"Reidsville a cure for Danville patients?"

Danville Register & Bee
Saturday, June 30, 2007

DANVILLE - Annie Penn Hospital in Reidsville, N.C., is pulling out all the stops to convince Danville patients to travel down the road “just a few miles” for their health care.
Once an infrequent advertiser with the Danville Register & Bee, the hospital began an advertising campaign near the first of June with the intent to advertise two or three times a month.
Now area residents also are receiving oversized postcards informing people that the hospital is “ready to serve the people of Danville and Caswell County.”
Annie Penn is part of the Moses Cone Health System in Greensboro, N.C., whose marketing department is handling the campaign.
“Over the last year-plus, Annie Penn and Moses Cone have received increased interest from physicians, patients and employees from the Danville area,” Susan Fitzgibbons, president of the hospital, said Friday.
The advertising campaign kicks off amidst community concerns and an ongoing Citizen’s Commission investigation related to the quality of care at Danville Regional Medical Center.
“Our goal is not to be predatory, but to increase the awareness in the Danville area that there is an excellent facility 25 minutes down the road,” Fitzgibbons said.
She said the postcards were sent out to 5,000 people in the area.
“The postcards are the first mailing,” she said, “and ads have started recently.”
Fitzgibbons said Annie Penn has been aware of the changes that Danville Regional has been going through since its purchase by LifePoint Hospitals Inc. two years ago.
Danville Regional CEO Art Doloresco resigned last week after less than a year on the job. He was the third chief executive to lead Danville Regional since LifePoint purchased the hospital in July 2005.
There also appears to be several former employees of Danville Regional moving on to other area hospitals.
Fitzgibbons attends the new employee orientations at her hospital every two weeks and said she always asks new employees where they are from. Lately, there have been a lot from Danville.
“We have seen an upward trend in both Greensboro and Reidsville in employees from Danville,” she said. “We have advertised in Danville, but we do advertising everywhere.”
Even though the situation at Danville Regional has helped with what staffing problems Annie Penn had, Fitzgibbons said they were in excellent shape two years ago.
“We have a few vacancies,” she said, “and, of course, every hospital has a turnover.”
Sharon Troxler, director of marketing and volunteer services at Annie Penn, said Thursday that hospital officials “just want folks in Danville to know about our services.”
“We wish Danville Regional the best, and we hope they get back on their feet,” she said. “Every community needs it owns hospital, but we want the citizens of Danville to realize we would welcome them as patients.”

Competition is good

Stay tuned...

"Annie Penn Who?"
Danville Register and Bee
Friday, June 29, 2007
DANVILLE -- A marketing campaign at Annie Penn Hospital in Reidsville is targeting Danville patients dissatisfied with Danville Regional Medical Center.
Read what the president of Annie Penn had to say about it in Saturday's Register & Bee.

More LPNT news

"Coastal Carolina losses could top $7M"
(Note: CCMC is a LPNT facility)
islandpacket.com June 27, 2007
Coastal Carolina Medical Center is projected to lose more than $7 million over the two-year period from the beginning of 2007 to the end of 2008, a far bleaker financial outlook than previously disclosed.
Despite the Hardeeville hospital's financial situation, Tenet Healthcare Corp. moved a step closer Friday to acquiring the 41-bed facility, according to state documents released Tuesday.
The deal would consolidate all major health care facilities in southern Beaufort and Jasper counties.
All that stands in the way of the transaction that would unite the 93-bed Hilton Head Regional Medical Center and Coastal Carolina Medical Center is state approval and other minor conditions, several sources confirmed this week.
"The transaction will close once the parties obtain the necessary regulatory approvals and certain other conditions to closing as set forth in the Purchase Agreement," according the document, which was submitted to the state Bureau of Health Facilities & Service Department on Friday.
The documents, filed with the state by Tenet, showed that Coastal Carolina is projected to lose about $5.2 million pre-tax in 2007. Those numbers are forecast to improve in 2008, but the hospital still is projected to lose $2.4 million before taxes.
Internal documents obtained in March indicated the hospital was profitable last year, with a pre-tax operating surplus of about $2 million, but those documents didn't include depreciation, interest expense and other capital expenses.
If acquired by Tenet, the hospital is projected to have gross revenues in 2007 of $72.5 million and in 2008 of $82.4 million.
Teresa Wolke, a Tenet spokeswoman, declined Tuesday to comment on specifics of the deal.
"We're not going to talk about internal discussions at this point," she said.
Officials from Coastal Carolina and its Brentwood, Tenn.-based parent company Lifepoint Hospitals, declined to comment Monday and Tuesday.
Eric Deaton, Coastal Carolina's CEO, did not return several calls to his office and cell phone this week.
Penny Brake, vice president of finance for Lifepoint, is handling all media inquiries regarding the deal. She did not return several messages left with her office Monday and Tuesday.
For the purchase to move forward, it must receive approval from the state. In its filing Friday, Tenet asked the state to waive traditional certification requirements, a request that if granted would expedite the transaction, said Joel C. Grice, director of the Bureau of Health Facilities. He said last week that approval could come in a matter of weeks.
The terms of the acquisition remain uncertain, but the transaction will be made in a stock purchase agreement.
Much larger hospitals that Dallas-based Tenet has sold in the last two years fetched anywhere from $16.5 million for a 190-bed hospital in Pennsylvania to $90 million for a 303-bed hospital in Florida, according to the company's filings with the federal Securities and Exchange Commission.

