy, Holbrooke missed out on a tour as America's top diplomat, a job he was known to covet. As U.N. ambassador, he was a member of the Clinton Cabinet but his sometimes brash and combative style contrasted with that of then-Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.
At a ceremony to mark the fifth anniversary of the Dayton Peace Accords, Holbrooke bristled when was asked by a reporter if his views on the future of Kosovo — that it would eventually become independent — matched those of his boss.
"You mean, Madeleine?" he replied with a derisive snort, referring to Albright, who with others in the administration were publicly neutral on the question.
Holbrooke rejected direct comparisons between Afghanistan and Vietnam, but acknowledged similarities and repeatedly pressed the administration to do more to win the hearts and minds of both the Afghan and Pakistani people.
At the State Department ceremony in January 2009 when he was introduced as the special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, Holbrooke spotted an old friend in the audience, John Negroponte, his one-time roommate in Saigon (the former South Vietnamese capital now called Ho Chi Minh City) who later was the first director of national intelligence and a former U.S. ambassador to Iraq.
"We remember those days well, and I hope we will produce a better outcome this time," Holbrooke said.
Holbrooke is survived by his wife, author Kati Marton, and two sons, David Dan Holbrooke and Anthony Andrew Holbrooke.
Manute Bol, a lithe 7-foot-7 shot-blocker from Sudan who spent 10 seasons in the NBA and was dedicated to humanitarian work in Africa, died Saturday. He was 47.
Bol died at the University of Virginia Hospital in Charlottesville, where he was being treated for severe kidney trouble and a painful skin condition, Tom Prichard, executive director of the group Sudan Sunrise, said in an e-mail.
"Sudan and the world have lost a hero and an example for all of us,'' Prichard said. "Manute, we'll miss you. Our prayers and best wishes go out to all his family, and all who mourn his loss.''
Bol played 10 seasons in the NBA with Washington, Golden State, Philadelphia and Miami and later worked closely as an advisory board member of Sudan Sunrise, which promotes reconciliation in Sudan. Bol averaged 2.6 points, 4.2 rebounds and 3.3 blocked shots.
"Manute's impact on this city, our franchise and the game of basketball cannot be put into words,'' 76ers president and general manager Ed Stefanski said in a statement. "He ... was continually giving of himself through his generosity and humanitarian efforts in order to make the world around him a much better place, for which he will always be remembered.''
Bol was hospitalized in mid-May during a stopover in Washington after returning to the United States from Sudan. Prichard said then that Bol was in Sudan to help build a school in conjunction with Sudan Sunrise but stayed longer than anticipated after the president of southern Sudan asked him to make election appearances and use his influence to counter corruption in his home county.
He said Bol had undergone three dialysis treatments and developed Stevens-Johnson Syndrome, a condition that caused him to lose patches of skin.
Prichard said the skin around Bol's mouth was so sore that he went 11 days without eating and could barely talk.
Prichard said it's believed that Bol contracted the skin disease as a reaction to kidney medication he took while in Africa.
Janis Ricker, operations manager of Sudan Sunrise, said Saturday that the organization would continue its work building the school in Bol's home village in southern Sudan. The building still lacks a second floor roof, she said.
She said Bol's goal was to build 41 schools throughout Sudan.
"We are in the process of still helping Manute build a school, and we will continue with that,'' Ricker said.
With all due respect to terminally ill, long time Public Servant and Charlotte Mayor Pro Tem Susan Burgess, if Mrs. Burgess were not stepping down and one of the Black Council members (i.e., Anthony Foxx) were seriously ill and had to resign, would she allow them to rush in one of their Inexperienced recommended friends or family members to fill their seat?
Or....
Would Mayor Pro Tem Susan Burgess object to that recommendation by suggesting every Charlotte citizen have the right to apply and than select a qualified member from the community?
Considering the fact that Jason has NO real Political experience other than working on his mother's campaign committee, do you think its fair to specially appoint him to hold his mother's At-Large seat until November 2011?
I don't think it is fair or right.
Let's be real (NOT Fake!) for a moment shall we?
Why is it that as it relates to any position of Leadership Black citizens have to be Experienced in some way or another but White citizens don't?
Sounds like something Charlotte is famously recognized for: Its Double Standards!
Its NOT Susan Burgess' seat. It belongs to the people of Charlotte! If Foxx gives this At-Large seat to Susan's son it will just be another reason NOT to vote for him or his buddies next general election in 2011.
Hey I'm just saying.
Check out the video and article below regarding Susan Burgess' appeal to let her son Jason hold her seat until next Fall when the next General Election for Charlotte City council will take place.
