"No accountability?"
and
"What about most of us?"
Read them here:
http://www.registerbee.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=DRB%2FMGArticle%2FDRB_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1173350238147&path=!news!editor
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2007
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March
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- Hospital is people's business
- Yin and Yang
- "A Change for the Worst"
- Citizens Commission website update
- Citizens Commission website....public comments dis...
- "A lost opportunity"
- New letters to the editor posted (Mar 16)
- "Probe cites hospital weak spots"
- Now available...Citizens Commission Website!
- "Preliminary Denial of Accreditation"
- Don't forget...
- Accreditation countdown...
- "Second verse...same as the first...."
- Time to make your voice heard...
- Taking the message to the people
- What do you think? Should we make this our new slo...
- Letter to the Editor - "Not all that much longer?"
- Citizens Committee Named
- So, what's new at the foundation?
- Three weeks...
- Take a break...
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March
(21)
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
36 comments:
There are also two other letters there relevant to the hospital debacle. The last one, "So much for the city helping local businesses," concludes, "Hmmm, I bet if the Foxglove owner changed her store’s name to 'Target' the city would be falling all over itself to move it in!"
Correct, of course. Local power brokers believe first that Dumbville area folks are poor and uneducated, second that only OUTSIDE dollars can grow the local economy, and third that local government is way too small.
So our "saviors" will supposedly be big-box and dirty companies with lots of low-skill jobs, eventually paying lots of taxes. All based on wrong-headed assumptions and zero-sum-game economic theory discredited in Econ 101. The hospital deal is a prime example.
The sad thing is that with their fantasy they are destroying our reality.
amen...well said
Rumor has it 2 more physicians are about to announce their departure. It would be interesting to have the true # of people who have left Danville since Lfpt's arrival. Each person carries a spouse and children when they go.
Oh
and Duke is NO LONGER affiliated with DRMC.Period, Which is a HUGE loss.
Glad to know there are people that understand econonomics due to the fact that the City of Danville
obviously doesn't.Kind of sad since there are two colleges in danville that have courses in business management.
By the way which two MD's ?
The Maddux's
Boycott the Boys at the Bank !!!!!
Boycott the Boys at the Bank !!!!!
Boycott the Boys at the Bank !!!!!
Boycott the Boys at the Bank !!!!!
They did IT to us !!! It’s time to do IT to THEM !!!!!!!!!
BOYCOTT the BOYS at the BANK
The public should send letters to the editors of all local papers about their dissatisfaction with Lifepoint and the boys at the bank. As much as I hear when I am out and about would fill the newspapers everyday. The editor of R&B told me recently that they haven't gotten many letters against the sale of the hospital. Let's send letters in and see if they will print them.
Madduxes? Of Gamewood Data? What about Gamewood?
Some of us got here late. Boys at the bank are? Another page says Ford dealer, patriotic bank, and gas-oil dealer and trash hauler?
Boys at the Bank (American National Bank) who controlled the hospital board and made the secret, disastrous decision to sell the hospital to Life Point:
Richard Barkhouser: car salesman at Barkhouser Ford;
Ben Davenport: garbage hauler and oil man at First Piedmont and Davenport Energy;
Charles Majors: president of American National Bank;
James Motley: former president of American national Bank;
Bob Ashby: local shrink and wannabe bank boy who does the dirty work for the rest of them.
I love your definition of the boys at the bank! Dixie Doss
Speaking of the boys at the bank: don't forget to take your money to another bank, buy your fords in another town, buy your gas and oil from the other fuel company and listen to other radio stations. Treat them like they treated us- Ignore them! Sick of being sick over this.
Which boy has which radio station?
br ashby owns WBTM and WAKG.
No, Ashby is only a part-owner, but he gets paid to manage the station when his shrink work is slack.
Tee hee hee...this stuff is toooooo funny !
Mr. Site Master:We read a lot about the damage done by the "fab five". What about the damage caused by the consultants brought in by administration, Insight Advantage?
What possible responsible adult would consider the defrauding of a community and the destruction of several generations' work funny.