So...how many hours are you going to lose?

Did all of you DRMC employees receive your letter about the change to the PTO policy?
How did it make you feel? How many hours are you going to lose on Sunday?

Reduction in max hours....PTO cash-in at 75 cents on the dollar....

Nice...

Final Citizens Commission report to be delivered July 3

From City Council minutes (June 19):

"Mayor Williams said the report that had been distributed from the Citizens’ Commission consultant was a work in progress and there would be additional information to follow. He announced there would be a Citizens Commission meeting on Thursday and issues and recommendations would be further addressed at that time.
Dr. Williams advised the final report would be presented to City Council during the July 3 Regular Council Meeting."


(Note that there is no longer a 'comment' feature on the Citizens Commission website. Keep comments flowing to the Commission through the emails on this page:
http://www.danville-va.gov/page.asp?menuid=2816&sub1menuid=2841&sub2menuid=10761)

News from Nashville.....

Despite profits, Virginia troubles batter LifePoint’s reputation

By Amy Griffith, agriffith@nashvillecitypaper.comJune 26, 2007

Troubles experienced by a Virginia hospital owned by Nashville-based LifePoint Hospitals Inc. have escalated into a public relations nightmare, catching the attention of analysts and raising questions about corporate acquisition of community hospitals.
LifePoint acquired the 350-bed Danville Regional Medical Center in 2005, shortly after LifePoint’s purchase of Providence Healthcare Co. The following two years saw a number of changes at the management level, including last week’s announced departure of the hospital’s fourth CEO since 2005. And in February, DRMC was Virginia’s only hospital to receive a preliminary withdrawal of accreditation status by the Joint Commission.
Though LifePoint’s performance has remained strong, the troubles in Danville have gained the attention of analysts. John Ransom, an analyst with Raymond James & Associates who follows LifePoint, said hospital ownership “could have done better” in terms of handling the hospital’s accreditation, staff turnover and CEO changes. The situation is not, however, a lost cause. Despite relatively high expense levels, especially in terms of man-hours, Ransom said the Danville hospital still has positive EBITDA — earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization — and commands more than 90 percent of the area’s market share. “It’s not critical for them to blow the doors out in Danville to meet the expectations Wall Street has set,” Ransom said. He added that LifePoint’s Danville woes are not unusual in the hospital industry.
“There’s nothing structurally wrong with LifePoint as far as they can run a hospital,” Ransom said. “It’s always touchy when you buy a big, local not-for-profit hospital. Almost everybody has had problems somewhere. It’s a hard business.”
Changes at the hospital have been one of Danville’s biggest local issues in the last two years, according to Arnold Hendrix, editor-in-chief of local newspaper The Danville Register & Bee. Danville has a population of 90,000, and the DRMC is one of the city’s top employers.
“Whatever happens to the hospital is going to have a ripple effect throughout the community,” Hendrix said. “I think everyone here recognizes that a hospital is crucial to a community, whether it be in health care or economic development efforts, just like a school system is critical. We all need LifePoint to succeed here.”
The mayor of Danville formed a citizen’s committee to investigate care at the hospital through public hearings, with the help of an outside consultant. The results of the investigation will be announced at a city council meeting next week. In the meantime, Hendrix said, there is a good deal of public pressure on the hospital’s board of directors to find a way to buy back the hospital.
Ransom said he believes LifePoint can move forward by establishing a CEO, then rebuilding local credibility and hospital structure.
LifePoint owns Tennessee hospitals in Athens, Lawrenceburg, Livingston, Pulaski and Winchester. LifePoint officials did not return repeated calls from The City Paper, and a spokesperson for the DRMC was unavailable for comment.

Another great day at DRMC...

"Police investigating object found at hospital"
Danville Register and Bee
Monday, June 25, 2007
DANVILLE -- The Danville Police are investigating the report of a suspicious metal object at Danville Regional Medical Center. A hospital worker found the object in the basement area...this morning at approximately 10:23 a.m.
Danville Regional Medical Center is making accommodations for seriously ill patients, however they should not say what that is. Danville Police did not get a report of a bomb threat, however
South Main St. is blocked off. ATF and State Police have arrived.
Certain areas of the hospital have been evacuated as a precautionary measure. The Bureau of Alcohol,Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Virginia State Police are assisting with the investigation of the object.

From WAKG:
DANVILLE POLICE SAY A "SUSPICIOUS METAL OBJECT" HAS BEEN FOUND AT DANVILLE REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER. LT-MIKE MONDUL SAYS A HOSPITAL WORKER MADE THE DISCOVERY AT AROUND 10-23 THIS MORNING. THE ITEM WAS FOUND IN THE HOSPITAL'S BASEMENT AREA, IN THE WYATT TOWER. PEOPLE IN CERTAIN PARTS OF THE HOSPITAL WERE EVACUATED, AND NO ONE IS BEING ALLOWED INSIDE. A CROWD OF MORE THAN FIFTY PEOPLE HAD GATHERED OUTSIDE OF THE HOSPITAL'S MAIN ENTRANCE AT LAST CHECK. A-T-F AGENTS AND EXPLOSIVES EXPERTS WITH VIRGINIA STATE POLICE ARE BEING CALLED IN. NO ONE HAS BEEN HURT.
MONDUL SAYS THEY'RE LEAVING IT UP TO THE HOSPITAL TO INFORM PATIENTS FAMILIES OF THE LATEST INFORMATION. ONE SOURCE TELLS THE NEWSROOM THAT SURGERIES NOT ALREADY UNDERWAY HAVE BEEN POSTPONED---EXCEPT IN LIFE-THREATENING CASES. SO FAR, NO CONFIRMATION FROM DANVILLE REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER.

