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.”
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40 comments:
Why is it that in Danville, the "leaders" always take the LOW ROAD. When will it ever stop. Talk about morale!
Physicians' quarterly meeting tonight. No confidence vote????
Dr. Moore will no longer be over Quality Management???? Anyone else heard this rumor?
There is a lot said here but I don't think we will all blindly pull togather and make it work. trust in DCMC is gone. I'm not about to let my life and lives of my family go on the line just because some one said lets put this behind us and move on. Lifepoint will have to win me back and it will take a lot of hard work to do that.I will need to see as much postive comming from DRMC to get me back as it did with the negitive to loose me.
Also may I say this meeting behind closed doors is not winning my trust in Dr Willams to lead us. He must remember there is a lot on the line here and he needs to tread carefuly. This could drag his name down not only as Mayor but as a Doctor as well.
The R&B article on the citizens commission did not print the whole story. The paper's headline to the article was on the sensational side. After all, the publishers want to sell papers.
Mayor Williams had a city council meeting when the citizens commission was in session last night. It was not reported that he was present at the close of the meeting and spoke with Arlene Creasy, et al. about the "private meeting" scheduled next week. The commission members were in accord with the mayor as they left city hall. The citizens commission will meet on Monday, June 11 (open to the public) with the health care consultant to conclude discussion on the hospital survery. Mayor Williams, Jim Houser (commission co-chair), and Keith Pryor (consultant) will have a private meeting the next day to finalize the commission report that will be presented to LifePoint officials. The R&B video only showed a portion of the meeting and did not show all the discussion by the commission members on this subject. Unfortunately, Mayor Williams objective was not effectively communicated to the commission at the beginning of the meeting.
Mayor Williams is also a physician in the community and is well aware of the problems at the hospital. He established the citizens commission and chose well-qualified individuals to evaluate the hospital debacle. He also has the state's attorney general investigating the legal aspects regarding the sale of the hospital. It is important to have faith that everything is being done in the proper way. He will not betray the citizens of Danville.
It is true that Dr. Mike Moore has resigned his position with the hospital. Also, it is very likely there will be a no confidence vote by the physicians in regard to DRMC and LifePoint. Should be an interesting meeting.
To the poster above...thanks for telling "the rest of the story" about the meeting.
Stay tuned folks...this is about to get interesting.
Could someone please explain the implications of a "no confidence vote" on behalf of the physicians?
Sentinel Event can you move this to the front page? I imagine a lot of people were mislead by the news article.
"Anonymous said...
The R&B article on the citizens commission did not print the whole story. The paper's headline to the article was on the sensational side. After all, the publishers want to sell papers.
Mayor Williams had a city council meeting when the citizens commission was in session last night. It was not reported that he was present at the close of the meeting and spoke with Arlene Creasy, et al. about the "private meeting" scheduled next week. The commission members were in accord with the mayor as they left city hall. The citizens commission will meet on Monday, June 11 (open to the public) with the health care consultant to conclude discussion on the hospital survery. Mayor Williams, Jim Houser (commission co-chair), and Keith Pryor (consultant) will have a private meeting the next day to finalize the commission report that will be presented to LifePoint officials. The R&B video only showed a portion of the meeting and did not show all the discussion by the commission members on this subject. Unfortunately, Mayor Williams objective was not effectively communicated to the commission at the beginning of the meeting.
Mayor Williams is also a physician in the community and is well aware of the problems at the hospital. He established the citizens commission and chose well-qualified individuals to evaluate the hospital debacle. He also has the state's attorney general investigating the legal aspects regarding the sale of the hospital. It is important to have faith that everything is being done in the proper way. He will not betray the citizens of Danville.
June 6, 2007 2:55:00 PM EST "
A no confidence vote by the physicians would mean they don't believe the DRMC administration and LifePoint are capable of managing the hospital and fixing the current problems.
That will carry about as much weight as did the congress vote on the iraq war a couple of months ago.
