HB1037 passes the Senate on a vote of 40-0.
Good job, Danny.
http://www.richmondsunlight.com/bill/2008/hb1037
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Sites of Interest
- DRMC's "Here for our community" site
- LPNT - company news/profile (answers.com)
- LPNT news on the web
- Consultant's report to Commission
- Citizens Commission
- Danville Regional Foundation
- DRMC Wikipedia
- LifePoint Company History
- Danville City Council
- Nashville Biz Journal
- DRMC "Danville News & Views"
- DRMC Advisory Board of Directors
Letter to Employees, February 7, 2007
Dear DRMC Associates, Physicians and Volunteers:
Thank you for all your efforts to provide healthcare to the citizens of the Dan River Region. Providing healthcare, saving lives, and improving the quality of the lives of our friends, family and neighbors is a high calling, and you are answering that call each and every day. Delivering on the high expectations of those we serve is a tremendous responsibility, shared by everyone – physicians, nurses, technical and support staff, volunteers, managers and administration.
It’s no secret that to be successful in meeting this responsibility, we must work together. We have seen in our Emergency Department the good things that can happen when staff, physicians and management work together effectively. The reduction in wait times and fewer patients leaving without treatment are ample proof. You should all be proud of this accomplishment.
It is our hope that all of us on the hospital team, and indeed the entire community, can come together around Danville Regional and make it a source of genuine pride and positive economic activity for this area. Coming together is way overdue.
When Mr. Bill Carpenter, CEO of LifePoint and three other corporate officers were in our hospital in January, they openly apologized for mistakes made at the onset of the hospital sale. Knowing what they know at this point in time, they would have definitely done things differently. LifePoint has committed the support and resources needed to make DRMC a hospital of which we all can be proud. In addition, we, as leaders in different areas of the hospital, commit our time and energy to that same goal.
The important thing to remember is that on one person or small group can make this hospital successful. It will take the support and commitment of every single one of us who are connected to DRMC in any way. We need your help to make this happen.
Going forward won’t be easy. Any organization of this size and complexity has issues.
But it is time to move on, and move ahead. Constructive suggestions are always OK, and in fact welcomed, because there is almost always more than one “right way” to accomplish goals. Bitter, destructive criticism isn’t OK. There’s a reason they call it “holding grudges,” because the only person who feels bad is the one holding them. It’s time for us to let these go.
Good things can happen if we channel our energies on positive activities. Never has this been more important than now.
During 2006 and 2007 $26 million is being invested to create some good things – the build out of the 5th and 6th floors, the new radiation/oncology equipment, addition of PACS and a new state of the art CT machine. These improvements, coupled with your caring approach, will provide better, more complete care for our patients, close to home.
Recent patient satisfaction scores have improved, and will continue to improve as long as we focus our efforts on providing the best care for our patients and support for each other. We also fully recognize the importance of improving staff and physician satisfaction, and the positive impact this will have on the patients we serve.
We also have a big challenge that will require everyone’s best – our Joint Commission accreditation review, which will occur sometime in the next couple of months. When you think about it, it is not a stretch to say that the lifeblood of this community is dependent upon Danville Regional maintaining Joint Commission accreditation.
Joint Commission accreditation is a key to the continued success of one of the largest employers in the region, and the place where the majority of our citizens come to receive healthcare. An accredited hospital makes the community more attractive for residents who already are here, and also for those people and their employers who are looking for a good place to live, work, play and invest. It also directly impacts the livelihood of all associates and physicians.
We need to place a tremendous amount of importance and urgency around preparing for Joint Commission, because accreditation is vital to all of us. While some might think loss of accreditation hurts LifePoint, the real losers are those of us who live and work in this community. We must join together to protect one of our most valuable community assets. Our region’s economic recovery depends on it.
So we go back to our original points: we are fortunate to be in a position to serve others, which is a tremendous responsibility we accept every day. All of us want to make this a better place to work, and a better place for our neighbors to receive treatment. We are committed to supporting you and know that together we will make DRMC the very best it can be. We appreciate each of you.
Sincerely,
Dr. Betty Jo Foster
Chairman, DRMC Advisory Board
Arthur M. Doloresco
President/ CEO
Richard A. Smith, M.D.
Chief of Staff
28 comments:
I was with my sister-in-law at DRMC this evening. She was on one of the newly opened floors. She asked for a private room and of course these rooms have 2 beds each. She is very sick with cancer. My shoes stuck to the dirty floor as I went back and forth trying to do things for her. The other patient had a stream of visitors in and out. There was 1 sink and 1 bathroom. The socializers seeing the other pt. were loud and used the bathroom several times while I was there. They "were cold" and proceeded to fiddle with the thermostat which was next to my sister-in-law's bed. There was more laughing and talking in the hall by people wearing uniforms and badges. The staff was also having a good time. My family felt like we were intruding on someone's family reunion. To top it off, a nurse came in at 5:30 and said "I will be your nurse until 7:30 then I go home. It is my day off and I am working extra." My sister-in-law asked for something for pain and she told her nothing was ordered and left the room. I happened to see her dr. in the hall and told him. He told me the order he had written at 8:30 am this morning. I found the nurse and reminded her and she said she hadn't even done her accu checks (?) and didn't have time. I see NOTHING has changed over the last year or so.
