Dear President Trump, here’s where to find the best COVID-19 care: Baltimore
Dear President Trump,
We were glad to see that you are doing well enough after your COVID-19 diagnosis last week to leave Walter Reed military hospital on Monday night following three days of intensive treatment. Of course, we could have done without the ceremonious removal of your protective face mask before entering the White House, endangering staff there, and the video declaration later that we should not “be afraid” of the novel coronavirus. You clearly haven’t learned from your earlier social distancing dismissals, despite their having led to your contracting the virus, and we’ve come to accept that you likely never will. But we implore you to refrain from suggesting to the rest of us that this virus, which has already taken the lives of 210,000 Americans, is no big deal. Many of us have lost friends and family and suffered severe financial consequences as this modern-day plague has devastated this country, and that’s just too big a fiction to bear.
But that’s not why we write you today. While we certainly hope that you and the first lady continue to improve, we have a suggestion should either of you need additional medical care while the illness runs its course, a suggestion we believe is in your interests personally and politically: Instead of going to Walter Reed next time, come to Baltimore.
We know that invitation may sound out of place, given your history with our fine city, which you last year branded a “rat and rodent infested mess.” But here’s the thing: Baltimore is home to Johns Hopkins Hospital, one of the finest medical facilities in the world. Ask Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson, a former Hopkins physician. Leaders from around the globe have gone there for treatment, as have leading figures in Washington, D.C., including Ruth Bader Ginsburg. In fact, on the same day you left Walter Reed, Arizona Rep. Lorenzo Sierra, who had fallen ill with coronavirus while in the nation’s capital, was transferred from a D.C. hospital to Johns Hopkins for care. The drive from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue to 1800 Orleans St. is less than 50 miles and faster by Marine One, no doubt.
The Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda is outstanding, but you will not find men and women more knowledgeable or better trained or more dedicated to the well-being of patients than those at Hopkins. Those daily updates on COVID-19 testing data around the world? That comes from the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center. Hopkins is on the front line of medical research. They are the real deal, Mr. President. The professionals there do not care about a patient’s fame or money or status or party affiliation, and they do not give a fig about politics.
Of course, we know you do, which brings us to the second reason to come to Baltimore: to extend an olive branch to city residents. It’s in your best interests to get the best health care, naturally, but also, we would argue, to throw Baltimore a bone by acknowledging that it’s got some wonderful things to offer. Getting to know us outside of our faults would lend credence to your many complaints about the city and your claims to care about its future. In fact, if you checked into Hopkins and decided to take another mid-hospitalization driving tour of the area like
you did around Bethesda, we’d be happy to suggest a route that includes our world-class arts and dining establishments, as well as our many cultural and historic sites. (You’re already familiar with Fort McHenry, we know, and we expect you’re good for the cost of the damage to a walkway caused by Vice President Mike Pence’s team six weeks ago.) If that sounds like a good idea, may we suggest that you drive yourself this time, however, so you don’t put any more Secret Service members in jeopardy. As Dr. James P. Phillips, an attending physician at Walter Reed Medical Center, tweeted at the time of your last tour: “Every single person on the vehicle during that completely unnecessary Presidential ‘drive-by’ just now has to be quarantined for 14 days. They might get sick. They may die. For political theater.” Another incident like that wouldn’t be advisable.
And surely, you must already be aware of the quality work of Johns Hopkins’ physicians. Dr. Brian Garibaldi, director of the Hopkins’ biocontainment unit, was part of your recent medical team, consulting with Walter Reed doctors on your care. He must have done a bang-up job for you to be out and on the mend so soon, promising to debate challenger Joe Biden in Miami next week, despite the date falling within two weeks of your diagnosis. And we hope you continue to improve. But please know Baltimore can help if you need us, Mr. President. In this area, we’re among the best.