Capitol Fax.com - Your Illinois News Radar

Thursday, Jan 19, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller

* It never ceases to blow my mind how reporters refuse to do the simplest of Google searches or fall for the dumbest things. Here’s John Clark at WTVO in Rockford…

A medical watchdog group is criticizing Illinois’ new law that requires health-care workers to take racial bias training over “being a good doctor.”

According to the Illinois Administrative Code, racial bias occurs automatically and unintentionally, affecting behaviors, judgments, and decisions.

The medical watchdog group Do No Harm counters that “There is no credible evidence that physicians are biased, or healthcare is systemically racist.”

No credible evidence? Click here.

Also, Google “Do No Harm” and you’ll find the “medical watchdog” group’s website is filled with warnings about how the same people behind “Critical Race Theory” and “Defund the police” are now coming after physicians. It has posts supporting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ war on “wokeness,” warns about trans rights, etc.

And check out the group’s executive director…

Kristina Rasmussen
Executive Director

Kristina is a grassroots and advocacy expert. She previously served as the president of a major state think tank, chief of staff to a governor, and as an advocate for federal government reform.

A simple Google search would show that the “think tank” has an Illinois angle. Rasmussen worked for the Illinois Policy Institute. The governor mentioned was Bruce Rauner. Rasmussen’s comms team was ousted after issuing a press release in the governor’s name saying he wouldn’t take a stand on an IPI cartoon deemed racist by many because he was “a white male.” And then Rauner parted ways with Rasmussen.

* But, hey, forget the Google machine for a moment. Forget about trying to balance the story by reaching out to a professional medical group or a civil rights association to counter the propaganda they published without question. The city of Rockford has a Black state Representative named Maurice West who WTVO could’ve also consulted. I reached out to Rep. West last night about the WTVO story and here’s what he had to say…

My wife had complications after the birth of our daughter in 2020 where a headache was one of the symptoms. The ER doctor was confident that her “hair was braided too tight”.

My wife’s hair is not in braids, and her birth related sickness that could have gotten worse went unchecked for two more days because of the doctor’s racial/cultural ignorance.

It’s not calling doctors racist. If you are not exposed to cultural differences on a regular basis then it’s best to learn and understand the differences to be a more effective doctor.

Exactly right.

20 Comments

- Excitable Boy - Thursday, Jan 19, 23 @ 9:47 am:
- chief of staff to a governor -

I can’t believe she calls attention to this. Absolutely no self awareness or shame.

- James - Thursday, Jan 19, 23 @ 9:51 am:
I wonder if these media scolding posts actually make a difference?

- cover - Thursday, Jan 19, 23 @ 9:56 am:
Is WTVO a Sinclair station?

- Oswego Willy - Thursday, Jan 19, 23 @ 9:58 am:
Two things you do not want on your resume’

Illinois Policy Institute
Governor Bruce Rauner

What was so embarrassing is after years of telling others “how” to govern, the IPI folks, the lot of them, including Kristina Rasmussen, couldn’t handle…governing.

Context is always the trick bag. Not even searching with the Google Key, how Kristina Rasmussen fits into a discussion, with her context, if her history is the credibility, that’s a real fail.

The grift is still real, IPI continues, but in context to who or even “what” they are, or were with Rauner, they are and were miserable and measurable failures.

Reporting without context, without understanding, merely trying to check boxes of apparent thoughtfulness… it’s very disappointing

- Homebody - Thursday, Jan 19, 23 @ 9:59 am:
I have said this many, many times: lazy, uncritical reporting which just repeats the talking points of motivated sources is actively making America worse.

- Arsenal - Thursday, Jan 19, 23 @ 10:03 am:
==I can’t believe she calls attention to this==

And in such a weenie, self-defeating way. Doesn’t mention which governor because obviously that’s embarrassing, but being so vague about it just invites the question.

- Tournaround Agenda - Thursday, Jan 19, 23 @ 10:03 am:
@cover It’s a Nexstar station, which means they largely regurgitate press releases all day everyday.

- Jocko - Thursday, Jan 19, 23 @ 10:03 am:
==There is no credible evidence that physicians are biased, or healthcare is systemically racist.==

::Tuskegee Study & Henrietta Lacks enter the chat::

- Flying Elvis'-Utah Chapter - Thursday, Jan 19, 23 @ 10:08 am:
I put the use of “grassroots” right up there with “hero”.

Been misused to the point of irrelevance.

- Oswego Willy - Thursday, Jan 19, 23 @ 10:09 am:
===Doesn’t mention which governor because obviously that’s embarrassing, but being so vague about it just invites the question.===

Worst resume’, even Rasmussen knows it.

Diana Rickert on her bio and LinkedIn has no sign of Rauner… and yet the Tribune let Rickert write an op-ed, with no context to her being fired for… “as a white male”

Such tells. Such tells, indeed.

- Socially DIstant watcher - Thursday, Jan 19, 23 @ 10:24 am:
There’s an awful lot of money for groups on the far right to hang a shingle and pretend to be something. An awful lot of money.

- Annonin' - Thursday, Jan 19, 23 @ 10:33 am:
Wow. Capt Fax this is another great find. Good to see Raz has a new scam. Clearly the IPI grifters are able to market themselves nationally.

- Annonin' - Thursday, Jan 19, 23 @ 10:36 am:
Mr. Clark is employed at a NEXSTAR property

- Jim Bray - Thursday, Jan 19, 23 @ 11:04 am:
I don’t know if “John Clark” is for real or not. Links to Clark stories on the WTVO website include rewrites of stories about Channing Tatum, Alec Baldwin, a North Carolina police chase, and the killer polar bear in Alaska. Clark is a writing machine.

A day before the WTVO article appeared, Kevin Bessler of The Center Square wrote a similar one-sided story about the same “watchdog group.” (“Group calls required racial bias training in Illinois insulting to health care workers”).

- SIUEalum - Thursday, Jan 19, 23 @ 11:17 am:
Who exactly is ‘John Clark’? Is that the name Nextstar gives their AI article generator?

- levivotedforjudy - Thursday, Jan 19, 23 @ 11:20 am:
This is a topic that is part of a bigger issue I am working on regarding minority vaccine hesitancy and believe me, there is PLENTY of credible research that supports that racial bias exists for many MDs and med students and really is a thing. But if you don’t want to know the truth, just don’t look for it I guess.

- Grandson of Man - Thursday, Jan 19, 23 @ 11:30 am:
Still waiting for evidence of CRT being taught in elementary schools. A national Republican House member was asked to give an example and went off in a distracting diatribe without providing one. There are no examples that warrant any crusade. DeSantis, who’s an Ivy Leaguer, what makes the GOP base tick.

- TheInvisibleMan - Thursday, Jan 19, 23 @ 11:53 am:
Implicit bias it a tricky subject because most people associate racism with intent. Because of that many people will say they aren’t racist because they sincerely think they aren’t. But that’s the problem with an implicit bias, it isn’t happening at the level of conscious awareness.

Everyone has implicit biases. It’s important to address them with the understanding they aren’t intentional, but a result of how a person was brought up. Becoming defensive about it is exactly why there needs to be more training and focus on this.

- Stuck in Celliniland - Thursday, Jan 19, 23 @ 12:16 pm:
==Is WTVO a Sinclair station?==

As others have said WTVO is Nexstar, which isn’t much better. The Rockford market is Sinclair-less, fortunately.

Unlike in Peoria and Champaign/Springfield/Decatur where both Sinclair and Nexstar have a monopoly on most local TV, with the exception of PBS and WAND.

- Rabid - Thursday, Jan 19, 23 @ 12:55 pm:
best team in America comeback from defeat

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