Editorial - Danville Register and Bee
Friday, June 8, 2007
As controversies go, this one didn’t last long. The day after an angry exchange between Citizen’s Commission Co-Chairman Jim Houser and commission member Arlene Creasy, Danville Mayor Wayne Williams ended it with a timely e-mail.
Houser briefly argued with Creasy and several other members over a meeting that’s scheduled to take place Monday between himself, Williams and health care consultant Keith Pryor.
“I agree with Arlene,” commission member Samuel Griffith said at the time. “This should be above board. This has the semblance of not being above board.”
And that, of course, is a big part of the reason why the Citizen’s Commission was formed in the first place.
Since the first rumors hit the street that Danville Regional Medical Center was going to be sold, the big decisions have been made behind closed doors. The public is frustrated, as it should be. Danville Regional Medical Center is more than just one of the region’s largest employers - it is the only hospital in town.
When Danville City Council could no longer ignore the citizen’s anger, Williams formed the Citizen’s Commission. The commission, in its information gathering stage, has collected comments. The next step is to meet with Pryor.
In his e-mail Wednesday, Williams wrote of Monday’s meeting:
“… Certainly anyone is welcome to attend. No decisions will be made, simply a review of progress to date and a review of key points that need to be addressed at your meeting. Of course, additional points can always be introduced at the meeting. It is important that we are efficient with Keith’s time as the Commission moves to developing an action plan. …”
One of the biggest challenges facing the Citizen’s Commission is the hardened attitudes that have been created by the way things have been done over the past two-plus years.
Nothing angers people more than the “done deal” presented to them wrapped in a pretty bow and served on a silver platter. Business as usual - which means behind closed doors - would only continue to antagonize and polarize members of the community and run contrary to the reason for the Citizen’s Commission in the first place.
That’s why Williams was right to make sure the Citizen’s Commission continues to operate in full view of the public. Too much is at stake to do otherwise.
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59 comments:
Instead of this crap, a decent newspaper would get this story, obviously from an MD's standpoint:
There were definitely fireworks at the physicians quarterly staff meeting Wednesday evening. It's a wonder that sparks from the meeting didn't catch DRMC on fire. Many physicians expressed unfavorable comments about the current state of DRMC, most notably Drs. Meadema and O'Neill. The physicians were quite vocal and did not mince any words in their displeasure with LifePoint. Art D. was present as well as a representative of the joint commission on hospital accreditation. The next accreditation report from the joint commission is due June 14. Many physicians do not think the hospital will receive full accreditation. The medical staff did decide to delay a no confidence vote for 30 days. If LifePoint has made no positive moves to improve problems, there will be a vote of no confidence. Some citizens may believe the vote doesn't carry any weight but that is far from the truth. It means the physicians have taken a definite stand against LifePoint. They can take action by admitting their patients to other hospitals since many now have admitting privileges in South Boston, Reidsville, and Greensboro. They can also give up regular admitting privileges at DRMC and go to consultative privileges only. All admissions would be handled by the hospitalists who would be overwhelmed and unable to deal with so many patients. The physicians are just plain mad at the current state of affairs at DRMC and they blame LifePoint/administrators for the current mess. While DRMC has never been perfect (and nothing ever is), it was certainly a fine hospital before LifePoint entered the picture.
Slight correction--a representative from the joint commission was not present at the physicians staff meeting. The hospital's current accreditation status was discussed. It is correct that June 14 is when the next accreditation report on DRMC will be announced.
As mad as everyone is over what has happened to our hospital, what makes me even madder is to see the behavior of the scumbags who sold the hospital. Today's newspaper reports that the hosts for Governor Kaine's tour of Danville yesterday were Charles Majors and Ben Davenport!
Have they no shame? Who on earth in city government would pick those two bank boys--guys who betrayed their fellow citizens for a pile of money--to host the governor's visit.?
Am I the only one offended by this?
Of course you are not the only one offended. It is a measure of the lack of integrity that runs through the whole old-boy network in Danville.
You had better keep in mind that these bank boys (Davenport, Majors and the rest of them) are the ones paying for the consultant for the Mayor's Commission on the hospital disaster. There can be little question that they will expect to have things their way since they are paying for it.
Will Mayor Williams hold the line?
Who do you think no doubt checked off on having Davenport and Majors host Governor Kaine's visit?
If there's one thing we have learned from all of this, it is that we can never afford to trust any of them to do the right thing for ordinary citizens and workers.
