Subject: Charges against Dr. Brian Gale

To Whom It May Concern:

I am compelled to write this letter in behalf of Dr. Brian Gale, regarding the charges that have been brought against him by the Podiatric Board. In my opinion, these charges are bogus!

I would like to tell you about the person I have had the pleasure to know and work with. I was hired by Dr. Gale in May of 1994 and I worked for him for close to four years.

I came to know Dr. Gale as a very caring and compassionate person. He had genuine concern for his patients. Part of my duties as a Medical Assistant was to make sure that each and every new patient, or patient who had a procedure during the day, was called the next day (within 2 days max) for a follow-up. It didn’t matter what they had done, whether it be as simple as a strapping, or whether they had a surgical procedure performed. He felt that patients may have questions or concerns, and it was up to us as their healthcare provider to make sure those concerns were addressed. At first I felt it was kind of silly to call someone who didn’t have any treatment, but he felt it was important, so it was done.

I was witness to some amazing things as a result of Dr. Gales gift of surgical correction and his knowledge of the human foot and ankle. I was also witness to many patients who came to Dr. Gale because they had a bad result or bad experience with other physicians in our area (mainly Dr. X). Dr. Gale would lend a listening ear, but never supported any patients opinion of the care they had received earlier. He just wasn’t like that. However, when a patient like this would visit Dr. Gale for treatment, it was the main goal to correct the problem and try to make the patient better than before they came to see him. Most of the time the outcome was favorable.

Not only was he good to his patients, but he was very good to me as an employee. He believes very strongly in continuing education, and he provided me the means to return to school to obtain my Associates Degree. He also encouraged and provided the means for me to write my certification test for Medical Assistant and also Certification for Podiatric Medical Assistant. This was done because he wanted me to have these credentials (for his practice and for myself). It doesn’t stop there. I was employed maybe two months when I became ill and was hospitalized for about six weeks. I had no vacation or sick time accrued, but he credited me vacation time for my entire stay in the hospital. In fact, he delivered a paycheck to me while I was in the hospital. He was also there when my son became suddenly ill with a deadly virus. He came to the ER and went out of his way to find out what was going on, and what was happening with my son. He assured me that everything was being done and gave me all the time I needed off work to deal with this traumatic ordeal. When my family needed a vehicle, he provided me with a way to make it happen. These are only a few of the things that this man did for me and the list goes on. Unfortunately, we parted under less than perfect terms. I left the clinic and we haven’t spoken since, but I have always felt (and still do) that Dr. Brian Gale is one of the best physicians in this town and I think the board should start looking for problems that actually exist instead of going after a vendetta by one of their members, which has been going on for years. I think Dr. Gale has done an excellent job of trying to turn the other cheek, but as I said at the beginning of this letter,

These charges are Bogus.

Dr. Gale’s family and career should not suffer because of some personal differences, or for that matter, professional competition. Isn’t competition among our medical professionals a good thing? I believe it keeps them all striving to know all the latest techniques and treatments. Dr. Gale is one that wants to know the latest and best treatments, unlike some who just want to keep doing things the way they’ve always done, whether it works or not.

I don’t know if this one letter can make a difference, but even if it helps, maybe I will feel as if I’ve done something good in return for all the good that has been done for me, and for the patients I had the pleasure of knowing while I was employed at Dakota Foot and Ankle.

Regards,

Diane Sailer, MA