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.”
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47 comments:
To think, our "newspaper" would print this and cover up the national report. They are sure desperate to get back the Lifepoint advertising.
It's good to see that this commission has worked so hard. I certainly applaud their efforts.
The only questions that remain now are, what will Lifepoint do with this information and if changes are made how long will they last? I think we all know Lifepoint and their track record pretty well.
The bottom line is that Lifepoint has an obligation to its shareholders to produce profit and make them money in return for their investment.
Danville Regional is not the only hospital in the country to go through this turmoil. Hospital corporations across the country have been allowing this to happen while patients pay the ultimate price.
The "nursing shortage" has been fueled by hospital corporations who allow unsafe staffing to continue in order to make more money. Then they cry the "nursing shortage" is to blame when there are bad outcomes.
The CNA/NNOC have paved the way for RNs across the country to speak out against this corruption.
We do have a voice and it's time to start using it by saying we will no longer allow this to continue to happen to OUR patients. We need to EXPECT Results, not hope for them.
We cannot wait for Lifepoint to make the right decisions. We need to force them into action.
Patients first, Profits second.
unionnurse.blogspot.com
Nothing good will ever happen with LifePoint. How many times do folks have to be bitten by this snake to understand that it bites?
OK...I've watched this blog for months and have done so quietly. I have to say that I've never seen a more obvious case of "idiot-itis" in all my life.
It's clear that you're a bunch of folks that throw rocks from the sidelines and bring not one solution. You have no clue about the business of healthcare and yet you wage a war of worthless words.
UnionNurse...let me tell you about what California-legislated 4-1 ratios get...even crappier care than before. I know...my grandmother was in a southern CA hospital and the care was horrific. It's just like education,the answer is not throwing more money at the problem. You say "patients first, profits second"...hmmmm....what about the profits derived from member dues? So...why not run the unions with zero sum accounting?
As for the phrase "low hanging fruit", you simpletons couldn't even translate accurately. It has nothing to do with race or condescension...just the business of looking for optimal opportunity (which was actually a compliment to your alredy pitiful little hospital.)
As to the sum paid for the hospital...where did the deed indicate ownership for any of you? You keep referring to it as "your money" and yet I would doubt that any/many of you contributed materially to the assets,besides having medicaid pay for your children's deliveries.
There must not be much exciting to do in Danville...it's clear that this blog is a favorite way to pass the time.
Interesting thing is...you kept coming back to read it. Thanks for your time and input.
To the poster above who diagnosed us all with a severe case of "idiotitis"....thank you for clarifying so succinctly everything that we have been debating over the past several months.
Attention citizens of Danville, Pittsylvania County, Caswell County, Mayor, County Administrator, City Council, Citizens Commission, Joint Commission, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Virginia Attorney General, editors and media representatives, and all other interested parties...you can stand down your level of concern about what is happening at DRMC. Thanks to our fellow concerned citizen, we were actually a bunch of simpletons suffering from the dementia brought on by an acute case of idiotitis.
We'll take two aspirin and stop complaining. Or, maybe we'll eat a low-hanging apple to keep the doctor away.
Whew...thank goodness it was all a bad dream, Auntie Em.
These kind of people " are the good old boy network that thas kept danville down and depressed for decades.Instead of prospering and growing like EVERYTHING around us ( Greensboro, Roanoke Winston Salem etc.) These crooks have made millions off of the backs of others .And to the JACKASS who asked if we'd ever materially added to the upkeep or building of the hospital , Learn some of Danvilles history and you'll see where people donated and donated and some made to donate without choice by there employer.
The money was taken from employees without choice for the building of DRMC Some were voluntary (Goodyear Corning etc.) Some were not (Dan River)
The hospital was built by the community for the community not for a few crooks to sell it out to finance their families , well I guess a few in Danville have always benifitted from the suffering of many here.
Oh and if you had any training in accounting you would know that "zero sum accounting" as you call it will only work in a predictable environment , it will not work in an ebb and flow or emergency based environment.Of course if you had an MBA and/or a BSN you might have learned that .You would also know that"-itis" means inflammed , well guess what Einstein, we're all inflammed, this corporation and the decades old legacy of poor leadership ,indeed the lack of leadership, is DISGRACEFUL. SO before you insult EDUCATED HIGHLY TRAINED employees get a clue.....
The preliminary denial is on the Joint Comm. web site now , it's official.
If you had read a bit closer, ou would have seen my "zero-sum" comment was aimed at the union...not the nurses. That environment is QUITE predictable...collect member dues and do nothing to promote patinet well-being. Ask patiets' families in CA. As usual, your attention to educated and logical observation is limited.
Poor fools.