Whether or not you meant to, you just explained why Danville, so long as the "Boys in the Bank" are in charge, will always be a hopeless old mill town. When you exclude the people, except for tokens, this is what you get--a citizenry filled with contempt and disgust.
But then theres this: Now that the mayor has opened the meeting Monday afternoon to everyone, I hope we will see a good turn-out.
In response to the earlier posting"from a previous poster:
I would like to warn you all the physicians as a whole may not have your better interests as a motivating factor. Many are upset with their own issues. many of the items they complain about are standard practices throughout the country. If you wonder where we are still lacking in compliance with joint commission standards they are items in which the physicians refuse to cooperate. Standards which are found throughout the united states that work to ensure patient safety. Standards by the way that other hospitals have had no difficulty initiating and did so years ago. Yet we have to put up with a medical staff who do not support patient safety initiatives because their schedules may become interupted. We have many good talented physicians but we also have several who are above following proven standards of practice.
June 9, 2007 5:10:00 AM EST "
I would offer the following thoughts.
1. The hospital medical staff has some physicians who are difficult and who do create difficulties for other, and they were on the staff long before Lifepoint came on the scene.
Theses difficult physicians did not create on initiate
a. staffing shortages that creat long waits in the ER b.staffing shortages that require admitted patients to be held in the ER b ecause there are not enough nurses on the floor to take care of the patients c. staffing shortages tha delay turnover of the rooms in the OR, Endoscopy, and Ambulatory Surgery resulting in fewer procedures being done d. implementation of an anachronistic computer system that makes proceesses throughout the hospital much less efficient
It is not the difficult physicians who are leaving Danville to go to other facilities--it is the patients, who feel they are not being well served, the hospital staff who feel they are being asked to do more than they can do, and physicians who are forced to perform their procedures at other hospitals because that is where the patients want to go.
The hospital administration insists that staffing, policies and procedures are in line with other hospital where Lifepoint operates. No figurees are presented for hospitals like Moses Cone, Annie Penn, and Halifax where our patients find the services more closely meet their expectations.
We currently have a major problem with patients, hospital staff, and outpatient procedured leaving Danville for other facilites. The problems here will make it difficult if not impossible to recruit new physicians to enter the community and join the hospital staff as older physician leave practice. I am fear that continuing loss of income from fewer procedures will cause the younger physicians in the surgical specialties to leave Danville for other communities where conditions are more favorable.
It seems that the hospital administration feels that the problem are all caused by outside factors--recalcitrant physicians, inappropriate use of the ER by patients resulting in clogging of the system, changing the JCAHO inspections to unannounced and changing the rules.
The first 2 factors have been present at our hospital for years before the current crisis occurred. All 3 factors are present at the other facilities where the people of Danville are seeking care and indeed at all hospitals throughout the country.
Perhaps there is another causative factor for the problems that should be corrected. Hmmmmmmmm!!
Gotcha.
Throw the bums out.
What a GREAT website! It should be advertised. I've got plenty to say. Do you edit and delete things you disagree with?
I for one am happy that JCACO does inspections now without notice. It is the only way to ensure public healthcare safety. It is terrorizing to realize that the reports have not always been released- the public has not always known the conditions of their "well advertised" commercially run hospitals. Thank goodness this has changed! Also-any physician who really chose his/her career for the right reasons, should only understand national compliances and the reasoning behind them. If they are in disagreement with the way a hospital is managed-this is another issue. They have the choice of relocating their practices. If they are concerned with the way their patients are cared for-perhaps after surgery-and during recovery, its an individual ethical decision. If they are concerned that some patients will be led into a lion's den if they stay in the same environement-they fear for their community. If they are not making enough money-to effectively and efficiently continue in the same location- and their patient demand is to practice at another healthcare institution-again another level of reasoning. It's all a matter of trust in leadership...and a large matter to evaluate for each.
Of course, there is always the possibility that LPNT could bring in physicians-they really do boast enough funding/profits for this to be budgeted- on NASDAQ.(And that's not NYSE) However, would the community trust them given the sponsoring institution that they work for, and it's history?
