Advertisement. Advertise with us

Letter from Jim Renckens

Please Hold…

After 2 years going silent to regroup their organizational strategies, under new CEO Tommy Ibrahim, and the Bassett Healthcare —“Your call is very important to us please stay on the line your call…”—Network is emerging with a legacy driven ad campaign.

This new campaign—“This call is very important to us please stay on the…”—will highlight the accomplishments of its founder Dr. Mary Imogene Bassett, one ofthe first female medical directors in—“Your call is very important to us please stay…”—the United States. It is a wonderful opportunity to share the history of our beloved MIB hospital. We ,who spend much time at MIB have not been aware of how—“This call is very important to us please…”—important and ground breaking Dr. Bassett was.

When you add in Ayrelia Fox, the patron of A.O Fox Memorial Hospital and Judge A Lindset and Olive B. O’Connor — namesakes of O’Connor Hospital—“Your call is very important to us…”—in Delhi, New York founded in 1921.
Three pioneering women are the reason Bassett Healthcare Network today has such an impressive legacy —“Your call is very important to…”—of care and compassion.

I’ve loved Bassett since the 1970s BUT anyone new that calls Bassett and is introduced to the Network with —“Your call is very…”—and then waits 10-15-20-25-30 minutes for a real person who ‘might’ send you to another—“Your call is answered in the order it was received, you are caller number #2,416.”

After 100 years this is not acceptable.

Jim Renckens
Cooperstown

Posted

14 Comments Leave a Reply

  1. Jim, you couldn’t have said it better! Last summer we needed a quick answer (was an upcoming lab test fasting or not?)… and took over half an hour before we got someone…who didn’t know, put us back on hold…and another 15 minutes before we got an answer! We’ve moved away and I’m delighted not to have to deal with that any more!

  2. Jim, you couldn’t have said it better! Last summer we needed a quick answer (was an upcoming lab test fasting or not?)… and took over half an hour before we got someone…who didn’t know, put us back on hold…and another 15 minutes before we got an answer! We’ve moved away and I’m delighted not to have to deal with that any more!

  3. Spot on.

    I go to an orthopedic surgeon in New Hartford. I do so not because they are necessarily better, but just because they are more responsive and available. My Primary Care doctor is still at Bassett, and I like him, but if availability becomes an issue, almost any doctor is better than no doctor.

    Vote with your feet.

  4. Spot on.

    I go to an orthopedic surgeon in New Hartford. I do so not because they are necessarily better, but just because they are more responsive and available. My Primary Care doctor is still at Bassett, and I like him, but if availability becomes an issue, almost any doctor is better than no doctor.

    Vote with your feet.

  5. The need to go to business school. You can have the best heath care providers which from my experience they do, then they blow it with their phone manners.

  6. The need to go to business school. You can have the best heath care providers which from my experience they do, then they blow it with their phone manners.

  7. Remember when the Clinic did not feel like a prison? Remember when you could make an appointment with a human and all the doors to the different departments were open? And sometimes they even got the billing correct? And there were doctors who were willing to take new patients? And they had the best frozen yogurt around…

  8. Remember when the Clinic did not feel like a prison? Remember when you could make an appointment with a human and all the doors to the different departments were open? And sometimes they even got the billing correct? And there were doctors who were willing to take new patients? And they had the best frozen yogurt around…

  9. there are still several good departments a mib, and good doctors, but there are also a number of very busy, overwhelmed doctors who constantly look at computer screen, and have not read your charts. the reorganization has also proved that mib is part of the “health industry”, where little heart is shown when firing doctors and other folks who have served the community for many years. the communication between doctors, and follow up with patients is bad. we need mental health services for young people, and a more holistic view of the individual. we are lucky to have several of the doctors, and are fortunate to have the ER. MIB is not alone in its problems, and the insurance industry in New York adds to the nightmare.

  10. there are still several good departments a mib, and good doctors, but there are also a number of very busy, overwhelmed doctors who constantly look at computer screen, and have not read your charts. the reorganization has also proved that mib is part of the “health industry”, where little heart is shown when firing doctors and other folks who have served the community for many years. the communication between doctors, and follow up with patients is bad. we need mental health services for young people, and a more holistic view of the individual. we are lucky to have several of the doctors, and are fortunate to have the ER. MIB is not alone in its problems, and the insurance industry in New York adds to the nightmare.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


Related Articles

Whelan: Bidding Lewie Farewell

Lewis Hamilton was, quite literally, the first person I met in Cooperstown when, in 1982, I came to Bassett Hospital for a job interview. It took only the briefest acquaintance to know that he would be a fine person to join. And indeed, he was a wonderful colleague and friend.…
August 28, 2025

In Memoriam: Gary B. Goodwin

Gary B. Goodwin died peacefully at home on July 19, 2025. Born on June 21, 1941 in Maine, he grew up roaming the woods and fishing. He attended a one-room schoolhouse and graduated from West Paris High School in 1959. He earned a bachelor of arts in history from the University of Maine in 1963 and a master’s in psychology from The New School in 1971. Gary served in the Army National Guard, receiving an honorable discharge in July 1970.…
July 24, 2025

PUTTING THE COMMUNITY BACK INTO THE NEWSPAPER

For a limited time, new annual subscriptions to the hard copy of “The Freeman’s Journal” or “Hometown Oneonta” (which also includes unlimited access to AllOtsego.com), or digital-only access to AllOtsego.com, can also give back to one of their favorite Otsego County charitable organizations.

$5.00 of your subscription will be donated to the nonprofit of your choice: Friends of the Feral-TNR, Super Heroes Humane Society, or Susquehanna Society of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals 

Visit our “subscribe” page and select your charity of choice at checkout