Are you just immature or totally ignorant ? Do some research on the effects of non profit going to profit and you will see the catastrophic failures that we are SUFFERING from now.....
Is anyone reading this one of the nurses that took the early retirement package when lifepoint first took over? If so, could you post the date your confidentiality agreement expires on your contract?
There may be a legal problem regarding your civil rights with this agreement.
I WANT TEE-HEE TO KNOW THAT SHE IS EXACTLY RIGHT. IT IS SO LUDRIKOUS FOR THESE PEOPLE TO WRITE THIS STUFF. I AM PRETTY SURE I KNOW WHO TEE-HEE IS AND I'M GLAD SHE IS INVOLVING IN THIS. WE HAVE ENOUGH TROUBLE AROUND HERE WITHOUT PEOPLE BEATING ON THE COMMUNITY LEADERS AND WRITING DISRESPTIVE STUFF ABOUT THEM. GOD BLESS YOU TEE-HEE, AND GOD BLESS AMERICA! AS LONG AS YOU BELIEVE IN JESUS AND GOD, IT WILL ALL WORK OUT!!!!!
I'm sick of all the current problems being blamed entirely on Lifepoint. Granted, Lifepoint is to be blamed for leaders they have put in place and for supporting them when they have to KNOW they're wrong. However, the majority of the problems lie with the past and current department managers everywhere. We know, they're not busting their butts to fix what's broken (and has been for a while). I think the hospital would do well to clease itself of all of management from the big office down and start new. Starting with the truth would help them gain more ground and rectify more problems than they can imagine.
Not all of us are managers but we're not stupid and we know where a lot of the weaknesses lie.
I don't mean to sound too judgemental but come on!!!
I think ALLCAPS and Tee-Hee are one and the same--not two idiots but one BIG idiot.
Those five are not elected “community leaders,” and hold what grasp they have on Danville and the surrounding area by controlling dollars and placing themselves and friends on local governing boards. Even the sale of the hospital “enhanced” their position in the community in this manner.
Nobody can deny that these men (with the exception of perhaps Ashby) are talented businessmen. They could not have been successful in their own businesses without that talent and deep understanding of the business world. That actually proves their culpability in this whole fiasco. The non-profit hospital was clearing a small margin at the time of its sale. The margin would NOT have covered taxes had it held a different designation and sure as Hell NOT provided much of a dividend to stock holders.
There are two ways to increase that margin: cut expenses or increase revenue. The largest expense in any company is payroll. Therefore they KNEW what had to happen regardless of what “for profit” group they sold the hospital to. Further, there WERE offers from non-profits to merge with the hospital which would have “secured the long-term viability of the medical center” but not provided a large bucket of cash for these people to control.
It is NOT possible to justify what these people did by claiming they made a “mistake” or that they didn’t know what they were doing. They willfully caused this situation by 1) putting the hospital up for sale and 2) selling the hospital for the biggest chunk of change they could get rather than putting the healthcare needs of the community first.
The only people that can respect these men are those related to them or profiting from their deeds. That does NOT include me.
Well said!!!!!!!!!
For a crash course in community accountability, read the articles about what is happening at Lifepoint's CRMC facility in Needles, CA.
http://www.sbsun.com/ci_5430899
http://www.desertdispatch.com/onset?db=desertdispatch&id=156&template=article.html
Once your reputation is lost, it's almost impossible to get it back, even with a "good heart" and good deeds. Just ask Belle Watling.
Our once-great hospital has lost its reputation. The once-great bank boys have lost their reputations.
Council and commission must find a way out of this mess, or people will think they're just playing cards and footsy at Belle's house, too.
For those wanting to know about what LifePoint did in Needles here's what was on that link (copied from an earlier post on here)
THE SAGA CONTINUES:
County takes over hospital in Needles
March 14, 2007 - 6:37AM
SAN BERNARDINO - The Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to take over medical care responsibilities at Colorado River Medical Center in Needles at an unknown expense to county taxpayers.
"The financial risk is an issue," said County Administrator Mark Uffer. "We could break even; we could lose half a million; we could lose $2 million."
Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt, who spearheaded the project, said making sure the county doesn't lose money on the project was his second priority behind making sure that the residents of Needles don't experience an interruption of hospital services.
The hospital was being run by Lifepoint Hospitals Inc., which built a new hospital approximately 12 miles away from the Needles hospital in Arizona.
Lifepoint bought out the last five years of its lease with the Needles medical center for $1.5 million and are transferring its services to the new hospital.
That creates a problem for patients with California-based insurance who can't go to Arizona and would have to drive to Barstow Community Hospital.
"The impact to pre-hospital care would be tremendous without this facility staying open," said County Fire Chief Pat Dennan.
Dennan said that without the Needles hospital, when a person was injured, they would have to take county emergency services personnel and a fire engine 30 minutes across the state line and hope that there was a bed open for the injured person.
"We are entering uncertain territory," said Needles City Manager Richard Rowe. "There are still several hurdles."
The county will also utilize open space in the hospital for other county positions based in Needles, saving an estimated $134,000 in rent.
The Needles hospital serves about 70,000 in Califor nia, Arizona and Nevada.
Source: http://www.desertdispatch.com/onset?db=desertdispatch&id=156&template=article.html
Thanks
Steve
And here is what happened a year before the town of Needles had to take their hospital back. Remember situations are different but a company's past is usually indicative of it's future. Would anyone be surprised to see some of our services moving to Martinsville where Lpt is more fully entrenched? I wonder how things are going in Martinsville anyone have any contacts?
Local
Hospital to seek critical access designation
By LEE CHOQUETTE, News West
Tuesday, November 29, 2005 4:04 PM PST
NEEDLES — LifePoint Hospitals, which operates Colorado River Medical Center, sought and received the Needles City Council's support for changing the hospital from a general acute care hospital to a critical access hospital.
The Needles City Council discussed LifePoint's request in a special meeting Nov. 22, scheduled for one hour that stretched to two as a parade of concerned residents, patients and hospital employees gave the council their input and asked questions of the city's consultant, John Wilson.
Wilson was hired by the city to advise them on hospital issues, and met several times with LifePoint representatives, along with Vice Mayor Jeff Williams, Council Member Bob Rath and city manager Richard Rowe.
The critical access program is funded by the federal government and administered by the states to keep small rural hospitals from going out of business. About 1,100 hospitals nationwide have this designation.
The urgency of the application comes from a provision due to sunset Dec. 31. Ordinarily a critical access hospital must be at least 35 miles from any other hospital. States may exempt critical access hospitals from this requirement by certifying them as 'necessary providers,' but this exemption will not be available to new applicants after Dec. 31.
Wilson recommended that the city grant LifePoint's request. He implied cooperation now might help avoid having the hospital close after the lease with LifePoint runs out in seven years.
"We have a better chance of success if we work with them," Wilson suggested. "If we take the strict legal course they will too."
Wilson said that Lifepoint had projected a $4 million loss for 2006, which would be reduced to $2 million if it succeeded in getting the critical access designation. Reimbursements from Medicare and Medi-Cal will approximately double. The designation may also qualify the hospital for certain grants.
Wilson said he had no way to validate the figures, which include the $375,000 that LifePoint pays the city each year to lease the hospital. When asked why LifePoint would continue to operate in the face of such losses, Wilson said the losses are smaller than what LifePoint would have to pay to terminate the lease.
If LifePoint did terminate the lease the city would be unlikely to find another management company to agree to a full-risk contract, Wilson added. On the other hand, the city could certainly find a management company to operate the hospital if they paid it, he said.
A former hospital administrator himself, he said the only thing he would do differently from LifePoint would be to have applied for the designation much earlier.
A change from general acute care to critical access is seen as a step down in many circles, Wilson said, but California's strict standards mean that many requirements, such as the required number of nurses on staff, will not be relaxed.
In addition, LifePoint's lease with the city means that some of the services that a critical care hospital could otherwise discontinue will still be maintained at Colorado River Medical Center, Wilson added. The lease requires eight core services, which are defined in California law: medical, nursing, surgical, anesthesia, laboratory, radiology, pharmacy and dietary.