Reminds me of a quote my mother used to say...."You can't judge a book by its cover."... You cannot judge the quality of care of a hospital by the way the outside of it looks or the public image it "claims"-only when you get within it and observe....as many have. .....and you can't always tell a true physician just because he wears a white jacket, or scrubs...only when you evaluate his/her actions, reasoning, and ethics can that personal decision be made. There are essentially imposters in every section of society these days.....and there are those who will always do what is right for their community and others. There are those who really care, and those who only act like they care......it is just getting harder to tell the difference these days on the surface.
sorry typo-should be JCAHO
It has taken a decade to get Danville medical care up to the standard we enjoyed two years ago. People with no vested interest in the hospital (did not even use it for themselves or families) were allowed to sell it. Two physicians who knew and went along with it do not even practice at the hospital anymore so they are unaffected. Another "doc" was a businessman. Some of the best docs, nurses and techs have left and their replacements are less experienced and sometimes less talented. The time to rebuild is now before the stampede out the door begins. If Danville does not fix the hospital, the remaining pieces will collapse like a pile of dominoes. Where is the community leadership who started us on the path? Staff who have tired of hitting their heads on the steel walls of Lifepoint are ready to hang it up. What will remain is a former shell of a hospital.
I'm in awe at the thoughtful eloquence of some of these postings. The road that brought us here is littered with the worst of human instincts--greed, ignorance, arrogance--but what an edifying discussion it has stimulated.
I agree. In addition to the erudite medical comments, this is one of the best posts I've seen:
Small Retrospective:
Our hospital is dying, and soon enough (if not already), patients will be dying. Like cancer, this malaise will spread through the community in terms of civic pride, economic development and all things that create and sustain a strong community. There was a time when Danville might have become an anchor for a rising Southside Virginia, but no more. It is a terrible irony that this destruction was set in motion by people who formerly claimed to be community business leaders. It is even worse that the cancer has grown and spread for two years without any city leader rising up and screaming that there is a fire in the house. And it is a classical tragedy, in that we have done it all to ourselves. May God have pity on us for our ignorance, our lack of courage, and our profound wrong-headedness.
I am sickened beyond words that what should be a fountain of healing for our community has become a raging malignancy that will destroy all we have worked for.
Shame on us all!
This has probally been said by other people writing here, but I think one of the worst things happening is what the poor management opf the hospital does to the patient-doctor trust.
I have hip trouble and I have underwent surgery in the past at Danville Regionakl Hospital. It has been fine. I nopw have to have work done on my other hip and had planned on doing the same thing because i like the doctor. I still trust my doctor but cannot think of going to Danville Regional Hospital for surgery becaus of how it is run today. We have talked about it in our family and I am going to another hospital where my doctor does not operate. I think that is wrong. He should be able tyo operate. I talked to him about it and he said he thopught I would be safe at Danvil;le Regional, but we have decided not to run the risk. That's what i mean about the managers coming between partients and there trust in there doctors. I think that is very bad.
I think most physicians would understand this. It is common logic and reasoning....tough, but true. Every person in the community has to make the same type of decisions. Just be honest with your physicians-as it is not a matter that you question their abilities, you simply have to make the best decision for your health, and your family.... If restaurant "A" didn't pass health inspections, you would be unwise to eat their prepared food or dine in their facilities-although the cook was a well respected, excellent chef, you couldn't even digest and benefit from the nutrition if there were mice droppings on the floor, bugs, or un-sanitary conditions regarding silverware. Additionally, if the waitress brought you the wrong sides, and had to slam and run.....etc.... These are common sense decisions.
Now, another question....what about the nearly blind elderly man who just walked into the restaurant to eat..... or the busy mother who hastily pulls up in her van with 9 mth. old twins who are crying and an eight year old who just got out of a little league game....
Very insightful. You may not select Danville Regional, but you still have a community obligation to try to make the facility bettter for those who must go there in a hurry, those who may not know how bad things are, and thodse who have no choice. I've been reading through this blog, and this approach is the one I('m comfortable with.
In some ways, patient care is only as strong as the weakest link. No matter how skilled your physician is, or how skilled the nurses are, hurried, slip-shod work in the pharmacy, within the cleaning staff, etc., can undo quickly all the good that others have done. I am certainly NOT saying that the fault lies with the pharmacy, etc. I am saying that if the whole chain of care-giving is not near the top, then you are asking for trouble. We are making some decisions right now, and that is the view we seem to be stuck on.
Thanks for this great website!