Joint Commission: Requirements for Improvement

Accreditation Decision: Preliminary Denial of Accreditation
Decision Effective Date: February 17, 2007
This organization is not in full compliance with all applicable standards.

Requirements for Improvement:

Home Care
-An ongoing, proactive program for identifying and reducing unanticipated adverse events and safety risks to patients is defined and implemented.
-The director named on the CLIA certificate establishes policies and procedures that define the context in which waived test results are used in patient care, treatment, and services.
-Measure, assess, and if appropriate, take action to improve the timeliness of reporting, and the timeliness of receipt by the responsible licensed caregiver, of critical test results and values.

Hospital
-The leaders measure and assess the effectiveness of the performance improvement and safety improvement activities.
-Undesirable patterns or trends in performance are analyzed.
-An ongoing, proactive program for identifying and reducing unanticipated adverse events and safety risks to patients is defined and implemented.
-Newly constructed and existing environments are designed and maintained to comply with the Life Safety Code®.
-The hospital maintains fire-safety equipment and building features.
-The hospital develops and implements activities to protect occupants during periods when a building does not meet the applicable provisions of the Life Safety Code®.
-Medical equipment is maintained, tested, and inspected.
-The hospital maintains, tests, and inspects its medical gas and vacuum systems.
-Medications are properly and safely stored.
-Medication orders are written clearly and transcribed accurately.
-The hospital evaluates its medication management system.
-Initial assessments are performed as defined by the hospital.
-The hospital has a complete and accurate medical record for patients assessed, cared for, treated, or served.
-The hospital collects data to monitor its performance.
-Designated qualified staff accept and transcribe verbal or telephone orders from authorized individuals.
-The leaders develop and implement plans to identify and mitigate impediments to efficient patient flow throughout the hospital.
-Standardize a list of abbreviations, acronyms, symbols, and dose designations that are not to be used throughout the organization.
-Measure, assess, and if appropriate, take action to improve the timeliness of reporting, and the timeliness of receipt by the responsible licensed caregiver, of critical test results and values.
-Label all medications, medication containers (for example, syringes, medicine cups, basins), or other solutions on and off the sterile field.
-Mark the operative site as described in the Universal Protocol
-The organized medical staff reviews and analyzes all relevant information regarding each requesting practitioner’s current licensure status, training, experience, current competence, and ability to perform the requested privilege

http://www.qualitycheck.org/qualityreport.aspx?hcoid=4718

"Hospital Ranks Low in Study"

Danville Register & Bee
Saturday, June 23, 2007

DANVILLE - The beleaguered Danville Regional Medical Center received yet another blow to its reputation on Friday when it landed on a list of seven hospitals ranked below the nationwide mortality rates for heart attacks. For the first time ever, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, a division of the Health and Human Services posted its rankings online of more than 4,800 hospitals nationwide.
Danville was one of seven hospitals that ranked worse than the national rate. It was the only one out of 80 hospitals in Virginia that ranked below the national average.
Seventeen hospitals nationwide ranked above the national rate. However, Dr. Michael Moore, the hospital’s chief medical officer, said that several factors must be taken into account when considering the report. “We take these reports extremely seriously,” he said. “The first thing that is important to note, though, is that the report looks at a period from July 2005 to July 2006, and even before the report came out, we have been fully engaged in a process of improvements for all cardio-vascular care … and have implemented new methods to monitor cardio-vascular care.”
Moore said improvements include conducting educational activities for the hospital and medical staff and a continuous quality improvement program. He said another point is that the study is a 30-day mortality study, so even if a patient had good care and died within 30 days after leaving the hospital from other causes, that counts as a mortality in the study.
“Of course,” he said, “you assume each hospital has the same risk.”
Other issues that figure into Danville’s higher mortality rate, according to Moore, is that the area is high in other co-morbidity conditions like malnourishment and liver problems that affect heart attack and failure survival rates. “We also live in economically challenging times, and patients come in sicker and don’t have the resources at home for follow-up care,” he said.
He also noted that in November of 2006, the American Heart Association recognized the hospital for its heart failure care in its “Getting with the Guidelines” program. “That to me was a wonderful marker, and we will continue to do that,” Moore said.
“The major message is that the data is a year old and the hospital has been engaged every day in improving these things.”

BELOW AVERAGE
NEW STUDY: The following seven hospitals, listed alphabetically, ranked below the national rate for death from heart attack:
Sparks Regional Medical Center, Arkansas
Yuma Regional Medical Center, Arizona
Kingman Regional Medical Center, Arizona
Saint Vincent Catholic Medical Center of Brooklyn, Queens, New York
Southern Ohio Medical Center, Ohio
Christus St. Michael Health System, Texas
Danville Regional Medical Center, Virginia

Q&A:
Q: Who did the data include?
: Patients who are on original Medicare.
Q: How was the data produced?
A: Through a complex mathematical model that relied on Medicare claims and enrollment information. The model predicts patient deaths for any cause within 30 days of hospital admission for heart attack or heart failure, whether death occurs inside or outside of hospital.
Q: Why is 30 days used?
A: Thirty days is the time period when deaths are most likely to be related to the care patients received in the hospital.