City Councilwoman Susan Burgess, who has been battling cancer for more than three years, announced her resignation Monday, leaving a vacant seat that must be filled for the remainder of the term.
She put forth her son, Jason, as a candidate for the empty seat.
“He shares my ideals and values completely and I am confident that he will be able to serve in my place,” Burgess said at the meeting.
Charlotte residents have expressed mixed emotions about Jason, who is a surgeon, taking over the position for the remaining 18 months of his mother’s term.
“Her son has the same values and principles that she stands for, so yes, I would [agree with the decision,]” Vincent Stewart said.
“She has a legitimate reason and there's no reason for them to be against her and what she's asking,” Erin Wessinger said.
Others said council members, who will have the final say in the matter, need to pick the most qualified person, regardless of other factors. With more than a year left in Burgess’ term and the city under unusually tight financial conditions, there’s a lot at stake.
“I think they do have to look at other candidates and they need to be thoughtful to Jason -- and to her -- but consider all their options,” Pat Jackson said.
Council members are similarly split on the issue. While some are already backing Jason Burgess, others have promised to give all applicants a look. Councilman Edwin Peacock said Jason Burgess is “very qualified,” but added that he'll “await the review of the full candidate pool.”
The deadline to apply for the vacant seat is noon on Friday. To be eligible, applicants must be registered Democrat voters and live within Charlotte city limits.
Interested applicants can click here to submit statements of interest.
Council members could vote on Burgess’ replacement as soon as Monday.
The City of Charlotte kicked off an abbreviated process of choosing Susan Burgess's City Council successor Tuesday, even as her son emerged as the favorite of several members.
Burgess, a Democrat suffering from terminal cancer, made a dramatic appeal to her colleagues Monday night on behalf of her son Jason.
She urged his appointment after reading her own letter of resignation at the emotion-laden meeting. The council could name a replacement as early as Monday.
It's the seventh time in four decades the council has had to fill a vacancy. But it's the first time in memory that a departing member has sought to steer their seat toward a particular individual.
By law, the council must pick a registered Democrat who lives in Charlotte. By custom, it's expected to choose someone who won't run for the seat in the next council election in 2011.
The city posted an application on its website Tuesday. The deadline is noon Friday.
"I don't think you can replace Susan Burgess," Mayor Anthony Foxx said Tuesday. "But we've got a lot of things in the hopper, and the sooner we can fill the seat the better."
Democratic council member James Mitchell has said he'll recommend Jason Burgess's selection on Monday.
"This," he said, "is a tribute to Susan."
Democrat Nancy Carter Tuesday called the younger Burgess "a brilliant young man."
"He respects his mother's ideals and will carry them on," she said. "Unless there is somebody who is absolutely astonishing and brings more to the table than he does, I am committed."
Democrat David Howard said, "I need a real good reason not to honor his mother's request."
Democrat Patrick Cannon said he expects to add his support "given the (request) of Mayor Pro Tem Burgess."
Patsy Kinsey, a Democrat, said she'll follow the process. But, she added, "I have a lot of respect for Susan and her wishes."
Of 10 council members who would vote on a replacement, seven are Democrats.
Jason Burgess, 39, is a vascular surgeon who graduated from Myers Park High and UNC Chapel Hill, where he was a walk-on basketball player for Hall of Fame coach Dean Smith.
Monday night, his mother called him "a bridge-builder" who "embodies the qualities that I have worked towards as a public servant."
Even in her illness, Susan Burgess sought to orchestrate her son's appointment, beginning with a conversation on Friday.
"I'd like for you to finish out my term on city council," he recalled his mother telling him. "At first I wasn't 100 percent sure she was serious, but she was."
Burgess said that it was at his mother's suggestion that he began calling council members over the weekend expressing his interest.
"We decided that I should call them and tell them I don't have much experience in this, and if they decided to appoint me I'll need help," he said.
One Republican called the process rushed.
"We literally advertise for committees and commissions and boards longer than this, and we're talking about an at-large seat on the city council," said Andy Dulin. "I'm not comfortable being this rushed."
Foxx doesn't have a vote. But he called Jason Burgess "a good choice."
"There's a lot of sentimental value to having someone who is very closely (tied to) Susan," he said. "But you know, there are lots of people in our community who probably want to take a look at it ...
"I don't think you can make it just on sentimentality, that's for sure."
Interested in the council seat?
Anyone interested in applying for Susan Burgess's city council seat can find an application here.
Vice President Joe Biden's oldest son is expected to make a full recovery after suffering an apparent "mild stroke" Tuesday.
Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden, 41, is in stable condition, according to Dr. Timothy Gardner, Medical Director of the Center for Heart and Vascular Surgery at Christiana Care Health System.
"He is in good spirits and talking with his family at the hospital," Gardner said. "He is fully alert, in stable condition and has full motor and speech skills. We expect him to make a complete recovery."
Beau Biden will be transferred Tuesday afternoon to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia for further observation and examination, the vice president's office said.
Biden, 41, had considered running for the Senate seat his father held before becoming vice president, but decided against it.
In 2009, the younger Biden returned from a yearlong deployment to Iraq with his Army National Guard unit. He was a captain and military lawyer in the 261st Theater Tactical Signal Brigade.
The vice president traveled to Delaware on Monday afternoon for a previously scheduled trip. He did a round of morning show interviews from Wilmington Tuesday morning, and was supposed to return to Washington later in the day for his weekly lunch with President Barack Obama and a series of meetings on Afghanistan.
Dr. Jill Biden's scheduled tour of a women's health facility in Washington Tuesday afternoon was postponed.
Beau Biden was scheduled to deliver a speech Tuesday night at the University of Delaware, but that was canceled too.
Beau Biden announced in January that he would not run for Senate. The decision left the seat his father held for 36 years vulnerable.
The elder Biden was away from that seat for seven months in 1988 after undergoing surgery for brain aneurysms.
Beau Biden, who is married with two young children, has worked as an attorney in private practice. He also worked for the Justice Department between 1995 and 1997 and as an assistant U.S. attorney from 1997 to 2002.
This is the statement released by Susan Burgess early Monday afternoon:
"I always have striven to be open and honest in all that I say and do. Accordingly, I publicly announced my cancer diagnosis over three years ago, and today I am announcing that the caring and competent team of Hospice and Palliative Care of Charlotte is now managing my treatment. My wonderful doctors have done all that is possible to contain my cancer, yet it continues to grow and spread.
"I have every intention of fulfilling my duties as Mayor Pro Tem and continuing my commitment to the people of Charlotte. The reality, however, is that I no longer have the energy to go and be as I always have been and will now focus my efforts on core responsibilities of the Council. I know there will be activities I no longer have the strength to pursue, and I hope everyone will understand there will be times when I will need to say ‘no,’ or I must turn down invitations. I will do my best not to let anyone down.
"I have been blessed with a loving family, with caring friends, with an indomitable spirit, and with an incredible opportunity to be of service to the citizens of the City I love. I count these blessings every day, and I appreciate every minute that I am allowed to enjoy them. If the days of those blessings are to be cut shorter than I might hope, I want you to treat me as always. It will be easier for you and for me. I can honestly say, I have not shed a tear since my diagnosis but have focused instead on being a fighter and living my life.
"I hope that my friends, colleagues and constituents will share in my joy for these bountiful blessings; that we will celebrate what has been and the potential of what is yet to be. As the poet wrote, ‘Life is short, and time is fleeting…,’ I would hate to waste it with what-might-have-been. Instead, I hope we will move forward resolutely together, always looking toward the future.
Charlotte City Council member and Mayor Pro Tem Susan Burgess said Monday her cancer is spreading and that she is under the care of Hospice.
Burgess, a 63-year-old Democrat, underwent surgery in February 2007 for colorectal cancer and received chemotherapy treatments afterwards. She remained on city council and won re-election last November.
“My wonderful doctors have done all that is possible to contain my cancer, yet it continues to grow and spread,” Burgess said in a statement released early Monday afternoon by city officials.
She said she has “every intention” of completing her two year term on council but asked residents to be understanding of her condition.
“The reality … is that I no longer have the energy to go and be as I always have been – and will now focus my efforts on core responsibilities of the council,” she said.
In the statement, Burgess said she is now under the care of Hospice and Palliative Care of Charlotte.
In its mission statement, Hospice and Palliative Care of Charlotte says it provides support services for patients with an expected life span of “six months or less, if the illness takes its anticipated course.”
Burgess, a West Virginia native, is among Charlotte’s longest-serving public officials. She was a Charlotte-Mecklenburg School Board member for seven years before winning election to Charlotte City Council in 1999. She ran for mayor in 2001 but finished second in a three-way race in the Democratic primary. Ella Scarborough, who won the primary, then lost to Republican Pat McCrory in the general election.
Burgess returned to elected office in 2003, winning a city council race. She was re-elected in 2005, 2007 and 2009.
Masters champion Phil Mickelson withdrew from his Pro-Am group at the Quail Hollow Championship on Wednesday, complaining of illness.
