The name of the game is DECEPTION..... Here's a short list of comments heard while corporate officers visited last week:
"DRMC is still 'your' hospital. We don't make local decisions at the corporate level"
"Corporate has never tried to force DRMC into a LifePoint model"
"DRMC has been recognized for its individuality"
"DRMC must reconnect with the community"
I don't know about the rest of you but I refuse to have the wool pulled over my eyes any longer. I can no longer stand by as LifePoint points the finger at DRMC associates for undermining corporate's intentions. It is not DRMC that needs to "reconnect" with the community.
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22 comments:
What a load of crap. Every bad decision by management that was handed down to us lowly employees was done so by saying to us that "corporate says so", or "this is how other Lifepoint hospitals do it". Lifepoint came in and got rid of a lot of nurses by placing them in a reassignment pool, got rid of the #1 tool in patient safety; the MAC (medication administration check) computer system that we had been nationally recognized for, put in place a computer documentaion system that is so old it is useless and very time consuming leaving little time for good patient care, and changed staffing grids so that nurses were taking care of more and more patients even though it was not safe for the nurses or patients. They also changed many other things that I could write about all day long but I think I hit the highlights. So the question is, Has Lifepoint tried to turn us into one of their other hospitals? Absolutely, we were the only hospital of this size that they owned and they tried to bring us down to their level. Well it looks like that evil plan has worked. Nurses and other vital staff have left by the handfuls and continue to leave due to poor working conditions, low staffing levels, and management that does not listen to or care about their concerns. I myself have left and will never return as long as the hospital is owned and operated by Lifepoint. Unless I have a dire emergency I will not utilize DRMC for my healthcare. Not because I believe that the staff is incompetent, but because I believe that they are overworked and want to do a good job but are hindered by corporate policies that just don't allow for good patient care. I encourage all of my family members and friends to seek healthcare at other facilities for the same reasons. It's high time that the community takes a stand and says "NO MORE" to the corporate BS that has become Danville Regional Medical Center.
It's time for the community to get involved! Patient safety IS being compromised. I don't care what LifePoint corporate says.
As "employees" we are at the mercy of LifePoint's poor business practices and as a result quality healthcare no longer exists at DRMC!
Citizens for a Better Danville has planned a meeting tomorrow night at the public library from 6pm-8pm. As a community, we must work together and demand quality healthcare. LifePoint needs to be held accountable.
These Deathpoint jackasses only know to hire consultants, advertising geniuses and CEO temps every 3 to 6 months as needed. Check out the ad where they duped local ministers into having their picture made at Cardiac Rehab and telling them it was to promote the nurses' work in rehab. Then the paper comes out and what does the ad say? "These men will tell you to truth" like the rest of us can't. I am telling you this community needs to rebel against the filthy five NOW and shut out Deathpoint or the boys at the bank will be running us all. Biker.
I was told that the boys at the bank have gotten one of their own appointed to the Lifepoint board. Can anyone verify this?
Unless they have appointed this person from the boys at the bank ssince 12/31/06...nothing is listed under the board members for them. Biker.
Deep Throat is correct. Just go to Yahoo Finance and you will find that MICHAEL P. HALEY, a director at American National Bank, was appointed to the big Lifepoint board in April, 2005. (Draw your own conclusions about the date he got his seat at Lifepoint.) Haley, who was in the window and door business in Rocky Mount, had been on the Province Hospital Board in Martinsville, which Lifepoint bought immediately before the Bank Boys sold DRMC to Lifepoint.
So that suggests that this Bank Boy Haley, to curry favor with Lifepoint, linked up his fellow AMNB Bank Boys with Lifepoint so Lifepoint could acquire two new hospitals in the same neighborhood. Then Haley, a window manufacturer, gets his seat on the big board. Wonder what else he got? Wonder when the Lifepoint cash will be flowing back into AMNB which, this week, hit a 52-week low in its stock price? Better hurry! --Deeper Throat.