For more information, go to http://www.hospitalcompare.hhs.gov/, source of this information.

"Commission readies hospital report"

Danville Register & Bee
Thursday, June 21, 2007

DANVILLE - Members of the Citizen’s Commission Related to the Danville Regional Medical Center said their goodbyes Thursday afternoon as they brought an end to the last four months the group has spent analyzing the problems that plagued the hospital.“I had heard the rumors,” Commission Co-Chair Clarissa Knight said, adding that she, like other commission members, was surprised to learn how complex and far-reaching some of those problems were. “But I had no idea the shape that (the hospital was) in.”Commission members then shared their thoughts on some of the topics their final report to the Danville City Council should contain. Here is an overview of some of those ideas:
Accreditation: Knight said the biggest problem facing Danville Regional was the “preliminary denial of accreditation” status the hospital received from the Joint Commission last week.“I think it’s important that we hammer down the problem of accreditation,” she said, echoing a sentiment all other commission members shared with her.Commission member David Caldwell agreed, saying that being the only Virginia hospital that is not fully accredited may keep Danville Regional from attracting the staff he felt it so sorely needed.
Staffing Levels: Caldwell felt the hospital needed to address its staffing levels, particularly when it came to nurses and support staff. He compared the hospital’s nurse-to-patient ratios - which codifies how many nurses need to be on a hospital floor at any time - with those from California and said some ratios at the hospital were twice, if not three times, what he felt they should be.“One of the big problems they have with the staffing here is that there’s no pool to draw from, so if they’re short, they’re short,” Caldwell said, adding that updating its software systems was another way Danville Regional could become more efficient.
Communication and Trust: Arlene Creasy repeated verbatim some of the ideas the commission’s consultant, Keith Pryor, included in the report he presented to the group last week.“We must have leadership from (the community and LifePoint Hospitals, Inc.) sitting at the same table and having the same dialogue,” Creasy said, adding that this was the only way to address the lack of trust between the two parties.Houser furthered this idea by suggesting the city should form a panel to hold this dialogue, consisting of local officials, normal citizens, hospital doctors and hospital staff members. He hoped LifePoint would be willing to work with this group and felt that they would.

What’s Next: Houser said he would spend the next week compiling the commission members’ thoughts into a final report he will present to council on July 3. That report will also include Pryor’s full comments, a budget detailing where the commission’s money went, and data collected from the commission’s surveys and public hearings.He will e-mail this final report to the commission members next week to get their final comments and approval. But as far as Houser is concerned, the commission’s job is over. “We’ve pretty much done what we were told to do,” he said. “This is just a recommendation. City Council’s going to do what they are going to do.”

And the good news just keeps rolling in...

"Government Ranks Hospital Heart Care Online
First-Of-Its-Kind Site Ranks Hospitals According to Care; Most Score Average"
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/CardiacHealth/story?id=3302737&page=1

"Check Hospitals in Your State
List Ranks Hospital Mortality Rates for Heart Attack Patients"
http://abcnews.go.com/WN/Health/story?id=3304019

"Citizens Commission working on final report"

Danville Register and Bee
Thursday, June 21, 2007
DANVILLE -- The group tasked with analyzing what the problems surrounding the Danville Regional Medical Center and figuring out ways to address them is set to start work on its final report this afternoon.
The Citizens Commission Related to the Danville Regional Medical Center will meet Thursday at 5:15 p.m. to start working on a report it will present to the Danville City Council in July.
The commission has already presented council with a report detailing the thoughts of its hospital consultant Keith Pryor. Click here to see a copy of that report.

"Another changing of the guard"

Danville Register & Bee
Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Art Doloresco said he wanted to lead the Danville Regional Medical Center into the future on his first day as the hospital’s CEO. That future lasted less than a year.
On Wednesday, he announced his resignation, saying that he will rejoin his family in Arizona in the next few weeks.
“When I came to Danville almost a year ago, I intended to relocate my family,” Doloresco said in a written statement issued late Wednesday afternoon. “Since then, I have changed my mind and decided not to move to Danville.
“The CEO of the medical center should live with his family in the area, so it is appropriate that I leave.”
Doloresco arrived in Danville on July 20, 2006, from Arizona to begin work as the third chief executive to work at Danville Regional since LifePoint Hospitals purchased the hospital in July 2005.
Now, LifePoint will
begin the process to hire a successor to Doloresco.
“We will work closely with the board of trustees and leadership of the medical staff in the selection of the new CEO,” said Jess Judy, president of the Gateway Division of LifePoint, in a written statement.
Doloresco will remain in charge while here for a few more weeks. When he leaves, Ruth McDaniel, the hospital’s interim chief nursing officer, will assume Doloresco’s responsibilities, until the position is filled.
Doloresco will leave, having spent considerable time in recent months dealing with city government. He was called before council on Feb. 6 to answer questions about a number of issues including emergency room wait times. His answers left some city council members unsatisfied.
One week later, Mayor Wayne Williams began setting up a citizen’s commission to study the hospital. The commission was tasked with examining exactly what lay behind people’s complaints surrounding the hospital.
The commission’s health care consultant said on June 12 that he felt the hospital’s biggest problem was a lack of trust between the community and hospital management.
The news came the same week as when the Joint Commission confirmed that it had given Danville Regional a “preliminary denial of accreditation.” The hospital is currently the only Virginia hospital not to be fully accredited by the commission.
Doloresco replaced Michael Boggs, who served in an interim capacity as the hospital’s CEO from March 2006 to July 20, 2006.
The first CEO under LifePoint was Tod Lambert, who headed the hospital’s operations from August 2005 to March 2006.
Lambert is best known for creating a reassignment pool where 100 hospital employees were given the chance to take a new job at Danville Regional or leave the hospital all together. This policy and other leadership concerns drew criticism from the Danville City Council.
“There has never been a hospital sold that was not an earthquake, a seismic event,” Lambert said when he responded to those concerns in December 2005. “It will pass.”
Lambert appeared before council in February 2006 and admitted that some mistakes had been made regarding the reassignment pool and LifePoint’s purchase of the hospital. He left the CEO’s office one month later, citing a desire to move back to Tennessee so that he could spend more time with his wife and newly adopted daughter.

