Will Flanary, widely recognized as Dr. Glaucomflecken, combines sharp humor with insights into major healthcare challenges. He tackles social media misinformation and the rising corporate dominance in medicine through his online presence.
Challenging PeaceHealth’s Staffing Shift
Flanary leads advocacy efforts against PeaceHealth’s move to replace community-based physicians with a corporate staffing firm in Eugene, Oregon’s emergency department. These local doctors served for more than 35 years before the change.
“Hospital administrators, health insurers, and private equity firms often harm patients and physicians,” Flanary states. “They share one key trait: they hide their actions from public view and keep stories out of the news.”
Such groups dodge scrutiny, he explains, because their decisions prove unpopular. They favor financial gains over optimal patient care and altruistic goals.
Flanary creates online buzz—his term for “making a stink”—to force transparency on these practices via social media.
Broader Critiques and Calls to Action
He criticizes the TV series Scrubs and voices deep opposition to cosmetic eye surgeries, which he describes as something he “hates so much.”
Ethical doctors bear a duty to participate actively on social media, Flanary argues. “Without evidence-based voices present, platforms will remain dominated by wellness influencers and harmful actors,” he warns.
