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Blog Archive
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2007
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May
(18)
- "Hospital unveils evaluation"
- Doloresco discusses Joint Commission findings
- Citizens Commission - next meeting
- Listen to their stories
- Drinking sand
- "Hospital workers' morale in question"
- Citizens Commission meeting - May 22
- "How about some constructive solutions?"
- "What's Next?"
- "LifePoint says acquisitions area of renewed focus"
- "Public seeks hospital solutions"
- "Angry crowd blasts hospital"
- Citizens Committee public hearings begin May 8
- How about some good news for a change?
- Letter in Tuesday's paper
- Letters in Sunday's paper
- Public Forums - times and rules
- Citizens Commission meets tonight
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May
(18)
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
20 comments:
New rumor:
Lifepoint has ceased all advertising and communication with The Register and Bee.
That might not be the brightest move from a PR perspective.
Well, I guess if you are cutting costs everywhere else, you can't be spending thousands on full color print ads. Wonder if Lambert is still on retainer or if LPNT can handle all of that by itself as well.
Lambert is a retrograde disaster who played a big role in creating a false image of DRMC which led to the duping of LifePoint. He has made a fortune off the entire debacle and has no ties with this community. Again, they laugh; we pay with blood and money.
Personally I don't thinl Lifepoint was duped. DRMC was making plenty of profit, just less corporate overhead and no dividends to pay.
The CEO said it best " We walked into our first visit, we
noticed an administrative area as large as our corporate office. And knew there was a lot of opportunity....So it obviously is a great opportunity on the salary side and our goal is to get man hours per adjusted admission in that
facility down about a third from where it is now".
Therein lies the problem; as the old DRMC our profits were enough to justify better ratios and still have money to provide extra services (remember the courtesy bus?) and facility expansions (cancer center, heart center). Now it requires a lot more profit to appease stockholders and to pay all of the "o"'s in Danville and Brentwood. Typical big business and not bad in itself just not as flexible model as a non-profit.
I assure you the guys at lifepoint were smarter than the ones they were dealing with from Danville.
A really sad sidebar is think of all the money that was spent in the community before; ie salaries, services, expansion projects that provided jobs for hundreds of contractors etc. Now most of that money is leaving Danville for Wall Street, Brentwood, and Arizona.
Was lambert in the picture before the sale?
And how did he make a fortune off this?
You write...A really sad sidebar is think of all the money that was spent in the community before; ie salaries, services, expansion projects that provided jobs for hundreds of contractors etc. Now most of that money is leaving Danville for Wall Street, Brentwood, and Arizona.
what about the $$ being spent ont he recent 5th floor expansion. Local contractors received those bids...didn't they?
Presently approximately 15oo employees still earn salaries from Lifepoint andI believe some local services are still being used. Am I wrong?
Or a twisted aside..all those consultants need a place to stay and food to eat!
What is the name of that obnoxious person who came here screaming about Dumbville and attacking workers as stupid, etc.? Name and new position? I thought she was fired!
If it is true--IF--that Lifepoint has dropped advertising locally, maybe it means they are on the road to folding their hand? Or maybe it just means they finally got smart and fired Lambert and are switching ad agencies.
WHILE I WAS IN FLORIDA I TALKED TO SOME PEOPLE VERY CLOSE TO OUR COMMUNITY LEADERS THAT SOLD THE HOSPITAL. WHILE THEY MAY HAVE MADE AN ERROR, THEIR HEARTS WERE IN THE RIGHT PLACE. THEY ARE ALL DEVASATED OVER WHAT HAS HAPPENED. SO LIGHTEN UP.
if the "boys at the bank"are so devistated by what has happened,why have they not spoken up?Guess they may be ashamed but it takes a big person to admit a mistake of this magnitude which indicates they are not very "big men"
Glad to hear they too are devestated. Hopefully to the point of finally stepping up and doing something. If you have friends in high places why not suggest it or at least find out why they haven't.
Another thoughtful letter from the Danville paper. It's good readers speak up since the editor doesn't.
To the editor:
Why on Earth does Danville Mayor Wayne Williams think this Citizen’s Commission he has dreamed up is going to change either the way Danville Regional Medical Center operates or the community perception of the present - and in my opinion, dangerous - state of the hospital?
These public hearings certainly are not going to make amends for the mayor being bowled over with enthusiasm over getting $1 million in taxes for the city from Danville Regional.