Why no report on the meetings the docs had last night?
Miller blasted off about losing the Duke heart program, and Kramer--Dr. Mark Hermann's partner--blasted Lifepoint over how much business he has lost since they started running good paying patients out of town.
We need a full report!
Why no report on the meetings the docs had last night?
Miller blasted off about losing the Duke heart program, and Kramer--Dr. Mark Hermann's partner--blasted Lifepoint over how much business he has lost since they started running good paying patients out of town.
We need a full report!
DANVILLE – An urgent care center at Danville Regional Medical Center has opened to provide treatment of minor illnesses and injuries.
The center is located in the Danville Regional Professional Building at 201 South Main St. across from the hospital. It will be open from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 1 p.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
The center is intended for children and adults who have non-emergency illnesses such as sore throats, earaches and colds and injuries such as sprains and cuts. The center also is equipped with x-ray and lab equipment for diagnostic services.
The center will be available to the approximately one-third of the patients at the emergency room last year who did not have true emergencies.
Five full-time employees have been hired to staff the center.
No patients will be accepted after 8:45 p.m.
I heard today an unconfirmed report that the physicians decided to give LifePoint another 30 days at which time a "no confidence" vote would be imminent.
No confidence vote for what? No confidence in LifePoint, No confidence in administration or no confidence in CEO? Each one of these had different implications.
What I heard is that they're mad as hell in general because they are being hit so hard in their wallets. I heard one md said his revenues were down 35% over this time last year, and it's all because people are fleeing the dangers of being in a Lifepoint hospital.
I thought this was supposed to be a new webpage for Chamber of Commerce members to comment on the hospital. Nice to be here, but what's this got to do with the Chamber?
It wasn't put up specifically for the Chamber...it's been up for months for people to monitor/sound off/share about what is happening at DRMC.
Chamber members are welcome here, because you guys are consumers of healthcare and should be concerned with what's going on.
If you have comments about the hospital, please don't forget to share them with the Citizens Commission members (links on the front page)
(DANVILLE) --SOUNDS LIKE IT WAS A MISUNDERSTANDING. MAYOR WAYNE WILLIAMS SAYS A MEETING HE’LL HAVE NEXT WEEK WITH THE CO-CHAIR OF HIS CITIZENS COMMISSION AND A CONSULTANT WAS NEVER MEANT TO BE A CLOSED MEETING. HE SAYS OTHER COMMISSION MEMBERS ARE INVITED TO THE MEETING, MONDAY AFTERNOON AT THREE. IT’LL HAPPEN JUST A COUPLE OF HOURS BEFORE THE REGULARLY-SCHEDULED COMMISSION MEETING MONDAY AT 5-15 P-M. SOME COMMISSION MEMBERS BRISTLED THIS WEEK WHEN THEY WERE TOLD THE MEETING WOULD BE CLOSED. WILLIAMS SAYS THEY’RE NOW READY TO BEGIN FORMULATING A SERIES OF RECOMMENDATIONS TO LIFEPOINT, ABOUT OPERATIONS AT DANVILLE REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER.
There were definitely fireworks at the physicians quarterly staff meeting Wednesday evening. It's a wonder that sparks from the meeting didn't catch DRMC on fire. Many physicians expressed unfavorable comments about the current state of DRMC, most notably Drs. Meadema and O'Neill. The physicians were quite vocal and did not mince any words in their displeasure with LifePoint. Art D. was present as well as a representative of the joint commission on hospital accreditation. The next accreditation report from the joint commission is due June 14. Many physicians do not think the hospital will receive full accreditation. The medical staff did decide to delay a no confidence vote for 30 days. If LifePoint has made no positive moves to improve problems, there will be a vote of no confidence. Some citizens may believe the vote doesn't carry any weight but that is far from the truth. It means the physicians have taken a definite stand against LifePoint. They can take action by admitting their patients to other hospitals since many now have admitting privileges in South Boston, Reidsville, and Greensboro. They can also give up regular admitting privileges at DRMC and go to consultative privileges only. All admissions would be handled by the hospitalists who would be overwhelmed and unable to deal with so many patients. The physicians are just plain mad at the current state of affairs at DRMC and they blame LifePoint/administrators for the current mess. While DRMC has never been perfect (and nothing ever is), it was certainly a fine hospital before LifePoint entered the picture.
