"Where Have You Been, Dr. Johnston?"
July 30, 2024

Many of you have kindly contacted me during my sabbatical, sensing something was wrong. Thanks for your prayers during the last three months. 

Many of you have already heard that I got a DUI in April. After getting pulled over for doing 35 mph in a 25 mph zone, the officer smelled alcohol on me and directed me out of the car for a breathalyzer and field sobriety test. I do not believe I was intoxicated, and according to his documents from that night, I passed the field sobriety test and breathalyzer. But when the officer told me to come to his office in the squad car for retesting, I withdrew consent. Then the officer took me to jail. It was one of the most humbling things I’ve ever been through in my life! It is a horrible mistake to drink alcohol and drive, even if you only drink in moderation. It was a devastating mistake with a very high cost to me.

I have an attorney and a trial date, and hope that the case will be thrown out, but in the meantime, the N.C. Medical Board treats all doctors who have been charged with DUIs as alcoholics. They required me to attend substance abuse classes, and many other things, which is where I have been the last several months. I was hoping to be back in the saddle by now seeing patients, but there are more hoops to jump through to satisfy the Medical Board, at great expense that I simply cannot afford at the present time. I simply didn’t have the funds to do all the things they want me to do, and I need to make some money to support my children. What the Medical Board ended up requiring was the equivalent to 6 months of not practicing and being away from my children, and a $100K fine! I’ll be making my case before the Board in the next month and I ask for your prayers. I’m hoping they’ll accept my proposal for some lesser penalties that will get me back to work quickly at less expense. But in the meantime, I have to provide for my children and get back to some kind of work.

To complicate matters, Kaitlyn Barnett, our amazing and popular Nurse Practitioner, is leaving the practice. She’s done an amazing job taking care of patients while I have been on sabbatical and we all will miss her terribly. Her last month is July.

The past two weeks, I have been preparing to bring in a physician to take over the practice. Today was the day I was going to introduce him to you and August 1 he was going to begin seeing patients. But yesterday morning, to my consternation, he suddenly withdrew his offer. I had been pinning my hopes on him to keep providing the care you’ve come to depend upon, as he was sympathetic with my views in many ways and was excited about concierge direct primary care.

My present strategy to keep this practice available for you is to put it in your hands. You decide. My plan is to bring in one of many experienced Nurse Practitioners who are interested in this full-time opportunity. I have several NPs and PAs scheduled for interviews this week and hope to have one trained and ready to see patients full-time within two weeks. We were fortunate to be blessed with Kaitlyn’s skills and bedside manner, and I’m confident God will provide an NP or PA of similar quality.

Unfortunately, there will be a lapse of coverage for all patients for at least two weeks. I intend to bring the NP or PA on to see patients by mid-August, and hope to be back myself as soon as I can.

The future of the practice, I leave to you. Here’s what you need to decide.

You may:

1. Ask for your membership to be cancelled in my practice before August 7. Let me know by text: 704-604-3445. Make sure you give your name and the email address you signed up under. I will release you from financial obligations with my full blessing.

2. From August 8 to August 14, I will refund all remaining patients one month, because of the lapse of coverage in August. I’ll text you when it is done. For the month of August, you may need to go to an Urgent Care or E.R. for any medical problems.

3. If enough patients remain in the practice to afford the expense of the new NP and the inevitable cost of running the practice, then the practice will continue to be available to you.

If you need a controlled substance refilled before the end of August, you’ll need to find another provider. It is unlikely the NP will be ready to see patients before August 15, and her schedule will likely fill up quickly for a couple weeks.

Pray for me that we can secure a likeminded Nurse Practitioner or Physician Assistant in a timely fashion.

By “likeminded”, I mean a medical provider who is pro-life, comfortable with natural remedies, who respects vaccine choice, and has an enjoyable demeanor and kind beside manner. That’s very important to all of us, and it’s important to me to keep this practice available as an option to serve you all as best as we can in a way that honors God. That’s the kind of care you have been accustomed to with Your Home Medical Care the last several years. I am sorry for the way my actions have let so many of you down, but hopeful that by God’s grace the practice can be sustained and even flourish, and my license to practice medicine in North Carolina will be fully restored. Please pray for me.

Thank you for taking the time to read this letter.

Respectfully submitted,
James P. Johnston, D.O.