NEVER HAVE SUCH GOOD MEN BEEN SO UNFAIRLY ATTACKED AS WE'VE SEEN IN THE TWO YEARS SINCE THE HOSPITAL SALE GOT OUT INTO THE PUBLIC KNOWLEDGE. THOSE BANKERS (YOU CALL THEM "THE FILTHY FIVE") HAVE DONE MORE FOR THIS COMMUNITY AND REGION THAN ALL THE BLOGGERS AND POT-SHOTTERS AND LETTER-WRITERS. THESE MEN COULD ALL BE SITTING IN THE FLORIDA SUN, BUT THEY HAVE ELECTED TO LIVE IN A PLACE LIKE THIS AND TRY TO HELP THEIR FELLOW MAN. I FOR ONE AM GRATEFUL FOR THEIR SACRIFICES. IF THEY MADE A MISTAKE SELLING THE HOSPITAL, WELL GOD BLESS THEM. EVERYBODY MAKES A MISTAKE NOW AND THEN. EVEN PEOPLE LIKE YOU WHO ATTACK THESE LEADERS. THEY'VE BROUGHT TEN TIMES MORE JOBS TO THIS REGION THAN THOSE LOST BECAUSE OF LIFEPOINT. SO, GET A NEW JOB! AND GET A LIFE!!!!!
--HAD ENOUGH.
Well I sure hope that the mistake of selling the hospital does not cost you your life since they don't have any nurses working there. But what would you know. You are probably in their pockets too and have money to seek healthcare anywhere. You have never walked in the shoes of a nurse caring for dying patients and not been able to take care of those patients because you don't have enough staff or supplies. That is what your precious banker guys have given you. A hospital with no staff, no supplies, and virtually no ability to really care for you. So when someone suffers from a medical mistake at the hands of a nurse that had 15 other patients I guess you could just say "Oh well, everybody makes mistakes" and move on. Take a job as a nursing assistant. You will see the desperation that the staff is in. You would quit on the first day and probably never come back for your own patient care. Did you ever think that we don't want a new job because we care about our hospital and our community and want to give the best patient care that we can. I don't need a new life, I need a hospital administration that will do the right thing and actually give a hoot about the patients and not their own pockets.
To HAD ENOUGH....interesting points, but I would have to say that those nurses who have left DRMC have saved and touched more lives than all the bankers in this town put together.
Like the comment above, I'm glad to see that you will be so forgiving when a medical mistake is made on you or your loved one due to staffing issues. Everyone makes 'em, right?
Enjoy your Kool-Aid.
HAD ENOUGH would you like to tell us what the filthy five have done for this community? I would like to know of their sacrifices.. because being in business and making profit all these years off of the community, taking away $100s of $1000s dollars in bonuses and getting their names in the press, the Institute and controlling the millions of dollars in profit for the Foundation seems pretty damn self-serving to me. These five did not build this hospital...textile, tobacco and tire money deducted from the average man's pay check did. These five did not run the hospital...doctors, nurses and ancillary staff that worked days, nights, holidays, and while sick did. It was not theirs to sell behind our backs, the profit is not theirs to decide when and where to spend. It was not theirs and yet they still thought they knew more than we did. Ask an American National Bank employee why they did not get any profit sharing last year, while their leader got a $5 Mil dollar bonus? Ask the Ford Dealer employees what kind of returement plan they have and if it is legal? Ask one of them if being famous in Richmond is worth switch hitting in politics. Ask one of them if even he is worried about the hospital...Yes, these men could be sitting somewhere hot...but it won't be in Florida.
To Had Enough:
If those "bankers" cared so much about this community don't you think they should have taken the time to consult with the community before selling us all down the river. DRMC has been ruined beyond repair and it is thanks to these "wonderful men" that you so adore. They never took the time to see what type of organization that Lifepoint was. Lifepoint had never owned a hospital with more than 100 beds and a patient cencus of 50-75. DRMC was a 350 bed hospital with an average cencus of 200 at the time of the sale. Lifepoint had no business trying to buy a hospital of our size. They did exactly what the staff thought they would do. They have downsized us more to their level of standard. So you can rant and rave about your precious bankers but keep in mind, they can seek healthcare anywhere they want, and they wont be going to DRMC. As the above poster stated, it is a real shame that patients are being put at risk for the sake of a big fat bounus check to the "big wigs" of Lifepoint. I can only pray that you would be so forgiving if you or one of your family were harmed by a medical mistake because the hospital did not have proper staff in place to take care of you and your family. Take notice, the nurses at DRMC are leaving for good reason. Not because they are selfish but because when you become a nurse you are bound by what is called "The Nurse Practice Act". In that act you as the nurse are fully responsible for everything that happens to your patients. Feel free to read it at www.dhp.state.va.us. Nurses are leaving because the level of care at DRMC has sunk so low that you cannot safely care for your patients. So you can lay blame anywhere you want, but when a corporation cuts you to the bone, you are not left with many options. Keep in mind as well, most hospitals are run by people in power who have never layed their hands on a real patient as is the case here. These men/women have no idea what it really takes to heal the sick and comfort the dying. Two years ago I was proud of the way our staff took care of our patients. Now I just fear for them all.
