Danville Register & Bee editorial - August 24, 2008
Danville Regional Medical Center received some bad publicity this week in a USA Today story about the federal government’s Hospital Compare Web site (hospitalcompare.hhs.gov).
The story reported on hospital death rates for adults suffering from heart attacks, heart failure and pneumonia. Danville Regional’s death rate for heart attacks was 19.6 percent; for heart failure, the death rate was 15.5 percent. By contrast, Lehigh Valley Hospital in Pennsylvania had a heart attack death rate of just 11.6 percent.
The Hospital Compare Web site gives people the ability to easily make apples-to-apples comparisons of their health care options.
The availability of this kind of free, readily accessible information offers our hospital the opportunity to publicly demonstrate that the changes it has made have changed care there for the better. When the hospital was locally owned, the community had no way of knowing that kind of information. Now, it’s on the Internet for the world to see — and for local people to study.
That 19.6 percent death rate for heart attack patients in 2007 was the worst in the nation. But the statistics for 2006 were actually much worse: 24 percent.
“We continue to improve our care,” said Dr. Michael A. Moore, director of medical education at the hospital. “This just makes us want to improve further.”
Between 2006 and 2007, the heart failure death rate at Danville Regional actually jumped from 14.6 percent to 15.5 percent.
Those two years, 2006 and 2007, were tumultuous ones at Danville Regional Medical Center; they were the first two full years Danville Regional was owned by LifePoint Hospitals Inc.
During that time, there were staff layoffs, revolving door management, a preliminary denial of the hospital’s accreditation and two separate attempts by Danville City Council to publicly study the problems at Danville Regional. During the same time, we saw increased marketing efforts by other regional hospitals to attract local people to their facilities.
What the numbers don’t show is the work that has been done this year by CEO Jerel Humphrey, the hiring of cardiothoracic surgeon Dr. Richard Embry and the agreement that will keep the Heart Center of the Piedmont affiliated with Duke Heart Center through 2010.
Clearly, the death rates for heart attack, heart failure and pneumonia at Danville Regional during 2006 and 2007 are not acceptable.
We applaud the federal government for lifting the veil of secrecy from these kinds of statistics.
As for Danville Regional, its challenge remains: To continue to improve so that next year at this time, we’ll have some good news to report.
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26 comments:
The editorial alleges that this information would not have been made public if the hospital continued "locally owned". This slanting of the facts is inappropriate since that data is reported for ALL, profit and non-profit facilities. It is not being part of Lifepoint that brought this data out. Lifepoint has positioned the hospital at the absolute bottom of the list. Martinsville is just as bad. Regardless of the eye candy provided by the Duke agreement, the ER, ICU and floors are understaffed and that is where patients die. The Duke agreement was fluff and that money could have been better spent to hire back the excellent people who were let go.
The only good news that lifepont could "announce for next year" would be if the hospital was sold to a non-profit such as Duke or Moses Cone or Novant.
AMEM
or is that "Ahem? LOL
No pagan, It's Amen !!
"NO PAGAN, ITS AMEN"
YOU BLOGGERS ARE SO DIVISIVE, WHEN WILL YOU LEARN TO WORK TOGETHER TO BRING ABOUT THIS CHANGE THAT YOU WANT IN HEALTHCARE! THERE IS STRENGTH IN WORKING TOGETHER. STOP UNDERCUTTING EACH OTHER, WE ARE ALL IN THIS FIGHT TOGETHER. OR ARE WE??
I'm sorry....what was the original topic/post???
How about a hospital not treating its sickest patients well??
That is what the data say.
Vote with your feet and leave...
I voted . I left and so have about 100+ RNs and untold amounts of MDs including some of the US's top Cardiac, neuro-surgeons, surgeons and others.
"LEARN TO WORK TOGETHER TO BRING ABOUT THIS CHANGE THAT YOU WANT IN HEALTHCARE! "
First: STOP YELLING !
Second We did work together we all left...