"Hospital CEO Resigns"

Danville Register and Bee
Wednesday, June 20, 2007

DANVILLE -- Art Doloresco resigned his position as the CEO of Danville Regional Medical Center this afternoon citing a desire to rejoin his family in Arizona. The decision was announced in a Wednesday afternoon press release issued by LifePoint Hospitals, Inc.

Doloresco is the third CEO to work at Danville Regional since LifePoint purchased the hospital in July 2005. Ruth McDaniel, the hospital’s interim chief nursing officer, will take over Doloresco’s duties until LifePoint can find a new CEO.

Consultant's Report to Commission available online

http://www.danville-va.gov/upload/images/City-TV%2020/Report%20to%20Commission.pdf

Cliffs Notes version...just in case you don't have time to read all 6 pages...
We need:

• trust
• dialogue
• leadership

Uh....thanks Mr. Pryor.

'High level of discord'

Danville Register and Bee
Monday, June 18, 2007

Here’s a nomination for quotation of the year: “Your situation bothers me. What shocks me is the extremely high level of discord that you are having here.”

Those are the words of health care consultant Keith Pryor, who was in Danville last week. Pryor is working with the Citizen’s Commission appointed by Mayor Wayne Williams to investigate complaints about Danville Regional Medical Center.
The commission has found the hospital’s problems include staffing levels, poor patient care, emergency department wait times, employee morale and administrative issues - things the people of this community have little or no direct control over.
Pryor proposed a dialogue between LifePoint officials, community leaders and doctors at the hospital. But is that going to help when some local people believe hospital officials are constantly trying to start a fresh discussion?
Legendary industrialist Henry Ford once said, “You can’t build a reputation on what you are going to do.”
Promises aren’t going to fix the problems at Danville Regional Medical Center. Only the owner of Danville Regional, LifePoint Hospitals Inc., can fix the hospital’s problems.
Danville only has one hospital, and the future of Danville
Regional Medical Center is key to the future of health care in this community. The Dan River Region needs a strong hospital.
But it’s hard to imagine how dialogue alone is going to fix the hospital’s problems - and restore community confidence in Danville Regional.
What could be done?
The hospital could earn full accreditation (it has received a preliminary denial of accreditation). It could rehire those doctors and nurses that have left the hospital over the past two years for jobs with the region’s other hospitals but still live close to Danville. It could replace the high-tech equipment that was taken out of the hospital over the past two years.
Those things might serve as confidence boosters.
LifePoint Hospitals Inc. came into a bad situation when it bought Danville Regional nearly two years ago. People were angry that the hospital was sold at all. But the problems since the sale aren’t the result of bad communication with the community. Danville Regional needs to fix its problems before it can hope to improve its image with the public it purports to serve.

"Hospital stands alone"

Accreditation commission awaits Danville Regional's next move.

Danville Register & Bee
Tuesday, June 19, 2007

DANVILLE - The Danville Regional Medical Center is the only hospital in Virginia to currently have a “preliminary denial of accreditation” status from the Joint Commission. Joint Commission spokeswoman Elizabeth Zhani answered a few questions about what this means Monday afternoon.
Question: What is the Joint Commission?
Answer: The Joint Commission is an independent not-for-profit organization that monitors care given at nearly 15,000 health care organizations in the United States. The group evaluates care at 97 hospitals in Virginia.
Q: What is a preliminary denial of accreditation?
A: A “preliminary denial of accreditation” status is one step above a full denial of accreditation. The commission gives this status to health care organizations it feels justified in denying its accreditation to, but it lets the organization appeal this ruling before the actual denial takes place.
Zhani said large hospitals like Danville Regional that fail to meet 17 or more standards of care during an evaluation are given this status. She said approximately 1 percent of the hospitals surveyed across the U.S. in 2006 received a “preliminary denial of accreditation.”
Q: When did all of this happen?
A: The Joint Commission sends surveyors to evaluate a hospital once every three years. It has sent teams to 23 Virginia hospitals since June 2006. Commission surveyors last visited Danville Regional on Feb. 13-16.
Danville Regional CEO Art Doloresco sent out a news release in March letting people know the hospital may receive a “preliminary denial of accreditation” following this visit. Zhani said the commission’s accreditation board reviewed the survey findings last week and signed off on the decision.
Q: What happens next?
A: Zhani said the hospital could appeal its “preliminary denial of accreditation” status to the commission’s review panel. She said the panel will look over the original survey results and “can deny the accreditation or make another decision” about the hospital’s status. Zhani expects this hearing to take place within the next month. No hospital official would return calls Monday for comment about their plans for the future.
Q: Why is this important?
A: State and federal governments use Joint Commission evaluations as a way to determine whether a health care organization qualifies for Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements. If a hospital loses its accreditation, the government will have to send its own team of investigators to evaluate the hospital before any decision becomes final.

