The Place Where Ludington Talks
Local Business Owner Takes on the Bully Governor
Jordan Warnsholz is a physician assistant and owner of both Primary Health Services in Ludington and the Wellston Medical Center in Wellston. He is a plaintiff in a lawsuit challenging the governor’s use of emergency powers and is represented by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy.
Warnsholz was featured in the Ludington media back in early May, when they forgave $200,000 in medical service debt of their patients. Just a few days after that announcement, Warnsholz made the news once again, not locally, by announcing he was part of a lawsuit challenging the governor's policies which he believed was operating against public health and safety by that point, roughly two months into the lockdown. He explained it to a national audience yesterday in an op-ed wrote in the USA Today:
My patients suffered because of Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's illegal lockdown
In Michigan, the ban on supposedly non-essential medical care shows a shocking ignorance of how medicine works. I'm suing because this can't stand.
No one is above the law. Not even a governor. Not even during a pandemic.
But Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer apparently disagrees. Her disregard for the voice of the people, expressed through our elected representatives, has caused profound pain for my medical practice, and, more importantly, the patients I serve. Watching them suffer has been one of the hardest things I’ve ever experienced.
Whitmer’s power grab started a few months into the pandemic. After initially declaring a state of emergency in March and issuing a series of orders to shut down the state’s economy, the governor illegally chose to extend these emergency orders unilaterally. In doing so, she broke the law and the Michigan Constitution, which gives that power to the legislature.
Dangers looms when one person tries to regulate the lives of millions. Whitmer’s orders are a case in point. One banned any “non-essential” medical procedures and elective surgeries. This broad elimination of medical care shows a shocking ignorance of how medicine works.
As a physician assistant, I routinely provide medical care that will prevent worsening health problems down the line. What looks like something non-essential in the eyes of a politician or government bureaucrat can actually be very essential to a patient’s overall current health and future health.
Similarly, elective surgeries aren’t unimportant or unnecessary. They’re simply procedures that can be scheduled in advance. They can and regularly do save lives, both in the short- and long-term. There’s no doubt that banning these procedures harmed the health and safety of my patients.
My patients are desperate
Take the story of an elderly woman who I see quite often. Before the pandemic hit, she needed a routine procedure that would have restored blood flow to her leg and allowed her to walk. Whitmer’s order outlawed that procedure.
The woman’s condition worsened until she lost all blood flow to her leg, turning it purple and leaving her in excruciating pain. She called me in a panic, and I was able to get her into emergency surgery. She was hours away from losing her leg altogether.
Another one of my patients had emergency surgery for kidney stones, but could not receive critical follow-up care because of the governor’s orders. Sure enough, he wound up right back in the hospital with an infection, sepsis and kidney failure, which landed him in critical care for weeks.
One of my patients came to see me when he felt like he had nowhere else to turn. The governor's orders prevented him from getting regular treatment for his diabetes. By the time he came to me, he was in a full-on medical emergency. He told me about an odor coming from his foot — it turned out to be gangrene. His kidneys were in full-blown failure.
We rushed him to the nearest hospital, but it was too late. His foot had to be amputated. And then, just days later, he died from complications.
None of this trauma had to happen. But happen it did, because of shortsighted executive orders issued unilaterally by Gov. Whitmer.
Michigan can do what's right
The Michigan Supreme Court has a chance to restore our representative government. On Wednesday, Sept. 9, the court will hear my story, the story of another medical professional, and the story of a patient who couldn’t get the knee replacement he needed.
We are suing the governor because her actions violate the state’s constitution requirement that executive, legislative and judicial powers remain distinct and separate. Not only that, but under Michigan law, emergency powers may only persist for 28 days, unless the legislature agrees to extend them further. Whitmer ignored the law and extended her order anyway.
It’s too late to undo most of the harm that these orders have caused. But it’s not too late for the Michigan Supreme Court to do what’s right. The court should rule that her actions violated state statue and the Michigan Constitution. And the court can prevent her, and future governors, from illegally seizing lawmaking power.
No one should ever have to suffer like my patients have suffered from Gov. Whitmer’s illegal power grab (END op-ed).