The only thing that has stopped Danville from moving forward like other communities in this is area, is the overall attitude of it's citizens. reisitance to change, living in the good ol days, unwelcoming to "outsiders" and the mentality that others need to solve our problems. I do not use the word "our" lightly. I lived in Danville for over 10 years and still feel like an outsider. I see talented people who care about this community move to town and leave after years of banging their heads against the wall. Y'all have a no win outlook no matter the subject and it is always someone else's fault. Grow up, take ownership, stop whining and take control. Not just about the hospital but about your schools, the economy, redevelopment, the environment etc. other commuities do it. Why not here?
This is my first contribution to this Blog:
Danville's biggest problem is the presence of so many outsiders trying to get in on the deal and bringing in these ideas they call progress. The bank boys and their predecessors have taken care of us for years. Look at Haiti, for example: The country was in far better shape with Baby Doc Duvalier running it. Look at Iraq: The people were much better off under Saddam. Look at Danville, we were all much better off with the bank boys running it, and we still would be but for all this bitching and complaining. Everybody has some problems, and real trouble starts when you let people publicize them. We have a newspaper that's meek as a mouse, and that's what is needed. Truth is, were it now for this Blog, people would never know about all these problems and we would still be moving along as nicely as ever. Sorry, but when you have a place like Danville that has no elected leadership, you better count on the vision and guidance of a shadow government like the bank boys. The sooner people realize that, the sooner we will have reason for hope.
I disagree about the outsiders causing the trouble. No place like Danville has ever welcomed outsiders, and I think that fortunately, for better or for worse, such folks either give up or are run off. We are living in a profound state of ignorance here, and that's not all bad.
One question: How many people would know how bad the hospital is if we didn't have all the publicity about it? Only the relatively few who go there would know, and only they would be vtaking their business out of town.
Another: How many people would know of the city's systematic--with the help of the bank boys--destruction of our past? It is only because of publicity.
The biggest problem we have is publicity, and this website doesn't help at all.
As for the first-time poster, may God help us all.
Then today's paper: Ben Davenport, apparently the leading bank boy with guys named Majors and Ashby, has now reemerged on page one--man, he loves page one!--to announce that he is tearing down the city's greatest legacy because he couldn't get enough federal money to enrich himself further.
As far as I can tell (and I AM an outsider), these guys have never, ever, ever done anything except to feather their nests. They have destroyed what we might have had in terms of history. They are without vision, without character and without a shred of integrity.
Where in God's Good Name did such blood-suckers come from? Are they outsiders?
We came here for teaching positions, and I cannot imagine a sicker community in the United States. We'll be glad to be gone, and I'm sure you will be glad to have us gone.
Bye!
That commenter may be an outsider, but he's a smart one. What a great descrpton of Davenport, Majors, Ashby et.al.:
"They are without vision, without character and without a shred of integrity."
Calm down. Danville's not all bad. The VC has re-opened. That's bright spot in a long night of despair.
Anonymous said...
"As for the phrase "low hanging fruit", you simpletons couldn't even translate accurately"
Sorry. but YOU missed something in the translation, it doen't have anything to do with race but is a condescension.....In the world of corporate takeovers, "low hanging fruit" is less desirable. If it is low hanging and GOOD then it would have been picked first, instead Companies are climbing the tree for better fruit. Hence its been "picked around" left hanging until it falls off the tree or someone willing to settle comes by. So it was in effect a slur.
Now the funny part....you watch the blog for months, then say "It's clear that you're a bunch of folks that throw rocks from the sidelines and bring not one solution. "
Yet your whole post is nothing but throwing rocks and you didn't offer even a hint of a solution.
What you just trying to fit in?
June 23, 2007 6:55:00 AM EST
I resent the suggestion that Danville is like Haiti or Iraq. We have a democracy here. It just isn't working very well. It's time for us all to try harder. I think it would be helpful if the newspaper offered Art Doloresco an opportunity to tell us what he thinks about the whole hospital situation. He might have some useful comments and observations--and, now, not be constrained by his former employer.
As an African-American, I can say that "low-hanging fruit" has severe racist overtones. That's what they called us when we were begging for honest work. I'm beyond all that in my professional life today, but one never forgets such a thing.
Otherwise, indeed, this is one sick community, and I am disgusted over being trotted around as a token black. And the guys you call the Bank Boys are the worst about tokenism, especially in their artificial efforts and pretences to show "balance" on their committees and things.
Sorry, but Danville is a sick place, and I'm sorry not to be able to offer any solutions. I'll take advantage of my position as an "educated black" (in effect, saying 'Yassuh Boss') until I can get the hell out of here.
What a ridiculous comment. It may be tokenism, appointing blacks to these committess and foundations and commissions and what have you. But you have to start somewhere.