"Status of hospital remains the same"

Danville Register Bee
Saturday, June 16, 2007

DANVILLE - Danville Regional Medical Center continues to operate with a preliminary denial of accreditation.
Mayor Wayne Williams said that hospital CEO Art Doloresco sent out a statement to hospital physicians Friday stating that the hospital would remain in this category until further notice.
Danville Regional remains accredited and had hoped to improve its score from The Joint Commission, Williams said. The reason for the status quo rating is the hospital could not verify that certain standards had been met, he said.
“It doesn’t mean they haven’t done anything,” Williams said. “It’s still not a good thing.”
Williams, who appointed a Citizens Commission in an attempt to fix problems at the hospital, said he has confidence that Danville Regional can turn its situation around.
“Personally, I have no problem taking patients to the hospital,” Williams said.
Danville Regional first announced in March that it had received a preliminary denial of accreditation from The Joint Commission, which is the largest nonprofit health care accrediting body responsible for evaluating the quality of care at hospitals across the United States.
The survey was conducted Feb. 13-16.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) use commission accreditations as a basis for determining which hospitals qualify for Medicare or Medicaid reimbursements.
According to the commission’s Web site, www.qualitycheck.org, surveyors conducted their last full survey of Danville Regional on March 19, 2004.
The surveyors found the hospital to be “in full compliance with all applicable standards” and presented Danville Regional with an award for allowing CMS to post its performance measures on the agency’s Web site.

"Consultant bothered by problems"

Keith Pryor says the hospital's current issues are unnecessary, but can still be fixed.

Danville Register & Bee
Tuesday, June 12, 2007

DANVILLE - There is an unusually high level of animosity within the community following Danville Regional Medical Center’s transition from public to private ownership, health care consultant Keith Pryor said Monday.
“Your situation bothers me,” said Pryor, who was hired to work with the Citizen’s Commission Related to the Danville Regional Medical Center. “What shocks me is the extremely high level of discord that you are having here.”
Pryor met with the commission Monday to discuss the quality of care at Danville Regional.
He said the biggest problem facing the hospital is a growing lack of trust between members of the community and LifePoint Hospitals Inc. Pryor said this problem started when LifePoint purchased Danville Regional in July 2005.
Pryor said the transition from public to private ownership requires “leaders who are the best of the best” and that LifePoint’s own admission that it made leadership mistakes during this time did not make the process any smoother.
“There is a lot at stake here,” he said, adding the level of distrust could hinder anything from the community’s health care system to its economic development efforts. “(This problem) is so unnecessary and I think you can fix it.”
Pryor told the commission members the best way to restore the trust was to open up a dialogue between LifePoint officials, community leaders and physicians at the hospital.
The participants in this dialogue must be willing to leave the past behind them and focus on some of the core problems that were identified through the commission’s efforts, he said.
“It’s time to start walking on a new path,” said Jim Houser, co-chairman of the commission, adding he felt the “old path was very negative and destructive.”
Houser said the commission identified five areas the hospital needed to improve at its last meeting, including staffing levels, poor patient care, wait times in the emergency room, morale among employees and administrative issues.
Houser said these topics covered most of the problems that were brought up at a recent series of public hearings, but some positive things were said about the hospital as well. People testified that the hospital’s cleanliness, one-day surgery program and heart center seemed to show improvement.
Pryor said some other “good news” was that about 80-90 percent of the community and hospital staff wanted the situation at Danville Regional to improve.
He said LifePoint has no other choice but to listen to concerns because Danville Regional’s situation may hinder the company’s ability to grow.
“We too have come to the same conclusion. We have to build trust,” Danville Regional CEO Art Doloresco said Monday at the commission meeting. “Building that trust means having the dialogue that (Pryor) talked about.”

Exactly...