It is difficult though, for the common patient to understand how skilled the physician is....They are confined to relying on how effective or ineffectively he has been educated-which brings up other concerns- how well investigated are his credentials? Can he currently hide these inabilities through JAHCO's auditing/reporting processes? Many states do not have a qualified authority to scrutinize this as far as board liscensuring. Lifepoint has a history of relocating arrogant specialist physicians like kangaroos. By the time the community and local physicians surmize the nature of their impact, they're gone. It is absolutely obsurd in today's mix of professionals-with varying origins of countries to allow a physician to practice in a hospital without credentialing in place. It is necessary to provide national security. Think about it, medications that can insure a patient's safety, can also be used to encourage/or initiate their demise. Who controls the distribution and applications of those? Ya know, ricin was once commonly used in the field of oncology...AND...it is now considered a possible chemical of mass destruction-and before anyone reading this says...."No this couldn't happen in my community"....note also that most busy physicians do not have time to guard an entire community from health dangers. Not enough time, not enough research-particularly in a data quality deficit environement that Lifepoint initiates. They can usually only find enough time to guarantee the quality of their own practice and the health of their own patients.
I firmly believe that a hospital that allows physicians to practice without proper credentials in place should be closed immediately/ and its management sent back to the pond-water or caves it evolved from! Furthermore, any and all agencies that are assumed to be governing America's healthcare should be accountable in respects to quality and governance it provides. Most ordinary people in the public cannot possibly decide if they are safely getting healthcare....they think that anyone wearing a white coat, with a stethiscope around their neck is intelligent....and he gets "browny points" if he speaks with an accent and is arrogant. The public thinks "Wow, he/she's so smart, we allowed them to come into the U.S. and practice." They just didn't know that nobody was really watching and/or checking when they arrived.
Something to think about...ask the local tellers which type of customers have been flagged the most when trying to wire money abroad.
I'm new to this, but why isn't that super, level-headed letter about the hospital mess in today's paper posted here?
Do I gather from the informative last comment that the Joine Commission is not concerned with credentialing of doctors? Surely I misunderstood something.
Thanks again.
In the early months of 2001....if the public saw a man in a navy blue suit with yellow bars across his upper arm, and a gold badge on the front with a white shirt underneath, everyone thought he was a pilot-and trusted his ethics. Even the standard security points would often just glimpse at his credentials as he passed through to board the plane.....and then there were thousands of people killed when those two airplanes crashed into the twin towers, and the third one crashed into a field-a minimizing of lost lives by couragous passengers. What has changed now?....spend a few minutes comparing the tragedies-how the terror infiltrated our infrastructure, how the terrorists accomplished their goals, and now, how are we-each and every one of us-making sure it doesn't happen again. What exactly has been done, and to what degree has it been implemented to ensure immediate safety of all citizens. Yes, greed, ignorance, and arrogance have brought us here-but who all were the initiators, and who all participated in one way or the other-consciously, or subconsciously. Some being matters of human instinct, forgiveness, complacency, and laziness, as well as the ones mentioned above. The countries whom have education levels above the USA do not necessarily have ethical leadership and strategies....and ours haven't always been either. Also, I noticed on one of the other posts, that someone said, sorry, about saying that the only thing she could do is pray. Well, I'm not sorry, I am delighted that I have that supreme guidance. It truly has been what has opened my eyes in the last five years. Each and every time I asked for the truth, it was revealed quite miraculously-whether it was good, bad, or ugly. It was the truth as it became revealed later-and yes it was quite startling, and many times I've cried quietly, seeing how some of these situations have manifested, and their results on my fellow man/woman. Now, how we deal with it is the future.
YES, SHAME ON US ALL FOR BEING SO BLIND, ARROGANT, GREEDY, AND IGNORANT
If I were to sign this with some sort of official name and title, would it gain authenticity?-so I will not. Make your own evaluations.
I didn't say the Joint Commission was not currently interested in credentialing of physicians, as it was one that was cited as an infraction. A hospital that does not definatively address it as a pre-requisite to a physician's hospital priveledges and enforce it, is at fault. I do think that it is a matter of an importance for National Security as well as Community Safety, and feel the Joint Commission should make it more of a priority as a matter of national safety. As convenient as this may be for some physicians-in rural areas-it is essential to the safety of all.
The issue of physician credentialling was a question of work piling up undone. These doctors had been checked out, were already on staff, sometimes for years, and just needed their biannual recredentialling. Lifepoint understaffed the office and fell behind in the paperwork. There never was a question of unqualified physicians practicing. All the new faces in the hospital are hospitalists, recruited to take care of patients in the hospital. That was another of the great ideas of Dr. Michael Caplan, a physician leader promoting the sale of the hospital. He help sell the hospital, brought in the strange doctors and then stopped having anything to do with the hospital.
Wonder where he goes for medical care?