The scandal is that the white guys jawboned the city's top vote-getter, Sherman Saunders, into NOT taking the mayor's seat when he deserved it and would do us proud. The Bank Boys and others just couldn't stand having a black in that position.
They are so deeply prejudiced and too ignorant to remember that some of the city's very best years were under Ruby Archie.
Sign me Disgusted.
"The biggest problem we have is publicity, and this website doesn't help at all. "
It's not publicity...that's what the hospital uses its PR department for...or, at least, used to.
This is called transparency.
If this blog didn't exist, that would be one last channel for people to discuss what is happening there.
Since all of our other information would either come from the erstwhile CEO, Doloresco, or through the filter of the newspaper, it is extremely helpful to me to have a place where people can discuss the situation. That was the purpose of the blog...no more, no less...circumvent the normal channels of communication.
Yes, just like the letters to the editor, there are posters here who you wish would just turn off the computer and go back to watching TV. But, more and more these days, there are contributions to the dialogue that would never have come to light had it not been for a forum such as this.
So, for those of you who complain that nothing is ever done here but bit**in and moaning...please, delete this address from your web browser and don't spend another minute of your time here.
If, however, you have something valuable to contribute or a question that needs to be asked, then type away, my friends.
Well said sentinel event. You have opened doors to this tragedy that might never have been opened.
As for idiot-itis. Everybody is allowed to have their own opinion. Not everyone has to agree. That's why they call it a democracy. I feel no response is necessary.
"One question: How many people would know how bad the hospital is if we didn't have all the publicity about it? Only the relatively few who go there would know, and only they would be vtaking their business out of town."
You're saying this is a PROBLEM? We're not talking about a car dealership or a restaurant here...we're talking about a HOSPITAL whom you should be able to trust with your life and those of your family members. This is not a service to be chosen lightly. Full disclosure is the only way to ensure that the best possible care is being delivered.
"The only thing that has stopped Danville from moving forward like other communities in this is area, is the overall attitude of it's citizens. reisitance to change, living in the good ol days, unwelcoming to "outsiders" and the mentality that others need to solve our problems."
To address an above comment:
Wrong, Wrong ,Wrong, Resistance to change of an increasingly Immoral and corrupt society is not bad .
DRMC was flourishng without lifepoint Bachelors degree programs from leading inst.(ODU VCU UVA)Affiliations with Duke and ever increasing services all seved by non-profit EMS, quit an accomplishment.Danville, and Indeed other communitites can blame "outsiders" for its woes
Exhibits
A: NAFTA sending most of the product industries in rural communities to China Singapore etc.
B:CAFTA sending oil wheat cattle corn etc. to Central America.
C:Lifepoint ..In Effect TFTA
Tennessee Free Trade Agreement
sending our once local resources to Tenn.
D:Boys at the Bank: They have collectively never benefitted Danville at all : "They are without vision, without character and without a shred of integrity."
E: Past City "Fathers" You have to go back for some of these
"missing" funds ,misuse of inmates(not recent)parties thrown at citizenry expense.Owners thrown off of valuable Riverside property.
Land sold for pennies to developers only to be granted permits to build at HUGE profits to the builder and the lender after the original owners were duped.
We could go on and on.
"Those who cannot recall history are doomed to repeat it" and we are.
As for "zero-sum" comment was aimed at the union.Yes misread , point taken.I'm tired I take care of patients (50% more than prelifepoint).
Anytime attention is divided up on fewer patients per nurse the "LOGICAL" observation would be more care per each .Rational Division of time.
"As usual, your attention to educated and logical observation is limited"
Yes it is. It's "Limited" to a Masters Degree ,2 Bachelor's,numerous certifications in healthcare and being born here and watching 10 or 20 people destroy everything for their own personal gain.
Who is more the fool? The Fool? Or the fool who follows him?
We are not following the fools.
Let me restate, We are not willing to follow fools.
We are a turning point.
Either a leader emerges to seize the moment and capitalize politically on the horrors besetting us, or one does not. We either rise from the ashes with new leadership, or we fall back into the despair of no leadership.
Now is the moment.
Every citizen should demand that people running for public office commit themselves to hauling in the Bank Boys and demanding they use our $200 million to work out of this--or we fall back into the same old, same old.
The moment is now.
It's incredible whats going on. I can't beleive it. This is terrific information, but what a train wreck!
Welcome, Rip Van Winkle.
-AMS
Can someone explain how all this can happen, right up to and including the destruction of our hospital and its great reputation, and the city council and other elected officials are still sitting there?
The only answer I can think of is that none of them have to use the hospital, so they don't care! And they certainly don't care about the rest of us.
I teach school, and I hear horrible stories from some of my pupils about what has happened to some of their family members.