Vote with your dollars, folks
To the editor:
There have been several letters to the editor written lately suggesting our community should support LifePoint Hospitals Inc. and Danville Regional Medical Center. While I agree the doctors, nurses and staff at the hospital are dedicated, caring, skillful professionals deserving of our respect, I disagree that we owe LifePoint our support or help.Remember, this is no longer a community agency, it is now a business not unlike any store or chain restaurant in Danville.It is not incumbent upon the citizens to “fix” anything at Danville Regional any more than it would be our responsibility to correct any problems at any other business in the area. I don’t think the officers at LifePoint need our help to run a hospital because they own more than 50. And furthermore, it is LifePoint’s decision to reveal any accreditation problems it has. They aren’t obligated to tell us anything.As a business, it is up to them to sell us on their product. To suggest that we should choose to have health care at LifePoint out of some community obligation is ludicrous.If you feel you will receive the best care possible there, by all means go. If not - and you choose to go elsewhere - it doesn’t make you a bad citizen.Hopefully with research and understanding, you will choose what’s best for you and your family. If you could buy a better car for less money with better service and more perks, you wouldn’t hesitate to drive out of town.Surely, your health care warrants the same.By its own admission, LifePoint’s corporate philosophy is to seek out rural hospitals with no competition. Obviously, it didn’t look at the geography of our region before buying us. Here they have more competition than they are accustomed to - and it is starting to show. It is up to them to convince us we should shop here. We are fortunate to have the Citizen’s Commission allowing us input, but that does not mean LifePoint will have to act on anything we say. In effect they are fortunate in that they are receiving a free customer survey, paid for by the citizens ($25,000 worth), and summarized and wrapped up in a nice package by the commission.If LifePoint wants good PR, then it is up to them to do the things necessary to get it. Internal problems must be addressed by employees. Citizens are powerless to “support” or “help fix” anything on the inside. If Home Depot were to move to Danville, I can assure you Lowe’s wouldn’t put out a call for citizen support. It would do what it always does and compete by upgrading service, lowering prices, and selling itself to its customers.Sadly, there was a time when all of the money you or your insurer spent at Danville Regional was kept here. It was used to pay for and retain staff, upgrade and clean the buildings, open new treatment centers and offer more services. Now, much of that money goes to Tennessee. Don’t be mislead - Danville Regional was making millions every year and probably still is. Unfortunately, a good part of that is going to pay shareholders and corporate salaries outside of Danville. But that is not going to change.It remains to be seen if LifePoint will do what is necessary to retain its customer base, but the ball is in its court. Our citizens can’t - and shouldn’t - be expected to “fix” whatever problems they created. Hopefully, soon the hard work of the many professionals at Danville Regional will prove we should keep our business in Danville. Until then, you are not a bad citizen if you go elsewhere - just an educated consumer.

STEVE
Ringgold

"An open meeting"

Editorial - Danville Register and Bee
Friday, June 8, 2007

As controversies go, this one didn’t last long. The day after an angry exchange between Citizen’s Commission Co-Chairman Jim Houser and commission member Arlene Creasy, Danville Mayor Wayne Williams ended it with a timely e-mail.
Houser briefly argued with Creasy and several other members over a meeting that’s scheduled to take place Monday between himself, Williams and health care consultant Keith Pryor.
“I agree with Arlene,” commission member Samuel Griffith said at the time. “This should be above board. This has the semblance of not being above board.”
And that, of course, is a big part of the reason why the Citizen’s Commission was formed in the first place.
Since the first rumors hit the street that Danville Regional Medical Center was going to be sold, the big decisions have been made behind closed doors. The public is frustrated, as it should be. Danville Regional Medical Center is more than just one of the region’s largest employers - it is the only hospital in town.
When Danville City Council could no longer ignore the citizen’s anger, Williams formed the Citizen’s Commission. The commission, in its information gathering stage, has collected comments. The next step is to meet with Pryor.
In his e-mail Wednesday, Williams wrote of Monday’s meeting:
“… Certainly anyone is welcome to attend. No decisions will be made, simply a review of progress to date and a review of key points that need to be addressed at your meeting. Of course, additional points can always be introduced at the meeting. It is important that we are efficient with Keith’s time as the Commission moves to developing an action plan. …”
One of the biggest challenges facing the Citizen’s Commission is the hardened attitudes that have been created by the way things have been done over the past two-plus years.
Nothing angers people more than the “done deal” presented to them wrapped in a pretty bow and served on a silver platter. Business as usual - which means behind closed doors - would only continue to antagonize and polarize members of the community and run contrary to the reason for the Citizen’s Commission in the first place.
That’s why Williams was right to make sure the Citizen’s Commission continues to operate in full view of the public. Too much is at stake to do otherwise.

"Mayor: Hospital meeting will be open to board"

Commission members were told earlier this week that they were not invited.
Danville Register & Bee
Friday, June 8, 2007

DANVILLE - All Citizen’s Commission members have been given permission to attend a meeting to review information the group has gathered about Danville Regional Medical Center.
Commission members were told earlier this week that the meeting set for Monday would consist of Mayor Wayne Williams, consultant Keith Pryor and Jim Houser, commission co-chairman. Other commission members were told that they were not invited to the meeting.
The mayor, however, has since said the meeting is open.
“Certainly anyone is welcome to attend,” Williams said in an e-mail sent Wednesday night to commission members.
Commission member Arlene Creasy, who questioned why the meeting was initially closed, forwarded the e-mail minutes later to the news media.
No time has been set for the meeting between Williams, Pryor and Houser, the mayor said. He said the purpose is to review information and prepare an agenda for the commission’s 5:15 p.m. meeting the same day.
“No decisions will be made, simply a review of progress to date and a review of key points that need to be addressed at your meeting,” Williams said in the e-mail to commission members. “Of course, additional points can always be introduced at the meeting. It is important that we are efficient with Keith’s time as the Commission moves to developing an action plan.”
Williams said he scheduled Pryor to attend the commission’s Monday meeting because the group has completed the information gathering and is ready to move to the next phase.
“The purpose of the next meeting will be to review information, determine if additional data is needed and begin developing recommendations for Lifepoint,” Williams said.
He said the earlier meeting is not a regular commission meeting, which is probably why Houser told commission members that they needed to talk to the mayor if they wanted to attend.
“This isn’t a secret meeting,” Williams said.
That explanation appeared to appease Creasy. She said there was a communication breakdown and members should have known earlier that this other meeting was being held.
“When I serve on a committee, I want to know what’s happening,” Creasy said, adding she does not plan on attending the early meeting because the focus will be on setting the agenda.