If this is the only place you talk about your experience, it won't help. Take the time to visit administration and ask to talk to someone there about what you have experienced. Some on this forum will say that it won't do any good, but at least no one can deny that they have heard customer feedback about the conditions.
Why is it always nursing who receives
all the complaints.I'm an RN and I am sick of nursing taking the brunt of all thats wrong at DRMC. What about the Pharmacy who seems to mess up every medication order. I spend half of my day re faxing orders to them.Or the Rehab Dept with their greater then thou attitudes.And don't get me started on the Respiratory Dept. Half that dept has no idea what their doing and after talking to some of the good therapist's ,they are just depressed with the whole state of things.
Nursing is the face of healthcare. There are processes that seem to need to be examinded and changed. You do have staff meetings. Are the issues with other departments discussed and not just complained about? Does your director talk to other directors to work the issues out? I also work at DRMC in another department. We have a lot of problems with nurses. I try to discuss the issues with the nurse involved at the time of the incident. Sometimes it works. Others it doesn't. But at least I AM TRYING!
Nursing at lifepoint is limited by the support of the corporation, the staffing is inadequate, the representation for the nurses is inadequate, and the managerial structure and support from lifepoint is inadequate.This is lifepoints philosophy starve them and keep the money for BIG bonuses. lifepoint has a notorious nationwide reputation for this, as do for profit "hospitals" in general.
I see nothing has changed. My assessment? The problem starts with the management. Both those int he big offices and those at the director level. Lets look at the directors how many have both the proper education and the experience to be in their roles? How many are certified? How many actually know what they are doing? The few I know and I am not just talking nursing directors do not have the education, experience or support to perform effectively. They are in self preservation mode. I see it everyday in their actions. They care only to get through the day, stay out of sight and oh yes not work very hard.
For the sister trying to meet her sisters needs. Ask to speak to the CNO. Do not try the director or supervisor we know how useless they are. Write down names of the nurses who are speaking to you unprofessionally and give solid examples of the incompetence, lack of compassion you are seeing.
Seems we are not alone.........
From:
http://www.topix.net/forum/com/lpnt/T35U5CAELVGIOOFKK
Lake Havasu City, AZ
The LifePoint hospital in Lake Havasu City, AZ is just as bad. I recently quit my job because I was completely fed up with the corporate BS that was forced down the throats of the employees and patients. I have decided if you want to be treated as a valuable asset to an organization, the only way to go is work for a nonprofit health care facility which is exactly what I plan to do. From what I've learned thus far, LifePoint seems to take over hospitals in rural areas and turn them into a monopoly because patients have no other options when there is a true emergency.
Albuquerque, NM
They are doing the same type of things at our little New Mexico hospital. We can't even get RNs for the Med-Surg/Tele areas unless they're new grads. Then of course, they give them 6-8 patients each and burn them out until they move away! That leads to travel nurses, of which we have way too many for a city that has a school of nursing. Well, now the union 1199 has dropped in for personal visits at the nurses' homes. Why, no one at the top cares. Oh, they do listen, and they are "there for us" but all we get is lip service. Has anyone out there had a hospital worker union take over at a LFPT hospital. We'd love to know how it's going. Thanks for listening to my story: we need help here.
Big Yawn...
"Big yawn..."?
Rhetoric from a useless , pathetic, apathetic, jackass.
How dare you yawn at something that has destroyed Danville Healthcare and is threatening the entire U.S.
Get a brain.
I called the CNO several times a week ago and left several messages in reference to a matter, guess what NO REPLY.
lifepoint is, as pathetic does.
Sometines legs work better than fingers...just an idea.
Yep , I walked away from that disgrace a while ago , got tired of watching the patients suffering from lack of staff, the mistreatment of the staff, and the spin and manipulation of one of the most disgraceful corporations that I have ever seen. God bless anyone that stayed. I, and everyone I know that left lifepoint, are so much happier. The treatment of the patients and staff is far superior to the lifepoint version of DRMC and any other lifepoint that I know of by firsthand accounts.
This old grey blog, she ain't what she used to be. Maybe we should just shoot her and put her out of her misery.
That's most likely because most of the employees that truely cared are gone. If the position was filled, it was by a person who is a corporate lackey, or just didn't know any better. But hey, it's just a business, right, right???
I here a few more DOC's are on the way out stay tuned. Soon we will only have the Knifepoint DOC's left and maybe thats what they want.