What the op-ed post doesn't reveal is the counter-attack that Governor Whitmer has mounted against this Ludington business owner. Other local media have also ignored it, but Lifesite news has reported it and added his own personal peril that he related on social media in late August, listing the retributive strike made by the Michigan government under direction of Governor Whitmer:
Jordan Warnsholz: We filed our lawsuit against gov Whitmer on May 5th:
1) On May 10th (Sunday, Mother's Day), a DNR officer knocked on my door and told me he was there to serve me my arrest warrant for an infraction that occurred 30 MONTHS PRIOR on 11/22/2017. The "infraction" was actually a WARNING that a DNR officer gave me 2-1/2 years prior for not physically putting my deer tag on my deer that I shot (my deer tag was in my pocket, which I showed the DNR officer). The officer told me to just remember to physically put my deer tag on my deer before I butcher them. Apparently, someone working for the state of MI decided to resurrect the old DNR warning and not just give me the standard $1000 fine, but decided to UP-CHARGE me with "poaching" and ordered that I be thrown in jail for 10 days, a $5,000 fine, multiple misdemeanors, confiscate all of my guns, and revoke my hunting privileges for 6 years!!!
It is absolutely clear that the absurd charges against me, the 30-month delay, and the timing of our lawsuit against gov Whitmer are all extremely unusual and compelling evidence of harassment.
2) The State of Michigan smeared my professional reputation by sticking a label of "substandard care" on my PUBLIC medical license record!! The documents provided to support this horrible designation, and reason for such drastic measures was "failure to update my mailing address". This unfounded smear against my medical license has hurt me personally and professionally. Patients of mine have transferred OUT of my office because my public medical license now shows I've been "convicted" of delivering "substandard care". The state even BACK-DATED this event to "1/22/19", which is also completely made up.
3) The state of Michigan on 5/19/20 opened a formal investigation against me after they say that they received an "anonymous" tip that I am practicing medicine under the influence of marijuana and alcohol!! ABSOLUTELY INSANE!! First of all, I do not drink alcohol, and I absolutely do not smoke marijuana! The state of Michigan then demanded that both me and my WIFE hand over our entire personal medical records to the State of MIchigan!! This is a COMPLETE violation of our rights and our privacy! When I refused to do so, the State of MIchigan informed me that I will be charged with even more criminal acts for "obstructing an investigation". So the State of Michigan is not only trying to intimidate and threaten ME, but now they are also trying to threaten and intimidate my WIFE!! This is absolutely a criminal abuse of power. Also, it was extremely embarrassing to me that the State of Michigan held formal interviews with my employees to question them about if I have ever shown up to work high on marijuana or drunk on alcohol. It was a terrible personal smear against me. ALL of my employees stated emphatically that I have never been intoxicated at work, and informed the state that I also do not even drink alcohol or use marijuana products.
4) The state of Michigan performed a "random" inspection of our office on July 20th. I spoke with the inspector who came to our office, and he acknowledged that the state really has not been performing inspections the past 4 months due to the pandemic, which makes the timing of this inspection very suspect to me.
5) On August 26th we were notified that my businesses are being audited by the state of Michigan.
6) On August 27th the State of Michigan ordered CPS to perform an EMERGENCY “Welfare Check” and interrogations of all 3 of my children because they claim they received an “anonymous tip” that I have “dangerous weapons” in my home.
As you can see, gov Whitmer has been going out of her way to harass me personally and professionally ever since filing the lawsuit against her in May. She is using her power to harass, smear, and discredit me and my family. She is using her power to inflict emotional and financial trauma on me, my wife, and now my kids. This is wrong. It has been terribly stressful, it has cost me many thousands of dollars in legal fees to counter the attacks against me. I have missed days at work and both me and my wife, and now my kids, are extremely distressed [END post]
This is not out of character for the governor during this year of her autocratic dictatorship, she relentlessly pursued 77-year-old barber Karl Manke using multiple tools at her disposal for Manke trying to keep food on his table and do what he loved safely for people that needed his services. Perhaps if Warnsholz or Manke ran abortion clinics and gay swinger's clubs respectively, they would avoid the wrath of Whitmer, since she has approved of these operating throughout the pandemic.