----FOR A GOOD LAUGH----
Go onto any floor of the hospital and ask to see their staffing grid. Then ask to see how many actual nurses they have for that staffing grid. Most floors are below the grids by 1 or more nurses and Lifepoint still has the nerve to say that we have too much nursing staff. Now how funny is that when you have 12-15 patients. Not very from my standpoint. Hope your family is not in one of those patient groups "had enough". You probably wont be so forgiving when something bad happens.
I'M NOT SAYING THAT THE AMERICAN NATIONAL BANKERS NEVER MADE A MISTAKE. YOU ASK WHAT THEY HAVE DONE. THEY ALONE BROUGHT US THE INSTITUTE FOR ADVANCED LEARNING AND RESEARCH, WHICH IS THE MOST EXCITING THING GOING ON IN THIS REGION. THE INSTITUTE IS PAYING THE HIGHEST WAGES IN THE AREA AND BRINGING IN THE SMARTEST PEOPLE THIS REGION HAS EVER SEEN. SOME OF THEM ARE MAKING OVER $100,000 A YEAR. THESE BANKERS GAVE A NEW COMMUNITY CENTER TO YANCEYVILLE AND A NEW ONE FOR CHATHAM. AND THEY GAVE MONEY TO TRAIN NURSES AT DCC. YOU CRITICIZED RICHARD BARKHOUSER ABOUT HIS EMPLOYEES, BUT LOOK AT THE GREAT PRICES HE HAS ON THE CARS HE SELLS THE PUBLIC. AND MR. DAVENPORT HAS HELPED CLEAN UP THE ENVIRONMENT WITH HIS BUSINESS. YOU NEED TO LAY OFF THESE GUYS!
--HAD ENOUGH
Oh yes HAD ENOUGH...
I would certainly want to trade being able to have quality heart surgery or top grade MRIs for a good price on a car. Davenport cleaned up the environment alright, the underground tanks for propane his company are beginning to have problems especially the one responsible for blowing up a nice home in the county last year. And the Institute is a great place, I agree; But it became the employer of one of the son's of the boys at the bank(however, due to his alternative lifestyle he left town). It is wonderful that these men do things for the area, since this area made them wealthy. Everything they do is not bad...but selling the hospital is an unforgiving mistake...and I hope it is the legacy they leave behind.Biker.
As for "HAD ENOUGH," I think he's just a wannabe Bank Boy like Bob Ashby, that pop-eyed shrink they send out to spread their nonsense about the hospital and the $200 million foundation. Ashby has made a fortune off being a step-in-fetch-it for these bank guys, but you notice they keep him on the hook by not quite letting him become an AMNB director. Who knows where "HAD ENOUGH" fits in, but you can bet the last nurse in the hospital that his nose is stuck deep in one of them places the sun don't shine. "HAD ENOUGH" is the skum of the earth and ought to be banned from this Blog.
Food for thought. Consider these things! DRMC had other offers from suitors which would have continued the present growth path of DRMC. But, $150 Million was not enough to stroke the egos of the Banker Boys and fuel the Institute's hunger for more. So let's sacrifice the future growth of Danville and surrounding areas to attract other industries by not having adequate healthcare, to feed the BEAST on the HILL. Let's not pick the Best Match for our hospital BUT the Biggest Offer.
Consider This Too: The funds given for the purpose of a community center in Yanceyville and Chatham were not out of the goodness of their hearts or their desire to continue the sacrifice of themselves for our community. But rather, they were told by the IRS if they don't distribute proceeds instead of just sitting on them, then they will tax the money. Think about it, if the Institute had gotten the initial and lion share of this first distribution, that would have been blatantly obvious in the eyes of the public.
Solution to the problem: Force the Banker Boys to buy our hospital back from LifePoint for $200 Million and show LifePoint the quickest way out of town. Then court offers from other medical facilities which will put patient care first, attract our Physicians and Nurses back and the profits will follow. BUT, that probably will never happen because the Banker Boys will have to admit they made a mistake and they wouldn't get to go to Vegas for their covert meetings to seal the deal in secrecy. How to do this: choose not to support the businesses of the Banker Boys. Remember, what they know and love is MONEY! Let them feel our pain for a change!! Sincerely, FED UP
Biker is right about the house being blown up last year by the sloppy over-filling of propane gas....just ask that poor family how they were compensated for that disaster. What happened to them is simply criminal.
