Olivia
Online
Gastroenterology Associates, RI
@GastroAssoc_RI
Gastroenterology Associates is a private practice academic group in Rhode Island striving to render compassionate, high quality care to southeastern New England
Providence, RI
Joined April 2021
41 Following
75 Followers
67 Posts
Transplant surgeon…. Why was she stopped from coming home???
2) Full text:
PROVIDENCE — A Rhode Island doctor who had traveled to Lebanon to see her parents was prevented from re-entering the United States at Boston’s Logan International Airport on Thursday evening, her lawyer and a colleague said.
Dr. Rasha Alawieh, 34, who lives in Providence, has been working at Brown Medicine’s Division of Kidney Disease & Hypertension since last July, and she [has] been part of the transplant service at Rhode Island Hospital, according to Dr. George Bayliss, the organ transplant division’s medical director. She has been studying and working in the United States for about six years, he said Friday.
The US consulate in Lebanon had issued her an H-1B visa, which is given to people in specialty occupations requiring expertise. The visa was valid through mid-2027, said Thomas S. Brown, an attorney representing her and Brown Medicine.
Alawieh was detained when she returned to Logan airport, and family members are afraid that she is about to be deported to Lebanon, he said.
“We are at a loss as to why this happened,” Brown said. “I don’t know if it’s a byproduct of the Trump crackdown on immigration. I don’t know if it’s a travel ban or some other issue.”
He said her phone has been seized and he has not been able to contact Alawieh.
Bayliss said a lawyer filed a petition with the US District Court in Massachusetts, and Judge Leo T. Sorokin issued an order saying Alawieh should not be moved outside of Massachusetts without 48 hours notice. But he said that message apparently did not reach immigration officials in time, and a plane carrying Alawieh left for Paris.
“This is outrageous,” Bayliss said in an interview. “This is a person who is legally entitled to be in the U.S., who is stopped from re-entering the country for reasons no one knows. It’s depriving her patients of a good physician.”
A US Customs and Border Patrol spokesperson, Ryan Brissette, was not able to immediately answer questions about Alawieh on Friday evening.
Bayliss said Alawieh graduated from the American University of Beirut medical school and came to the United States for a nephrology fellowship at Ohio State University. She then landed a transplant fellowship at University of Washington and had a residency in the Yale hospital system before starting at Brown Medicine last July, he said.
“She’s really a very humble and able person,” Bayliss said. “She takes care of her patients. She is talented and thoughtful and a great addition to our division.”
Bayliss said Alawieh went to Lebanon to visit parents and planned to be gone for two weeks. He said she texted a colleague at 6:30 p.m. Thursday saying she was back in Boston, but then her family heard from immigration officials.
Dr. Paul Morrissey, surgical director of the organ transplant division at Brown University Health, said Alawieh works on getting people in Rhode Island on the list for a kidney transplants, and that’s a crucial job at a time when there has been a lot of focus on the need for kidneys and their equitable distribution.
He said Alawieh should not have had any problem traveling out of the country with an H-1B visa.
“It’s an unfortunate set of circumstances,” Morrissey said. “It’s putting a strain on our office. Her work has been exceptional.”
https://t.co/xIAfopV59M
![DrEricDing's tweet photo. 2) Full text:
PROVIDENCE — A Rhode Island doctor who had traveled to Lebanon to see her parents was prevented from re-entering the United States at Boston’s Logan International Airport on Thursday evening, her lawyer and a colleague said.
Dr. Rasha Alawieh, 34, who lives in Providence, has been working at Brown Medicine’s Division of Kidney Disease & Hypertension since last July, and she [has] been part of the transplant service at Rhode Island Hospital, according to Dr. George Bayliss, the organ transplant division’s medical director. She has been studying and working in the United States for about six years, he said Friday.
The US consulate in Lebanon had issued her an H-1B visa, which is given to people in specialty occupations requiring expertise. The visa was valid through mid-2027, said Thomas S. Brown, an attorney representing her and Brown Medicine.
Alawieh was detained when she returned to Logan airport, and family members are afraid that she is about to be deported to Lebanon, he said.
“We are at a loss as to why this happened,” Brown said. “I don’t know if it’s a byproduct of the Trump crackdown on immigration. I don’t know if it’s a travel ban or some other issue.”
He said her phone has been seized and he has not been able to contact Alawieh.
Bayliss said a lawyer filed a petition with the US District Court in Massachusetts, and Judge Leo T. Sorokin issued an order saying Alawieh should not be moved outside of Massachusetts without 48 hours notice. But he said that message apparently did not reach immigration officials in time, and a plane carrying Alawieh left for Paris.
“This is outrageous,” Bayliss said in an interview. “This is a person who is legally entitled to be in the U.S., who is stopped from re-entering the country for reasons no one knows. It’s depriving her patients of a good physician.”
A US Customs and Border Patrol spokesperson, Ryan Brissette, was not able to immediately answer questions about Alawieh on Friday evening.