Thanks for the last comment regarding the physicians' meeting. I would hope the physicians, for the future good of all of us, will continue to stand their ground. It appears they are the ones who may be able to make more of a difference than anyone else thus far. Unfortunately, this may bring more demise to the qualify of care offered at the "sinking" hospital, but there must be a definitive way to help resolve much of the deterioration of healthcare practices at DRMC. Likewise, it is unfair that those individuals (staff as well as doctors)have to take the heat for the lame administrative decisions made; thus, making "everyone" at DRMC look like they don't know what they are doing. We know this is not true. Thanks to the hard-working people and shame on the rest of you!
How can anyone with a voice in the organization uphold the "the spin management" that occurs on a daily basis?
I don't consider that loyalty!!!!
A Small Retrospective:
Our hospital is dying, and soon enough (if not already), patients will be dying. Like cancer, this malaise will spread through the community in terms of civic pride, economic development and all things that create and sustain a strong community. There was a time when Danville might have become an anchor for a rising Southside Virginia, but no more. It is a terrible irony that this destruction was set in motion by people who formerly claimed to be community business leaders. It is even worse that the cancer has grown and spread for two years without any city leader rising up and screaming that there is a fire in the house. And it is a classical tragedy, in that we have done it all to ourselves. May God have pity on us for our ignorance, our lack of courage, and our profound wrong-headedness.
I am sickened beyond words that what should be a fountain of healing for our community has become a raging malignancy that will destroy all we have worked for.
Shame on us all!
\
Man, you got all this just the way it is. All I would also say is that doctors have always been the healers in any community. They are not the ones who brought us this tragedy. My prayer is that the doctors will have the courage to lead the way out of this and to start to heal all these stinking wounds. The first thing they got to do is get rid of these outsiders trying to run our hospital when they don't know what they are doing.
What an intelligent report on the physicians' meeting, which I did not attend. It is critical that the public know that doctors share their concerns. Patients and non-medical personnel are not alone in their agony over what has happened to our hospital.
And a word about the nursing staff. It takes very special people for their calling, and it is nothing less than horrible to see them work so hard under such awful conditions. And now, with so many inexperienced nurses, mistakes will happen again and again, and they have little or no back-up. No one hates this more than they.
Again, thanks to someone for the report from the doctors' meeting. It is so important to so many to know they are not alone.
I am encouraged to hear that the "MD's are fed up with the situation too."Dumbville" people are not so dumb and maybe LP needs to sit up and take notice.
They have bitten off more than they can chew and it's time for the community to let them know that we are not pushovers(i hope)but we need the MD's to help.
Please remember lso that nurses are not the only ones involved in patient care.there are many other well educated and dedicated professionals at DRMC who are also
impacted by this MESS.
The horror stories are more frequent than ever, but take note that the newspaper is now running pro-stories and letters. They need to get that Lifepoint advertising back. Is there some name for creeps who themselves are whores and also patronize whore houses?
Yes, in the past the names have been known as city council(s),the founding fathers,the "leaders" of danville,Danville and lifepoint,
Oh wait Lifepoint would be considered a "john".Since all of the citizens were tricked.
...and some just call it a corporate coalition designed and maintained to manipulate the public opinion.
from a previous poster:
I would like to warn you all the physicians as a whole may not have your better interests as a motivating factor. Many are upset with their own issues. many of the items they complain about are standard practices throughout the country. If you wonder where we are still lacking in compliance with joint commission standards they are items in which the physicians refuse to cooperate. Standards which are found throughout the united states that work to ensure patient safety. Standards by the way that other hospitals have had no difficulty initiating and did so years ago. Yet we have to put up with a medical staff who do not support patient safety initiatives because their schedules may become interupted. We have many good talented physicians but we also have several who are above following proven standards of practice.