On the point of what these Bank Boys get out of this, we will never know. But Fred Blair, who is on the American National Board, has gotten a huge part of the business building the Institute--as Blair Construction. Blair also got the contract to tear down Ben Davenport's building in Chatham to make way for the new $3,000,000 community center to be built on Davenport's property in front of Davenport's office complex. Then go look at the Schoolfield demolition and you will see that Ben Davenport's First Piedmont garbage business has got the job hauling away debris. (I wonder who has the contract for tearing down the Schoolfield building?)
These guys rake in money from their community spirit in ways we can hardly count.
FROM HAD ENOUGH--
YOU CHEAPEN YOUR STATEMENTS BY SAYING SUCH VYLE AND UGLY THINGS ABOUT ME JUST BECAUSE I AM DEFENDING THE CIVIC LEADERS WHO HAVE BROUGHT US SO MUCH. HERE'S ANOTHER WAY TO PUT WHAT I FEEL. OKAY, THEY MADE A MISTAKE ON THE HOSPITAL. I COULD TELL YOU A STORY ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED TO MY MOTHER-IN-LAW IN THAT HOSPITAL THAT MIGHT BE WORSE THAN ANY YOU'VE HEARD. SHE'S JUST LUCKY TO BE ALIVE AND PROBABLY WOULDN'T BE EXCEPT FOR SOME WONDERFUL NURSES.
I THINK EVERYONE AGREES THAT THE LIFEPOINT HOSPITAL IS A DISGRACE. SO WHY KEEP HAMMERING THE CIVIC LEADERS WHO SOLD IT? WHAT GOOD DOES THAT DO? THEY ARE SMART MEN, AND THEY KNOW WHAT A TERRIBLE MISTAKE THEY MADE. BUT YOU BETTER NOT FORGET THAT THOSE MEN GOT THE MONEY--ALL OF IT, ALL $210,000,000. AND THEY WILL SPEND IT ON WHATEVER THEY WANT AND GIVE IT TO THE PEOPLE THEY LIKE. I HOPE THEY GIVE A HUGE AMOUNT TO THE INSTITUTE THAT NEEDS IT. SO YOU BETTER WATCH WHAT YOU SAY IF YOU WANT TO GET ANY OF IT.
SO AS A CHRISTIAN, I SAY YOU SHOULD LAY OFF THEM. YOU'VE BEAT ON THEM ENOUGH. IT'S TIME FOR CHARITY AND FORGIVENESS.
--HAD ENOUGH
Had Enough:
If they know they made a mistake, why haven't they apologized? And why have they not acted on the fact that if the 2 year contract with Lifepoint was infracted, the sale could go south? The contract has been broken on a daily basis by Lifepoint, but no one has offered to pursue that. The boys at the bank might think they will control the destiny of all that money but the Federal Trade Commission, Security Exchange Commission and IRS Regulatory Commission may have something else to say about that. Look, this bunch has controlled the purse strings of our local economy so long and so far under the radar that they have become legends in their own minds. I am tired of taking inventory of the great Doctors and Nurses whose lives have been shaken to the core, I am tired of worrying about the health care that my family and friends may need and cannot get and I can tell you this....I am not going to worry about who this bunch at the bank is going to give their precious money to or how many world class business opportunities this area will lose simply because of the very incompetent health care they can get in Danville, Va. As you suggested in your very first entry...I already got a new job and I already had a LIFE. I am not only a Christian who is trying to look out for my fellow man's health welfare, but an American and the last time I checked I had a right to my own opinion and the right to express it. Biker.
Had enough, I am glad that you support the Institute so much. What have they given to you or directly to our community? They did hire a doctor to find way to use soy instead of tobacco. He is currently working on that now. Lets fund the Institute with the money from the hospital so not only can we lose a great community hospital but they will be able to put all of our tobacco farmers out as well. These farmers will not only lose their farms but in the instances that they need healthcare maybe the boys at the bank can loan them the money to go elsewhere for descent care.
Maybe the foundation money could be donated to the general public of Danville and surrounding counties, why should those five be the only ones to benefit from the sell. (like that would happen if it the government allowed it)
Here is a recent abstract from the Archives of Internal Medicine regarding quality of care in For Profit vs. Not For Profit hospitals. I find it interesting that two major agendas for Lifepoint after taking over was reorganization of nursing teams (to reduce staffing ratios), as well as the downgrading of DRMC's technology (to the cumbersome and ancient Meditech system). The CEO can brag all he wants about a statistical decrease in wait times out of the ED, but more often than not it matters more what happens to you when you are admitted INTO the hospital that will affect the overall treatment outcome.
http://archinte.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/166/22/2511
Check it out and choose wisely where you would like to be treated when you get your pneumonia.
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