Bayliss said Alawieh graduated from the American University of Beirut medical school and came to the United States for a nephrology fellowship at Ohio State University. She then landed a transplant fellowship at University of Washington and had a residency in the Yale hospital system before starting at Brown Medicine last July, he said.
“She’s really a very humble and able person,” Bayliss said. “She takes care of her patients. She is talented and thoughtful and a great addition to our division.”
Bayliss said Alawieh went to Lebanon to visit parents and planned to be gone for two weeks. He said she texted a colleague at 6:30 p.m. Thursday saying she was back in Boston, but then her family heard from immigration officials.
Dr. Paul Morrissey, surgical director of the organ transplant division at Brown University Health, said Alawieh works on getting people in Rhode Island on the list for a kidney transplants, and that’s a crucial job at a time when there has been a lot of focus on the need for kidneys and their equitable distribution.
He said Alawieh should not have had any problem traveling out of the country with an H-1B visa.
“It’s an unfortunate set of circumstances,” Morrissey said. “It’s putting a strain on our office. Her work has been exceptional.”
https://t.co/xIAfopV59M](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GmHH8xUXoAA_osb.jpg)
Great meeting with Anna Beaulieu at Senator Whitehouse’s office! Thankful for the senator’s interest and action on behalf of our patients!! #ACGAdvocacyDay2024
Thank you Representative Gabe Amo (@GabeAmo46) for your time and interest in addressing the impediments to medical care facing our citizens in RI!
#ACGAdvocacyDay2024
#ACG
We appreciate the time and interest of Kyra Whitelaw in @SethMagaziner’s office! Thank you for all you do to protect healthcare access for our patients!!
#ACGAdvocacyDay2024
Who to follow
AHN Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition
@AHNGastro
Official Twitter page of the Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition at Allegheny Health Network.
UW Division of Gastroenterology & Hepatology
@uw_GIHep
Official Twitter account of the University of Wisconsin Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, part of @uw_medicine. RTs, links ≠ endorsement
UT Health Gastroenterology
@UTHealthGastro
The official Twitter account for the division of Gastroenterology & Nutrition at the University of Texas at San Antonio
We appreciate the time and interest of Kyra Whitelaw in @SethMagaziner’s office! Thank you for all you do to protect healthcare access for our patients!!
#ACGAdvocacyDay2024
Huge news from #AMAmtg -- @AmerMedicalAssn has officially established policy to launch a national campaign, intensifying our urgent message to Washington: fix the broken Medicare payment system. Now. https://t.co/sdydQmFDtp #FightingForDocs #FixMedicareNow
Advocating on capital hill for our patients and physicians @DrSamirAShah1 @AlynAdrain #ACGAdvocacyDay2023
Proud of the work Drs Shah and Adrain are doing on behalf of our patients in DC #SafeStepsAct #ACGAdvocccyDay3023
Excited to represent our GI colleagues in DC #ACGAdvocacyDay2023
@RedTriage Yup. I’m sure the primary care doc did not@do that, nor was that the story the patient gave
Such great news for our patients with Medicare!!
This was the result of many societies, individuals and organizations working together for years! My thx to ACG BOG, leadership and sister organizations! @AmCollegeGastro @ASGEendoscopy @AmerGastroAssn @AmericanCancer @NCCRTnews @TheDDNC
Such good news for our patients with Medicare!!
This was the result of many societies, individuals and organizations working together for years! My thx to ACG BOG, leadership and sister organizations! @AmCollegeGastro @ASGEendoscopy @AmerGastroAssn @AmericanCancer @NCCRTnews @TheDDNC
@KellyBatesRI Done!!
@yejnes I object. I think mine are pretty nice too! ❤️
Drs. Adrain and Shah are at it again… advocating for our patients on capital hill!
Had a wonderful day with @DrSamirAShah1 in our nation’s capital talking healthcare with our leaders. Thank you to staff at @SenWhitehouse @SenJackReed and @davidcicilline for your thoughtful attention. RI really has the dream team of legislators! #ACGAdvocacyDay @AmCollegeGastro
Let’s get this important legislation passed this year! Next stop @RISenate
Thank you Representative Ackerman @MiaForRep for again championing house bill 7392 which would provide bathroom access to people with GI issues. It was a pleasure to testify on the behalf of my patients today at @RIHouseofReps HHS committee. @AmCollegeGastro
A well deserved, and well earned honor, @MiaForRep. Thank you for your tireless efforts on behalf of our patients!
Not a surprise, and a study that should not have had to be done, but good data in the war on insurance obstacles!
Excited to share our research: Prior authorizations for IBD biologics delay care and are associated with increased healthcare utilization in pediatric IBD. Out now in #Pediatrics @AmerAcadPeds. @gidez4 @MarisaStahl1 @JamesLewisGIEpi @FrankIScottMD. https://t.co/2f4YZHk557
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