It was an innocent attempt at humor...AHEM is commonly known as the spelling signifying the clearing of one's throat. Where the hell did the "Pagan" comment come from? Jeez...slow day in bloggerville, eh?
Rumor mill has it Danville Oncology is not admitting patients to DRMC anymore. Does anyone know the truth to that. One of those doctors is on the DRMC board. If true, sounds like a loud message is being sent. Anybody have more info on this?
pagan probably came from the apparent joke you made of the term "Amen"....Anyway Oncology not going to DRMC ? lifepoint needs to GO AWAY NOW.
Maybe if you had spelled AMEN correctly, the other poster wouldn't have made the joke. Just a guess.
to the poster above: It's amazing when actual, non-opinionate dpoints are made here, the posts dry up almost immediately. You were right, good try at humor.
Next dig anyone?
As evident of how bad lifepoint has dropped the ball: all-around danville are outstanding NON-profit teaching facilities ranking in the highest standards for care, in the U.S., in virtually all areas of medicine -trauma, research, pediatrics, cardiovascular, etc. Even Lynchburg is greatly and rapidly expanding quality and service.
The only hospital(s) in a 200 mile radius that continually declines is, you guessed it- lifepoint. Don't believe it? Read the reports -they're everywhere.
And as even more evidence of why the City/County fail: Headlines of Mr. Harville and Mr. Davenport politic-ing at their "farms" (neither of which are farms) while the city and county continue to fall into the toilet.
One had the roads leading to his "cleaned up" for the "bash" while a hazardous junkyard continues to operatre in his district, detracting from property values and endangering wells and watershed to the Dan-River , not to mention the noise pollution and destruction of tax-payer roads in the county and the city.
And people wonder why lifepoint hospital in danville and Danville/Pitts. Co. in general are in such bad shape?
Fools and dishonesty beget fools and dishonesty.
lifepoint is just one more pea in the pod...
Of course they would promote a sale to a pathetic company as they can't even govern their own districts well/fairly.
So we suffer with a pathetic hospital and communities that are being degraded. such a shame that so few can cause so much destruction for so many.
In light of the recent publically reported heart attack mortality data at DRMC, Moses Cone has now moved in and is negotiating to purchase two different Danville cardiology practices. This means that their patients will have to go to Greensboro for cardiac catheterization or heart surgery. This may be the financial end for the Danville hospital as cardiology accounts for most of the hospital income.
Longer drive better health.
For whom the bell tolls - lifepoint.
OK you hear the rumor, now the confirmation:
Oncologist have all gone to consulting staff only
Pulmonary... same thing
The cardiologist...welll, if they can help it don't come to the hospital
Duke & Lifepoints negotiations for cardiology coverage...falling by the wayside
Yes, the heart program is next. I give it at most a year
Pain clinic is closing
OB has trouble finding physicians willing to deliver
So who's the winner... any hospital in surounding region of course!
Go Lifepoint!!!
About a hundred years ago the unsinkable Titanic sunk. Does Lifepoint think they are unsinkable?
Ha ha ha.........the Moses Cone rumor has surfaced yet again. Now, regarding the purchase of cardiology practices in the area. How ridiculous is this? Does anyone ever, ever think about the logical advantage(s) Cone would have in doing this?There are none presently as Cone is busy with growth/development in its own backyard...which by the way does not extend across the Virginia border.
Not as funny when it has been confirmed. just ask them.
Cone is no fool they know a medically underserved area in need of a real hospital when they see it.
Anything new with oncology or cardiology?
"Does anyone ever, ever think about the logical advantage..."
How about lots of overweight smokers in need of the care that is lacking from lifepoint.
Danville's population is old and have not guarded their health. They will/do need care, care that lifepoint is inept at providing.
Moses Cone can see the writing on the wall for DRMC and hey they wanted it in the first place but the 5 idiots only saw the money to play with. Cone is well established in providing care in smaller medically underserved areas.
lifepoint is not well versed at anything but community destruction.
actually the heart surgery program is an excellent, overlooked jewel at DRMC. You couldn't ask for better, more state of the art care.
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