Mickelson was sick at his hotel Tuesday night and called for assistance after the fifth hole at Quail Hollow Club. He was treated for dehydration at the on-course medical center.
Mickelson still expects to make his first-round, 12:50 p.m. tee time Thursday, according to a statement released on the player's behalf.
This is Mickelson's first PGA Tour event since winning the green jacket at Augusta National three weeks ago.
Mickelson spoke with reporters Wednesday morning, then played the first five holes of the pro-am with partners Tim Belk and Bruce Rockowitz.
That's when he begged off the rest of the round, citing the illness.
Bret Michaels's health has taken a turn for the worse, PEOPLE magazine has learned: After an excruciating headache late Thursday night, the star was rushed to an undisclosed hospital where doctors discovered he suffered a massive subarachnoid hemorrhage (bleeding at the base of his brain stem), according to a source close to the situation.
Michaels, 47, is currently in critical condition. "After several CAT scans, MRIs and an angiogram, [doctors] decided to keep Michaels in the ICU and are running several tests to determine the cause. [It] will be touch and go for the next few days while he is under intense observation," the source says.
The rocker's latest hospital visit follows his emergency appendectomy in San Antonio, Texas, on April 12. There is no word yet whether this new development is related to the rocker's recent appendectomy or to his diabetes.
After his appendectomy, Michaels remained in the hospital under his doctors' care — then transferred to a rehab facility specializing in diabetic patients.
As he was recovering, Michaels — who was still in the running to win this season of NBC's Celebrity Apprentice — seemed to be in good spirits and updated fans on his progress.
"They told me that if I had gone on stage like I wanted to, [my appendix] likely would have ruptured and I could have died," he wrote in a note to his fans. "There is just no way around the fact that getting your appendix out HURTS. I have a pretty good threshold for pain, but this one hurts."
Former first lady Barbara Bush was hospitalized in Houston for tests after not feeling well for several weeks, NBC News reported Saturday night.
Former President George H.W. Bush took Mrs. Bush to Methodist Hospital on Saturday morning for routine testing, said Jean Becker, spokeswoman for the former president in Houston.
Sources told NBC that the problem was not believed to be related to her heart or the aortic valve operation that she underwent in March 2009.
Doctors hoped to let her go home Sunday or Monday, Becker said.
Mrs. Bush underwent surgery a year ago to have her aortic valve replaced by a valve from a pig. That surgery was performed because she was suffering from a severe narrowing of the main valve.
Mrs. Bush underwent surgery in November 2008 for a perforated ulcer. When she lived at the White House, she disclosed she was suffering from an overactive thyroid ailment known as Graves' disease. The disease causes teary eyes and double vision, according to her doctors.
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NOTE TO ALL ELECTED OFFICIALS, APPOINTED OFFICIALS & PUBLIC FIGURES:
Per the Landmark U.S. Supreme Court Case: 1964 case of New York Times v. Sullivan………
The Public has a Right to Criticize the People who Govern them, so the least Protection from Defamation is given to Public Officials. When officials are accused of something that involves their behavior in office, they have to prove all of the above elements of defamation and they must also prove that the defendant acted with “actual malice.” (For a definition of actual malice, see the “History of Defamation and the First Amendment, below.”)
People who aren’t Elected but who are Still Public Figures because they are influential or famous — like Actors, Actresses, Movie Stars, Singers & Entertainers, Journalists, TV Hosts, Bloggers, etc., — also have to Prove that Defamatory statements were made with Actual Malice, in most cases.
To the Associated Press and other Media Organizations:
When I use your Content Links., I’m also citing the Fair Use Doctrine (Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107) for further Copyright permission.
Posts and Links published on Black Political Buzz are not endorsed by Black Political Buzz Blog Author Laurel’s Employer, nor the Employers of other Black Political Buzz employees.
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Comments, Links and Opinions of site visitors are Independently-Owned and not endorsed by Black Political Buzz employees, Blog Author Laurel or Laurel’s Employer.)
(No Personal Offense intended) Please know that Black Political Buzz is not responsible for nor do I endorse Requests for Donations from Third Parties on this Blog.
I will Only Endorse Requests for Donations made on behalf of BLACK POLITICAL BUZZ Blog for Business Purposes & Operating Expenses.
I will also Only Endorse Requests for Donations on behalf of Legitimate Politicians and Legitimate Political Candidates. PERIOD!!
If anyone else or another Organization wishes to post a link to Request Donations, I am NOT endorsing ANY of those Requests!
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God Bless
Laurel @BLACK POLITICAL BUZZ
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