Views: 3109
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by AnxiousGuy on
-
Jordan 0/6 but still shooting
Let’s take a step back and look at some other possible scenarios before we start accusing the Governor of all this crazy wrongdoing. This article is just another one sided hit piece without looking into Mr. Warnsholtz business practices and desire for attention. Its possible Mr Warnsholtz put a target on his own back and now regrets it. This guy is using Covid-19 and his disliking of the current powers in Lansing to explain everything that is wrong in his personal life and business but there are more logical explanations.Let’s start by addressing the news article in which they claimed to be doing the community such a huge favor by forgiving medical debt. I know I am going to get beat up for saying this but, losses are part of business. In business school they teach students that almost all smart businesses factor losses into their business model. Medical billing losses are a no-brainer for any perspective or current owner of a medical facility. I wonder how much debt Walmart forgives locally when clumsy customers knock over spaghetti sauce in the store? Do they advertise it and seek praise? No, they understand its part of the business they are in. In my opinion, the best medical providers “serve” the community quietly and humbly.
Next we look at the DNR accusations and have to see that this is a fishy story. If this story involved the state police I think it would be a little more believable. I find it hard to believe that an entire division of the DNR is willing to bow down to an illegal command by the governor. The Mason County Sheriff’s office refused to follow mask requirement enforcement and many other Northern Michigan sheriffs did the same. It’s fair to say the majority of their employees are more likely to sport a MAGA hat than vote for, or support Whitmer in a crime. It also fails to mention that Mr. Warnsholtz has a twin. I am wondering who pays for the hunting license on which year? Mistaken identity and loyalty?
Now we will address all the business and professional accusations. Mr Warnsholtz submitted a letter to the USA today stating that “many of his patients were extremely affected by the Governor’s executive order and one even died”. I happen to be blessed to live with a more educated medical professional than Mr. Warnsholtz and also have a best friend that co-owns a 200 patient a day clinic in an underserved community. While Covid-19 and executive orders did prevent patients from getting some care, it ultimately comes down to the medical provider requesting some patients go directly to the ER if they are unable to see them, unless they want to make a few dollars first or know their patients are “desperate” and pay cash. If you spend a few minutes on any review site you will see that his clinic is not highly recommended and even some of the positive reviews come from family, workers, or his workers family. His business creates policies that include mandatory drug testing and DNA tests for its new and returning patients so he can bill the state for it. This is a problem when his business model is targeting “desperate” patients on government insurance, migrant workers, out of town visitors, and people using cash. I would be willing to bet that 65% of his business income is coming from the state and another 25% pay the full cash price, with only 10% of his business coming from private health insurance companies. It’s possible an angry patient or an angry living family member is to blame for his “substandard care’ claims isn’t it? All medical providers have unhappy patients no matter how hard they try to please them. His office deserves an inspection because it was formerly a residential dwelling and hardly meets the privacy requirements needed to conduct HIPAA protected medical services. They have space heaters in the waiting room and the carpet is older than any worker in the building. They draw blood and triage patients in what was a small laundry room with no privacy. I invite anyone to visit his clinic and see what it costs them.
Finally to the personal attacks. I do not believe any of the accusations about Mr. Warnsholtz’s alleged drug, alcohol, or child neglect. These accusations are so wild they lead me to believe he has an unstable angry patient that is seeking revenge on him. Yes, I was once an unhappy patient at his clinic (not seen by him) after $6200 in URINE and DNA charges denied by insurance and billed by small private labs in various areas of the country that they have private contracts with. We have multiple local lab options my insurance covers and I was assured by MrS. Warnsholtz that my care would be covered by my insurance prior to treatment and me ever stepping in that clinic. Sure I wanted to report the unethical business and medical practices I observed but ran out of time, energy, and confidence that anything would ever get looked into, if I put all of that into it.
Unfortunately, Mr. Warnsholtz is doing a lot of the same leveling of unfounded accusations in his claims against the Governor including a laundry list of accusations that are not part of his USA TODAY op-ed, because he knows it would have been thrown in the trash, he would be on the crazy list, and definitely not published.
Mr. Warnsholtz appears at first glance to be an attention seeking, government fearing, medical fraudster that now has a fan base. In 2016 we had an election and there was a lot of talk about election consequences and how the other side should accept what is taking place. The same people that said that, now want to act like the people they condemned for speaking out. Mr. Warnsholtz shows signs of WDS. That is “Whitmer Derangement Syndrome” for all you non-doctors and it spread faster than COVID-19 in Mr. Warnsholtz’s clinic and mind.