AMEN!!! We have some great physicians and others who have a "I AM GOD" complex. Each profession (nursing, pharmacy, respiratory therapy, physical therapy, laboratory, radiology, etc.) have rules and regulations that MUST be followed. It is very frustrating to deal with a physician who insists that what they want is what will be done regardless if it violates regulations. Rumors have been around for years about physicians cussing staff members out and throwing things at them when they do not get their way (picture a 2 yr old having a temper tantrum). Joint Commission does have a few standards that involve physicians. This is nothing new. And yes there are a few who believe that these standards do not apply to them because they are physicians. This does not fly with Joint Commission. All it takes is one not following a standard for the whole hospital to be cited a failure for that standard. While I am glad they are uniting to express their displeasure over the decline of the hospital due to Lifepoint's poor management and lack of forward thinking, I am afraid this will give those physicians more power and influence to do what they want to do, not what is right to do for patient care.
Something else I have seen that doctors think they are above everyone. There are signs posted all over the hospital about washing hands. How come some doctors and nurses do not? Doesn't this spread germs? I do not want me or my family to go into the hospital and get sicker. When you ask those who have not washed their hands, you get a rude answer. Can something be done about that?
Lord help me, I just got out of that filthy dump of a hospital. It is beyond belief. I didn't have much wrong, so I can't comment on medical services. But I'll tell you this, and I am in the restaurant business-- If Danville Regional was serving food to the public, the State Health Department would have closed them down by now.
And this is supposed to be a hospital!!!????!!!!
When my mother was there we bathed her and changed the bed sheets. We felt better taking care of our mom than having the staff people do it, since they were so rushed.
But the lady in the next bed was screaming all night in pain, and no matter what we tried to do to help her, she kept screaming. I don't know what was wrong with her, but then she started hemmoraging blood, and a nurse came and they did something. My point is that she hemmoraged blood that got on the floor and under the curtain between us, and that blood stayed on the floor the whole time we were there. I didn't want to touch it and could not find a mop in the room to clean it up. My daughter said it is dangerous to fool with other peoples blood so we just left it and showed it to the nurse when she came around.
I was disappointed in the hospital, but they did get mom well, and thats the main thing.
Let's get one thing straight .
It may seem petty but...
DO NOT TOUCH OTHER PEOPLE'S
BODY fluids in the hospital, it is EXTREMELY DANGEROUS.
Nurses should wash or use alcohol scrub before and after each pt.
Doctors should also.
I also might add that you and visitors should wash each time you come and go, and read the colored signs on the doors.Wear the masks and gowns when you are supposed to .Yes they're your family but that doesn't excuse you. The nurses take up so much time looking after the visitors that won't comply it's terrible. Most of the bugs running around came from outside and from people who didn't follow directions for their medications,
If the scrub is located outside the room you may not se them use it so...My floor scrubs EVERYTHING
every time as best as I can tell.
Now back to our specialy scheduled program :A tragedy in Danville.
These conditions really should be reported to Dept. of Health and Human Services, and JCAHO for the good of the community. They are hazardous to patient's health as well as visitors.
Thank you for sharing, too.
I'm sure you are right about all of this becuase I am not in the hospirtal business. When I was in there, it was no dirtier than the average home. You should see our daughters room, and I'm setting in it now using her cumputer. All I'm saying is that if you get well like I did and have not gotten sick, then that seems to be the main thing. That's all. I would go back to Danville Regional again. My wife is saying she wont, but I would. Maybe its as dirty as people say but maybe I just dont get bothered. My wife is saying it says mopre on me than it does the hospital.
Research shows the biggest offenders in infection control practices are physicians. they don't think they are theproblem but it is basic and common sense. Alweays ask your healthcare provider to wash his/her hands before touching you. ALWAYS!
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