The resolution ultimately approved by the city council, in a unanimous vote, supports LifePoint's application to the California Department of Health Services "provided that this approval does not diminish, in any manner, LifePoint's obligation under the lease and provided that LifePoint agrees in writing to vigorously pursue a rural health care clinic."
Many who spoke at the meeting were concerned that services and equipment were being moved from Colorado River Medical Center to LifePoint's new hospital in Fort Mojave, Valley View Medical Center.
"This is a cat and mouse game, with LifePoint as the cat, and us as the mouse," said resident Bob Chesney. "Needles must stop the rape of our hard-won hospital."
The equipment that was in the hospital when the lease was signed still belongs to the city, said city attorney Bob Hargreaves. When equipment that is no longer serviceable is replaced, the new equipment belongs to LifePoint, but they must account for everything, Hargreaves added.
LifePoint is bringing in outside experts to take a special inventory audit, Wilson said, as the city does not have the expertise to do so itself. LifePoint has promised to bring back any city equipment that was inadvertently taken to Valley View, Hargreaves added.
Although the hospital still has a surgical suite, there is no anesthesiology because there is no anesthesiologist, according to Donovan Anderson, a physician who works in the hospital's emergency room.
Anderson and Matthew Kidd, another doctor who works in the emergency room, both said it was difficult to convince their colleagues to come to Colorado River Medical Center. Many doctors are already stretched thin working at the hospitals across the river, and are letting their privileges in Needles expire, according to Kidd.
"We need to nurture doctors who are willing to come," said Kidd. He said the critical access designation was "the best way to maintain the hospital's economic viability until new housing is built and new business comes so that Needles can compete in recruiting doctors."
Several times Wilson said that a question would be better directed at LifePoint representatives, who were not present at the Nov. 22 meeting but are to attend the council's regular Dec. 13 meeting.
Marianne Kaplan, for example, suggested that LifePoint operate a free shuttle from Needles to Valley View Medical Center for patients who need services there. Wilson said LifePoint would have to answer that question, but many Los Angeles hospitals operate free shuttles.
"My youngest son was born in the old hospital, which is now a fine parking lot," said resident Dave Renquest. "We don't need another parking lot."
http://www.thedesertstar.com/articles/2005/12/14/news/local/news04a.txt
March 15, 2007 10:18:00 AM EST
It seems they already had plans to move to the new hospital and were merely seeking to cut their losses at Needles while the other was being completed. Appears they even took some equipment that didn't belong to them....SAD.
What about the corridor rumor this morning that Doloresco is going to vanish very soon and Jess Judy will return to ride things out--maybe even out of town?
When you question "How could they think selling to Lifepoint was a good idea" With lesser offers on the table from establish nearby non-profits, why would they sell to a company with such a checkered past.
Always remember Ashby's quote to the paper nearly a year ago.....
"When the size of the affected population -- 130,000 -- is considered, the foundation can be considered one of the most influential per capita in the nation," Ashby said.
Innfluence and money = power and power is a strong aphrodisiac.
But add to that utter immorality and disdain for their fellow citizens.
Meet Henry Luke, Danville's visioner of long standing, guru to the boys:
http://www.lukevision.com/danville/pg01.htm
http://www.lukevision.com/
RE: the Henry Luke link...that's a walk down memory lane. It seems like such a long time ago that I worked on committees in that process....the Dan River Region Vision process, I believe it came to be called...predecessor to the Future of the Piedmont.
Wow.
If you read through all of the document, there is still some pretty good stuff in there. Some of which has come to pass, and some of which was a little too ahead of its time. Maybe it is time to make copies of that document and pass it around again.
Did anyone else on this blog participate in any of those town meetings?
From the Henry Luke link, the vision for Danville:
"The percentage of manufacturing jobs in the region will be the highest in the United States."
For 1915, somewhat forward-looking.
For 1995, nostalgia for the Rust Belt.
For 2007, a ticket to economic disaster.
Vision of third world class.
Hey speaking of problems, where's ol' docnabx been - layin'low???
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