George Schwarz

Journalists are, by training and probably nature, observers and researchers. We might not have the answers but boy do we have great questions! Prior to taping an episode of Face to Face, I rarely give the interviewee much of a heads up on what I want to talk about....the spontaneity makes good television. The only thing I told George (at least the only thing I remember telling George) was that I wanted him to talk about his favorite and/or most interesting stories. After the show (on the way to the door) George had a lot more to say about local stories he's covered in the last year or so. I asked him to write them down for the purpose of this blog. Trust me guys, you'll want to read this:

The following is an email from George Schwarz (after the show):

I think for the story with the biggest implications would have to be the antitrust investigation by the state attorney general. However, the story really isn't that big until the attorney general makes a finding. Furthermore, I don't know what penalties or changes would result from such a finding.

The lawsuit that involved the doctors who were part of the Quail Creek Surgical Hospital got no further than a preliminary hearing that won the physicians, Dr. Barnhill and Higgins, a Temporary Restraining Order and preliminary injunction stopping BSA from cutting them out of the insurance money. The issue was never fully resolved at trial but the finding by Judge John Board certainly telegraphed the possibility of an antitrust ruling at the end of the day.
I know one other entity in Amarillo contemplated a lawsuit against BSA on antitrust grounds, but backed away from.

Personally, I think such a retreat is a long-term mistake. I don't think the current management or the management that will be in place in the future will ever back off from trying to monopolize the entire medical system. I think the only way to have stemmed that tide would have been a lawsuit.

And even more important issue for the community with respect to BSA would have to be its nonprofit status. I believe an in-depth investigation of the entire BSA system could reasonably find things that would result in the loss of nonprofit status. In some respects, that would put BSA on an even playing field with Northwest. Further, it would help by adding to the taxable property for Potter County, AC, and possibly Amarillo Independent School District.I think the most interesting story I have done lately is the one on Potter County Precinct 3 Commissioner Joe Kirkwood. That story, published on Oct. 30, 2008, focused on a complaint by a young woman who had sought help from Kirkwood is Cornerstone Outreach Center. His un-chaperoned physical examination for drug use was, in fact, molestation. Taking the entire interview with this young woman, looking at the record of the Amarillo Police Department investigation and the behavior of the city attorney and Police Department by not passing this to the district attorney can only lead to the conclusion that someone was protecting Kirkwood.

Of course, the implication of a prominent citizen being protected by law-enforcement authorities a staggering, although I suspect that happens in many communities, including Amarillo. But, that's the real question, isn't it? How many prominent people get protection for acts that could be felonies?