The Evansville Police Department Police Pension Board will hold an Executive Session on Friday May 26, 2017 at 8:15 a.m.  The Meeting will be held in the Room 307 of the Civic Center Plaza.

The Executive Session is to be closed as provided by:

I.C. 5-14-1.5-6.1(7) For discussion of records classified as confidential by state or federal statute.

Immediately following the Executive Session, a regular Open Session will be held in Room 307

of the Civic Center Plaza.

MOTHERS THE KEY TO ALL THAT’S GOOD & GREAT IN THIS WORLD

By Tom Purcell

I wish every child could be blessed to have a mother like mine.

When my five sisters and I were babies in her womb, she never took so much as an aspirin for a headache — never ingested anything but the nutrients we needed to grow healthy and strong.

As a child, my world was rock-solid because of her. She put our needs so far before her own that we didn’t know she had needs. She loved us without condition. I was so unaware of the fear and pain less fortunate children suffer that I didn’t know such concepts existed.

I still can’t tell a lie, thanks to her, and I even blush when I’m innocent and people think I’m lying. The only thing she hates more than dishonesty is phoniness. She made sure we were, above all, genuine — genuinely concerned about the needs of other people rather than our own.

She enjoys simple things. The smell of a flower sends her into fits. The silliness of a child makes her laugh for days. She sits outside on the deck every morning, enjoying the smell of spring, the taste of fresh, hot coffee, and the conversation of her husband of 60 years.

She prizes graciousness and friendliness. She treats everyone the way she wants to be treated. She is always full of compassion and understanding. The phone still rings constantly at her home, people calling for consolation, reassurance or to be cheered up on a down day.

That is the first place I go on such days. When I am stressed by adult worries — demanding clients or deadlines I fear I cannot meet — I go to her home. Her presence fills me with calm — helps me put the worries of the day in perspective, and gives me newfound strength to overcome any challenges I face.

Her blessings extend far and wide in our family. She has 17 grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren and her home is a wonderland to each of them — a place of unconditional love and laughter and imagination.

On her 80th birthday in January, all of her family members shared stories about how her nurturing and love has touched our lives in a video masterfully edited by one of my nephews. It was eye-opening, and at times laugh-out-loud funny, to see the profound and varied impact she has had on each and every one of us.

Though I have stumbled and fallen many times in my life, I have always gotten back up because my mother’s spirit is strong within me.

I often see beauty where others see ugliness. The smell of spring flowers and the silliness of children bring me joy.

I love coffee in the morning. I love how simple things can make me laugh for hours. I am a writer, a profession not for the faint of heart, because of mother’s endless encouragement.

For 55 years she has toiled, struggled, suffered and sacrificed on my behalf. She’s given everything she has without asking anything in return.

I am fully aware of how blessed I am to still have my mother in my life. She has loved me unconditionally no matter how foolish or thoughtless I have been. Her presence and example propel me toward greater beauty and goodness — continually inspiring me to become a better person.

Since the beginning of time, such mothers have been the key to all things great and good in the world.

I wish for every child to experience the blessings of a mother just like mine.

Happy Mother’s Day!

© 2017 Tom Purcell.

Doctor Suspended For Sex With Patient Sues Over Board minutes

by John Russell

An Indianapolis doctor whose license was suspended after he admitted to having a five-year sexual relationship with a patient says he has been libeled by the Indiana Medical Licensing Board for how it recorded the matter in its official minutes.

Dr. John Steenbergen, an internal medicine physician, wants a judge to order the licensing board to change the minutes, which he said are inaccurate and have damaged his reputation.

In his petition, filed April 24 in Marion Superior Court, Steenbergen acknowledged having a sexual relationship with the patient between 2010 and 2015. He also admitted administering the patient an abortion-inducing drug and paying her more than $250,000.

But, he argued, he was not the father of the child and did not begin a sexual relationship with the patient until four months after the abortion.

“The patient became pregnant by another man (not Dr. Steenbergen) sometime before May 2010, but she wanted to end the pregnancy,” his petition said. “The patient implored Dr. Steenbergen to help her.”

He said he administered an abortion-inducing drug called misoprostol to her on June 5, 2010, ending the pregnancy. Less than a month later, he began making payments to her for undisclosed reasons. In September 2010, he began engaging in a lengthy “emotional, sexual and/or romantic relationship with the patient,” he wrote in the petition.

Steenbergen most recently practiced with IU Health Family Physicians and Internal Medicine, 4880 Century Plaza Road, in Indianapolis. IU Health Physicians “promptly terminated” Steenbergen in early 2015 when the improper actions were uncovered, said Jeff Swiatek, an IU Health spokesman.

Steenbergen’s relationship with his patient came to the attention of the Indiana Attorney General’s office, which asked the state medical licensing board in September 2015 to impose disciplinary action. The attorney general’s complaint said Steenbergen was unfit to practice, due to his inappropriate relationship with the patient and his failure to keep proper medical records regarding treatment.

According to court filings, Steenbergen began treating the patient for undisclosed ailments in 2005. Four years later, the patient lost employment and medical insurance, but Steenbergen agreed to continue treating her after business hours for free, without keeping records.

Steenbergen also acknowledged prescribing her hydrocodone, a pain medication, and lorazepam, often used for anxiety and sleep disorders, for several years, sometimes after normal business hours, and sometimes without keeping records.

In March 2016, Steenbergen appeared before the medical licensing board and presented a proposed settlement agreement with the state. The agreement called for an indefinite suspension of Steenbergen’s medical license, with the agreement that he not petition for reinstatement of his license for at least two years, and that he undergo a fitness evaluation. The board formally accepted the agreement in April 2016.

The board’s minutes read: “A complaint was filed in September 2015 alleging that [Steenbergen] prescribed controlled substances to a female patient between 2010 and 2014 without keeping records, and engaged in a sexual relationship with this patient. When the patient became pregnant, he performed an abortion outside of his normal business hours and has paid the patient over $250,000 since July 2010.”

Steenbergen, in his court petition, called the minutes “defamatory and libelous.” He said a reasonable person, reading the minutes, would erroneously conclude that the patient became pregnant with Dr. Steenbergen’s child.

In the court filing, Steenbergen said he asked the licensing board several times to correct the minutes, and even supplied language for such a correction. The board declined his requests.

A board spokeswoman did not respond to IBJ’s request for a comment on Steenbergen’s allegations of inaccurate minutes, although she did supply several documents, at IBJ’s request.

It was unclear why Steenbergen made payments to the patient or why he treated her for several years without payment. Steenbergen’s lawyer, Sherry A. Fabina-Abney said her client had no further comment on the case.

In his court petition, Steenbergen said it was urgent that the minutes be corrected to clear his name.

“Dr. Steenbergen comes from a very reputable family with several highly regarded physicians and other professionals,” his petition said. “Because the board’s minutes are readily accessible by anyone who searches Dr. Steenbergen’s name on the internet, including employers, family members, his children and grandchildren, failure to amend the narrative will result in wholly unwarranted harm not only to Dr. Steenbergen but to those individuals as well.”