The only way I would go there is to be hauled in unconscious, but I am one of the lucky ones, like our elected officials.
From what I heard at church this morning, Bob Ashby is ready to fall on his knees and beg the community to forgive him for his role in all of this.
Greed is one the seven .
He sold his soul for this deal .
He can beg all he wants ,it won't do any good.
How about we hear old Bob on his knees begging forgiveness??
Fat chance! He will slink quietly around until he dies, ashamed to have been called a doctor in this town, the figurehead for the five horsemen of the acpocalypse.
Well put, but don't take it out on his wife. Ashby is sorrier than dirt, and his wife should be pitied. As they used to say, "She took her ducks to a mighty poor market," when she married that huckster.
I've never set eyes on Ashby and don't know what church he's in. But the biggest Christian north of Danville is Bank Boy Davenport, and his church is falling to pieces with people so sick of him trying to run everything. It's something about these greedy money-grubbers like Ashby and Davenport that make them want to run everything, like they are control freaks, or something and people get so tired of their stupidity. If any of these guys were smart, they would adopt a different style. But they are dumb, dumb, dumb. They are like little kids who can only express themselves by breaking toys--especially other children's toys.
Hold on, there! Davenport is working hard to grow his church. He abolished the sacrament of baptismal immersion in order to get in fresh members. He claimed he had trouble doing that when people felt stupid being dunked by the preacher. So give Little Ben credit where he deserves it--growing Chatham Baptist.
Oh that's rich !
He's now abolishing practices set forth in the Bible , Boy he does think he's GOD.
Uh...back on track please?
C'mon folks.
Yes, that's a little too personal, but I would argue that the controlling instincts spoken of rather crudely here are quite the same instincts that wrecked our fine hospital. The bank boys were looking for fast cash for pet projects and never thought through what the ramifications would be. They were blinded by what their ambitions that were totally oblivious to the good of the community. Their myopic vision left no room for any other opinion. A true visionary and leader like Landon Wyatt was forced to resign in the face of their certainty they were right.
In that sense--and it is not a narrow sense, in my view--the behaviour of these guys in other areas is significant. (I admired the comment that they are like little kids who enjoy breaking other kids' toys.)
Look at what's happening with the Long Mill project--the bank boys are quite cheerfully willing to destroy all of it without a second thought. They took it over, claimed they were smart enough to do something useful with it, failed miserably because they didn't have the smarts to do it, and now--just because they weren't smart enough--they are willing to destroy all of it.
Same with DRMC: They were not smart enough to run the hospital, so they sold it off willy-nilly and allowed it to be destroyed.
These things ARE connected.
Careful, now. Long Mill is not ALL bank boys. I gather that some of the group have been disgusted by Davenport's bullying and that sort of bullying was a huge factor in destroying our hospital.
I'm sorry, SE, but I can't let that stand. Davenport "growing his church" is a huge joke. People are fleeing the place faster than they are fleeing everything else he touched.
Bob Ashby is not an evil guy. He is easily led. He grew up on the wrong side of the tracks. He is impressed by the gold-plated nonsense from the Boys at the Bank. They sucked him into all of this. I know he was their front man, etc., and that they no doubt laugh at him behind his back, but I feel he is much more one of "us" then one of "them." Give him a break.
I agree the point I feel is that
The five and indeed their predecessors have a long history in danville of keeping many down so that they could be the alpha males in the pack.
Why are you people still arguing about Dr. Ashby? What is going to happen at the hospital? I don't work there, but i certainly care deeply about it.
I wish people who know ten times more than I would lay out some possible scenarios....I mean, is it POSSIBLE for Lifepoint to regain confidence? Is it possible LP will sell to someone else>? Is it possible that the American National Suits will use all that dough to help make something happen? What happens if the Health Dept. closes the place down?
How about some answers?
Right! They could never be the Alpha Males on their merits....only by beating down the competitiion by lying, cheating and stealing.
Speaking of Alpha Males, this community certainly has NONE.
Woof, Woof!
Signed: Alpha Male
Disgusting.
I vote the nurse with the M.A., 2 bachelors, various degrees, and heavy patient load becomes new interim director!-or at minimum co-director! Locally born and raised-very good! Obviously a great multi-tasker! Encourage a compassionate well rounded board(elected local docs, chamber, teachers, community service leaders etc. by popular vote)and delegate responsible department heads with precise reporting and problem solving strategies. Round table discussions necessary, with open public communication branches supported. Implement and encourage goals of quality improvement with control to guarantee accredidation continuance. Weekly "walk-throughs of board members throughout hospital". Just get Lifepoint to agree.........implement budgets to accomodate. Am I dreaming or is this possible? Could be the only way for Lifepoint to Save this Hospital. If not, encourage sale.
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