I remember Caplan. He was the guy walking through a garden in those full-page ads. He claims that he was nopt able to make enough money because he was being called in to the hospital so frequently that he could not maintain a practice that was proper for his patients, so he dropped being part of the hospital.
What has happened to Hermann, another who was leading the pack on selling the hospital. His partner Kramer was sounding off about his loss of business at the quarterly meeting, and I wondered where Hermann is in all this these days?
I think Hermann is still around and he is a good doc. I know people he fixed up perfectly. So iof its so bad, how come hes still hanging out at DRMC?
O.K. I'm with you, but why in the world-as it has been well known for years that credentialing is a vital part of Joint Commission's accredidation analysis, did the work go undone? and the office not have enough help? in a corporation reaping revenues of over a billion dollars. This was done through budgeting at the home office...Michael Cullotta, whom recently left LPNT and scurried to Kindred Healthcare(only after he acquired a large amount of executively rewarded LPNT stock as sweet gifts)
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to do the job of credentialing, so we're not talking about 200K. It just takes someone with a firm personality, dedication to their job, and one who doesn't spend all their time golfing. Why would LPNT-who obviously should be staying abreast of the criteria for Joint Commission accredidation which ensures revenues-not make it a priority to see to these details? Because it allows them to bring in "their people" easier. The hospital director screams "We don't have enough dedicated people to work-we need help from the community!" Paperwork is piled up, credentialling is behind....but the community will take any warm working body by then-because people are virtually bleeding in the halls, and having to wait hours in the ER, and for heaven sake some of the MD's from the hometown have been working more than their share of hours, they're ready to drop! Sound familiar?
Now again, why in the world would a hospital lag behind in credentialing? Because it proves to be more profitable in the long run in the past-people didn't ask-they just trusted that "the new guys seemed to be helping out the community"-and they wear white coats and stethiscopes and work the week-ends! Almost seems like a "God Send", huh? Until someone realizes that some of them cannot truly answer an intelligent medical question...or their diagnosis and plan of care seems a little questionable, even harmful sometimes in the end. Usually, its difficult to tell on the surface as much of it gets tangled up in HIPPA or time issues with nurses and primary care physicians.
Also, keep in mind here, that Joint Commission just recently started regulating without previous appointments. Always before, hospitals had ample notice before inspections were done. Culotta left just about the time Joint Commission proved they weren't kidding around. He just forgot to send Art D. the memo telling him why he was leaving....And evidently LPNT didn't realize that Frist wasn't as influencial in D.C. anymore. Remember him? Got sent home for insider trading. He's also the one that showed everyone the "ricin" letter that supposedly showed up in his office mailroom, but nobody was injured, or even affected-although it contained one of the most toxic substances known to man, causes respiratory arrest if only a fraction is inhaled and mailed in a flimsy paper envelope from Tennessee.
By the way, did you know that the FBI is now reporting a growing awareness of healthcare crimes too? They've known the Frists for a long time, but got smacked on the hand when Dr. Frist became senate Majority Leader.
Now back to the original question...How can we save DRMC? You can only treat symptoms, until you find the cause of the problem.....and most everything that DRMC and Danville are experiencing are the symptoms, of a much more serious scheme of corruption. The reason they targeted "low hanging fruit" is the level of education in communities-they were talking about all of rural America. Recently, they changed their directives to "mid hanging fruit" after Medicare/Medicaid enforced more regulation. Some levels of accountability are already getting corrected. Accountability,and regulation is so very important when dealing with healthcare and the lives of our citizens. It is so very important to protect your brother/sister until it all gets corrected.
Brief thought: How ridiculous is it to suspect the possibility of terror being involved in our nations healthcare industry when they have been proven to be chemically educated? And how ridiculous is it to think that terror which targets Americans does not really exist after 9-11? The pilots of those aircraft were obviously imposters, which vessel do you think they might use next?
Always, always, love one another just as you have with concerns and actions. Stand strong in Faith, Love, and Hope, and stand up for what you know is right and ethical behavior, without fear!
Reminds me of another of my mother's sayings "All that glitters is not gold." When you've had time to research it.....
again "All that glitters is not gold". Remember in history, when all of the eastern U.S. rushed out to settle the west..."All that glittered was not gold either."
Can't just blame one entity here....many have been digging for what they thought "was real gold."
On all sides of the issues, some employees, some management, some community leaders, some citizens, some investors(even some that are investing 401K's for a large portion of the nation)have been digging for "fool's gold"....now we all have decisions to make....and how can we be sure that the next time we pick up our shovels, we aren't digging for fool's gold?