-
Permalink Reply by XLFD on
-
Welcome to the Ludington Torch, Anxious Guy. Having experienced retaliatory attacks by local governments and even a little from state agencies myself, I think Jordan is shooting a bit better than you give him credit for.
Governor Whitmer has already been caught using state resources in ways they shouldn't be used and being somewhat hypocritical. When one person is effectively running two out of three branches in state government, that's an awful lot of power to be wielding, and absolutely no checks and balances unless she is taken to court. His lawsuit does have a political element in it, but that doesn't negate the issues therein.
As for the six prongs of attack he mentions, let's consider them as real (until disproven through investigation) don't you think it's odd that these have only come up after filing the lawsuit? Why would a deranged patient be spurring these multi-pronged personal assaults at this point using State of Michigan departments against him now and figure they can do so anonymously and without fear of being discovered and sanctioned for filing such spurious claims.
The head of the MI DNR is a Whitmer appointee, who had no problem enforcing the motor boat ban and other executive order goulash throughout the last months; he previously served in the Granholm administration. Contrary to what you imply, the state DNR's policy has been consistently behind the governor. No conservation officers have ever publicly said they would use their better judgment to enforce EOs or not, because they would find themselves unemployed.
A six pronged effort by at least three different state agencies to investigate and harass Mr. Warnsholtz during this time point to somebody pretty high up in the state hierarchy, but I'm willing to entertain proof and disproof either way. One cannot get past the fact that Governor Whitmer could cancel any or all of these perceived retributive strikes at any time and out whoever is trying to make her look bad. But I think many of us know that's not going to happen.
-
-
thanks for the welcome.
I wonder if he can blame this on Whitmer too? Pill Mill on line 2
https://www.healthgrades.com/media/english/pdf/sanctions/HGPYXYLJT5...
2015
-
-
this was somewhat recent and long before any Covid lawsuit
<phttps://www.michigan.gov/documents/lara/BPL_DAR_1-25-19_FINAL_645493_7.pdf>
-
-
ANXIOUS Guy, that last link didnt work, could you resubmit it. Thank you for your revealing your personal experiences and insight into this conversation. There definitely are two sides to any story, and this is very interesting, still, I believe Whitmer had dangerous and vague overreach in not allowing "essential" surgeries.
-
-
-
https://www.mackinac.org/HealthcareEO
Above is a link to today's proceedings.
-
-
A hostile comment from a nameless author. Very credible. You will see as our case plays out that everything I listed regarding harassment from the State is true, and verified with legal documents. Therefore it is senseless to argue with you about it here. Let the facts speak for themself as this makes its way through judiciary. As far as the derogatory comments about my clinics; if you read the newspaper today to will see that one of my clinics, Wellston Medical Center, was voted this year’s “Best Medical Office” by the Lakeshore People’s Choice Awards! That honor does not come through poor business management, poor medical care, or poor facilities. So I respectfully disagree, as does our entire community, with literally everything you said about my clinics.
I really do hope the best for you in whatever your life may hold at this time. But your comments about my clinics must be called out as nonsense.
-Jordan Warnsholz
(And please let me know who my “twin” is! That is news to me!)
-
-
I hold my head high knowing I am credible, ethical, and trustworthy. You can accuse me of being hostile for sharing an honest experience and highlighting the blinders you have on if that relieves some of the sting you obviously feel. I am glad you have entered the conversation and hope you at least consider some of the things I said. I have no grudge to bear with you but I'm sorry you cant just oush all the blame off Can I kindly ask you some questions to clear things up?
-
-
Also “AnxiousGuy”, you are not very savvy in your attempt to make anonymous smears. I have traced your IP address. Your real name is “James”. I will not disclose your last name because that would be rude. You also use your electronic device to do some very dishonorable things. I make it a point to live with honor and integrity. You would be much happier if you did the same.
I know who you are, James. So please, don’t make any more “anonymous” smears, or make fake profiles to post fake derogatory HealthGrades reviews.
-
-
Delusional once again
© 2024 Created by XLFD.
Powered by