The first legal responsibility of a for-profit corporation is the interest of its stockholders in their return on their investment, being in per share stock price of and dividends from their stock holdings in the corporation. Attention to that responsibility is proven by the corporate management in doing whatever it takes to raise the price of its shares on the stock market and the size of its dividends to its shareholders.
I would think one of the most expensive operating costs in a for-profit hospital is staff -nurses, nurses aides, maintenance, food services and cleaning services. Therefore, cutting staff is the quickest way to increase that net profit figure on the quarterly operating report - and the quickest way to lower patient care to the point it has now reached, which in my opinion is the point where no one in their sane mind is going to be either an outpatient or an inpatient in any LifePoint hospital.
For myself, I prefer to die on the way to the Halifax Regional Hospital in South Boston or the hospital in Eden, N.C., than to die from the kind of care that the staff - much against their will - is now forced to give patients at Danville Regional.
HILDRED C. SHELTON
Danville
I DID NOT HAVE A LABOTOMY WHILE IN FLORIDA, BUT IM NOT GOING AROUND TALKING ABOUT MY OPERATION LIKE EVERYBODY DOES THESE DAYS. I DO HAVE SOME FOLOUP MEDICAL WORK AT MEMORIAL, AND I AM CERTAIN, AND MY LOVED ONES ARE CERTAIN, THAT I WILL HAVE AN EXCELLENT EXPERIENCE UNDER THE NEW LIFEPOINT MANAGEMENT. WHILE I WAS GONE IN FLORIDA SOMEONE PUT UP BILLBOARDS ABOUT THE HOSPITAL MONEY HELPING PEOPLE WHICH PROVES THAT THESE GOOD MEN ARE STICKING WITH THE SHIP. GOD BLESS THEM EVER ONE. AND I'M TWELLING YOU, THIS NONESENSE WAS NOT ON THE COMPUTER IN FLORIDA BECAUSE I ASKED MY LOVED ONE I WAS VISITING AND SHE SAID THEY DIDN'T GET IT DOWN THERE.
SO LIGHTEN UP.
Thank you for posting the letter from Hildred Shelton. Unfortunately, her words support just the opposite position than the one she espouses.
As long as people in this community are scornful about the hospital and irrational in their contempt for it, we have little hope of moving forward.
Certainly, nearly all of us hope and pray that something will happen to remove LifePoint from our lives. But such hopes and dreams may never happen.
In the meantime, we have Lifepoint, and it is in the interest of every citizen to have Lifepoint succeed. It's one thing to take out your wrath on CVS, or WalMart, by refusing to shop there. It is quite a different matter to take it out on our hospital.
What happened to our hospital is tragic in a classical sense; our own people did this to our community, thus affecting all of our lives.
But not one thing is gained by taking Ms. Shelton's attitude. She should remember that until Mayor Williams stepped up to the plate, absolutely nothing was being done--no movement whatsoever. One lone county supervisor was the only voice of an elected official.
So, I think Mayor Williams should be applauded for trying to analyze a bad situation. From that analysis, perhaps something will happen to move us forward.
For myself, I prefer to die on the way to the Halifax Regional Hospital in South Boston or the hospital in Eden, N.C., than to die from the kind of care that the staff - much against their will - is now forced to give patients at Danville Regional..........
ok!
Anonymous said:
"what about the $$ being spent ont he recent 5th floor expansion. Local contractors received those bids...didn't they?
Presently approximately 15oo employees still earn salaries from Lifepoint andI believe some local services are still being used. Am I wrong?"
No you are correct, however the point was the $ being sent to stockholders and Brentwood USED to be profits that would be banked here and used for expansion projects and additional services. I imagine a lot of those will come to a screeching halt now. Even if they don't this $ is still gone from Danville.
If we can't even maintain old staffing levels or services, where do you think the money will come from for expansion?
Also with Dr,'s like Cohen having to do their surgeries elsewhere, thats more revenue gone to another community.
Lambert was hired by the filthy five as the spin doctor to pull the wool over the citizens' eyes so the sale would go over well in the community. Then lfpt hired him to continue pulling that wool over our eyes when things started falling apart. Seems Lambert has sheared the last sheep available and there's no wool left to continue on pulling it over our eyes.
That's no rumor about Lifepoint cancelling all ads in the Danville Register. Leslie Smith has been telling people all about it. Just call and ask her. It's no secret.
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