YAWN
I see we still have a jackass on the wagon, also I hear the "3B" director is gone along with several more prominent, talented physicians, lifepoint filling spaces with their poor excuses for MD's
So has the exodus bottomed out yet? It has been a while since I left and I still hear all of all the discourse. People still leaving, moral is still low. But is there any light at the end of the tunnel yet, or are the lights still out? Just wondering.
I think the hole is just geeting deeper.
lab lost 7 employees on monday.
I left DRMC in January. The biggest reason, the lack of care from the top. I felt Lifepoint was building a large bonfire and we(nurses) might as well throw our licenses in it. We had no support and no resources for support. The whole system is failing. Nothing has changed. I went to the CNO before I made the decision to leave. Obviously, it was not on the agenda to try and keep seasoned nurses with multiple certifications."I'll match the money if that's what is making you leave." Sure money is nice, but it was the care that I was not able to give due to their cock-eyed business decisions. I went to nursing school to take care of my patients, not to treat them as numbers and see how many charges we can come up with. Sad scenario in Danville. Great staff leaving constantly.
So this is were we are false record keeping, false billing. These are not here say this all has happened to my Family. Example: A family member was transfered to another hospital (Thank God) weeks later we recived bills for itmes used and room charges for several days after the the family member left. The insurance company was also billed and even made payments for the days the person was not there. This was 7 months ago and we still have not had it all corrected. All I can say is if you have used DRMC in the last 2 years and you did not review your bills and whats been paid better look it over.
2 Questions, What IS the satus of the Lab now? How many left haow many gone all together? And what is up with the cafeteria?
About the only thing they haven't figured out a way to cut is parking lot spaces.
Is Sodexho in charge of the cafeteria now? I know Aramark is gone. Whats going on there? Had experience with them and they are not much better than the other contract companies that are in the hospital now. Any current employees have any comments on this?
I heard layoffs are happening again within the hospital. What is going on?
My husband works there and has for 20 years. He is ready to throw in the towel. He has started looking elsewhere to work.
He comes home every day with knots in his stomach. He says people in his department are being cut.
How many other departments are cutting people?
Sound off : which departments have had cuts recently? And where were you "laid off" from?
Lab.
Me along with several others.
Some PRN folks were told they weren't needed til further notice. Sounds like a PRN layoff to me.
"Panel: Danville Regional making progress"
Danville Register & Bee
April 11, 2008
Officials with the Healthcare Leadership Council have decided to disband and turn oversight concerns at Danville Regional Medical Center over to the board of trustees.
“Considering the progress made by DRMC over the past year, along with changes in leadership of the DRMC Board of Trustees and Executive team, the time has come to pass the baton,” Don Nodtvedt, chairman of the council, said in a prepared statement. “It has become apparent to the HLC that these new leaders have assumed full responsibility for making improvements in the hospital.”
Nodtvedt said the council and the hospital have worked together to make improvements at Danville Regional during the past year.
Danville Regional is fully accredited by the Joint Commission and improvements have been made in staffing and recruitment at the hospital’s Intensive Care Unit, he said.
A complaint resolution response procedure has been in place for patients who use hospital services.
Procedures to improve Danville Regional’s emergency room service are being implemented and the hope is the board of trustees will monitor these changes, Nodtvedt said.
“There is an improved working relationship and growing trust between administration and the medical staff,” he said.
Danville Regional’s capital investment of more than $25 million (including the improvements to the fifth and sixth floor, the purchase of a new 64-slice CT scanner and the purchase of a state-of-the-art linear accelerator used for cancer treatment) are evidence of its commitment to expanding the quality and scope of medical services to the community, Nodtvedt said.
Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors Chairman Coy Harville, however, said these items were part of the purchase agreements involved in the July 2005 sale of the hospital to LifePoint Hospitals Inc.
Nodtvedt also pointed to the continuation of a cardiac surgery services agreement with Duke Private Diagnostic Clinic as an example of the hospital’s commitment to patient care.
“Much has been done in the recent months,” he said. “Congratulations to Danville Regional for their progress.
“While proud of their progress, Danville Regional and the hospital’s board of trustees acknowledge the challenges that still lay ahead to make Danville’s Primary Health Care Provider an even greater asset in the region’s economic growth and quality of life.”
Harville said the leadership council has done all it can, but it is up to LifePoint to follow through.
“It’s in LifePoint’s hands,” he said Thursday.
The Healthcare Leadership Council was formed in mid-2007 by former Danville Mayor Wayne Williams, Harville and Caswell County (N.C.) Board of Commissioners Chairman George Ward.
It was smoke and mirrors anyway .
window dressing at it's best.
$900 a unit for blood is probably cheap to what it'll be from "outside".
"If the paper says it it must be true" ..... IDIOTS.
for lifepoint to think that everyone around here is stupid enough to believe their propoganda ...I just don't even have the words and time to describe the arrogant stupidity that runs danville, GOOD RIDDANCE.
Post a Comment