Closed meeting angers group

Danville Register & Bee
Wednesday, June 6, 2007

DANVILLE - Citizen’s Commission Chairman Jim Houser will take part in an “invitation only” meeting with the mayor regarding the results of a survey related to the quality of care at Danville Regional Medical Center.
Keith Pryor, a health care consultant hired to work with the commission, Mayor Wayne Williams and Houser will meet next Tuesday to discuss the results but the rest of the commission members aren’t invited.
“Keith and I and the mayor will be discussing some more things on Tuesday to discuss the direction things will be going,” Houser said at the group’s meeting Tuesday.
Commission member Arlene Creasy asked, “Are we invited to that?”
“No,” Houser said.
“Did I miss something?’ Creasy asked. “Why wouldn’t the entire commission be meeting?
Houser’s voice got stern and strained as he responded.
“This meeting was brought by the mayor. I suggest you bring it up with him,” Houser said.
“I will,” Creasy responded.
But Creasy didn’t have the last word, as other commission members voiced their concerns with the meeting being off limits to members as well.
If the full commission brought the findings and worked on this, then the entire board should be involved, members argued, but Houser wouldn’t budge.
Commission member Samuel Griffith hesitated for just a minute, but also objected.
“I agree with Arlene,” he said. “This should be above board. This has the semblance of not being above board.”
Houser refused to comment further and moved the meeting forward.
Members discussed their findings in the surveys they took from staff, the public and doctors at the hospital. The biggest complaints the commission found, included understaffing, poor patient care and problems with care and service in the emergency room. The operating room got some good marks, as did care in the maternity ward and the out-patient surgery areas, but there are still a lot of problems, Houser noted.
After a review of mostly negative findings, commission member Robert Whitt said, “The only comment I have, and this needs to be said, is there’s been enough blood-letting. The administration, the employees and the community needs to pull together and make this thing work. We need to move forward. I think that’s where we need to be at this point. The community’s had its opportunity to speak and now we need to move forward, including the community, we need to move forward, not backwards.”
Houser responded, “Bob, your point’s well taken, but let me say this, the trust and confidence of the public and certain staff members at DRMC has been lost. They don’t have any trust in the hospital anymore. That’s why we’re losing patients to other hospitals. That’s why good quality experienced nurses are leaving DRMC and seeking employment elsewhere.
“Until we build that trust and confidence back, having everybody say let’s pull together and move forward is going to be kind of difficult. We’re going to have to do some crawling before we can walk with this.”

Watch the video

Reminder...

The next meeting of the Citizens' Commission is set for Tuesday, June 5, 2007, 5:15 P.M. in the Second Floor Conference Room, City Hall.

A good start

Danville Register and Bee editorial
Monday, June 4, 2007

Danville Regional Medical Center’s preliminary denial of accreditation has been a dark cloud over the hospital since it was announced in March. While Danville Regional remains accredited, the public can’t help but be shaken by the news.
Last week, Danville Regional CEO Art Doloresco met with members of the local business community to talk about the hospital’s accreditation status - including some of the factors that led to the preliminary denial of accreditation - and what he expects to happen in the future.
Doloresco has come a long way from stating that the hospital’s accreditation status was a “private matter between me, the hospital and the (Joint) Commission.”
“This is only the second time in the United States that a hospital has revealed a Joint Commission decision,” Doloresco said last week. “… This is a unique opportunity for businesses to take a look … There are more than 500 standards and we have 21 of those not in compliance.”
Danville Regional Medical Center isn’t required to explain the preliminary denial of accreditation, but the community served by Danville Regional isn’t required to take what Doloresco and other hospital officials say at face value. Having a national accreditation organization issue a preliminary denial was a shock. Not knowing exactly what the Joint Commission found lacking at Danville Regional has been an additional frustration.
Doloresco should be congratulated for his address to the Danville Pittsylvania County Chamber of Commerce - if the speech is the start of a more open dialogue with the public.
Dan River Region residents have to make up their mind about Danville Regional, and the best way for them to be able to do that is with more information, not less.
Hospital officials should continue the dialogue started by Doloresco during last week’s speech to local business leaders.

A post worth repeating...

"Its up to Lifepoint to sell themselves to their customers, not the customers' responsibility to fix whats wrong."

Amen.

To the Chamber of Commerce Members

So, last Thursday, Mr. Doloresco sat down with the Chamber of Commerce and reviewed the issues (or, rather, most of the issues) that earned DRMC a preliminary denial of accreditation. I'd venture a guess that those in the room that day heard more about Joint Commission than most employees at DRMC have heard since the denial was issued.

With that in mind, I'd like to ask the Chamber members...are you satisfied with what you heard? Do you feel that a real action plan is in place to improve and safeguard the quality of healthcare available to your employees and your family members?

Readers of this blog can make comments that posting on the blog are from disgruntled DRMC employees hell-bent on the ruin of their employer (maybe it's just me, but there has to be some faulty logic in there somewhere). But now, with the Chamber presentation, people who can actually determine where commercial insurance dollars are spent on healthcare have learned more about the condition of their sole hospital.

I'm just curious...how do you feel now? And, if there are concerns, have you voiced them to the management team at DRMC? Please take a moment and post a comment on this blog so that we can start a dialogue with you, our customers.