(Still signing anonymously-and I'm not Pryor either)
Can we cut the whining about credentialling...it has been fixed and is working better then it ever did. Problem solved.
Excellent!
I knew a group who operates 50+ hospitals would figure this one out quickly.
What I know is that a loved one in terrible pain had a morphine drip hooked up and she suffered as horribly after as before and it all turned out the next day that the Damned thing was hooked up wrong! We can clean up blood and vomit and we can bathe our loved ones, but may Almighty God give me strenth to deal with the fact these people can't even hoopk up a morphine drip!
Sign me MAD AS HELL!
I may ramble on this a little but lets get one thing straight. Knife point operates soley on profit from bedside to board room. Their entire system is geared toward billing. When a nurse comes to take vitals you are charged, when a band-aid is used you are charged. I know this because I left LPNT over 1 year ago when I saw a life boat from a sinking ship I took it. I left when I was spending more time actally scanning supplies used for patient care rather than doing patient care. As a RN my place is at the bedside, not doing useless for profit paperwork, save that for the bean counters. One of the 1st things LPNT did when they came in was convert over to a staffing grid, certain # of patients equals certain # of nurses, this is all well and good but as an ICU nurse this did not take into account acuity level of the patients, in house cardiac arrest on the floors, or rapid response calls from the floor. When a code is called in DRMC the ICU staff is the code team, along with the house supervisor. This means that the already high patient RN ratio is increased even more due to 2 to 3 RN's having to go to the code and the others to assume care of patients on ventilators or life saving vasoactive drips. The chance for some type of event(death) to happen has now increased more.
Many hospitals utilize the same sort of system, but they also take a look at what could happen during the shift not at the begining when you have just a few stable patients, they usually will always staff for admissions during the shift.
I am and will always be a resident of Danville. I came home after being gone for several to start a new career as an RN in Danville, I went to DRMC School of Nursing. My 1st job was at DRMC and it would have been my last if lifepoint had not have taken over. Their cut and slash everything to make a buck attitude, had me scared as a sort of new RN. I feared for the license that I work so hard to get. I could always find another job, but not another license.
The staff that is still at DRMC is fantastic, I have had 2 family members admitted recently, but me having a medical background and still knowing how to work their system was a benefit. I know that most have a tendance to beat-up on the bedside RN, but please don't their hands a truely tied by lifepoint and their system of doing business.
And if someone in one or all of those airports had been saying "This plane is gonna crash-the pilots are acting weird, please choose a different route,"... would they have called them a whiner also?..... Probably......But don't we all, in retrospect...wish someone had?" I've been watching some of these corporations since before there were 50. Research HCA, and the FBI investigation that continued for 10 years.....alarming! It was simply settled with huge amounts of money..in Federal Courts..easy for large corporate entities to have available, and swept under the rug. LPNT was branched off of that corporation. It's leadership acknowledges their interpersonal relationships with the founders and builders of it. It proclaims to be a "sister" corporation. Many of the same people, jumping back and forth from executive board to board.
Ya know, after 9-11, the Jihad was simply amazed at how successful they had been. They really couldn't believe that the twin towers were actually so flimsy, that they came entirely down.
There are so many for profit hospitals, built through America's open market of public trade...which had been unregulated other than by the SEC- overall medically illiterate-for some time now-when you truly research it-that it is indeed a nightmare for
American Healthcare as a whole ..... Now I'm not saying that America's Healthcare is all that way. Much of it is excellent! There are many excellent, ethical physicians, nurses, etc. hospitals in practices everywhere! However, there are people....good and bad....in every single facet of our society. It's just time we all wake up!
Look at the pharmecutical companies....some of those are absolute giants....but that doesn't necessarily mean we all should have taken Viox! Recently another huge judgement was ordered against the makers/distributers of OxyContin. It was only $34 million compared to $9 billion in sales.(Could have been written off simply as the cost of doing business) Now do you really think that every single sales rep that they had on the road handing out samples to physicians in offices, giving secret bonuses for the revenues they saw from that geographic area knew that they were pushing such a harmful/addictive drug? Do you think that some of our doctors who are commissioned to write scripts for those drugs, wish they hadn't, in retrospect? Perhaps they would have chosen a different route, too-maybe, just maybe- they could have gotten on a different plane. There were a whole lot of them in the air that day. They all didn't have pilots whos condition of integrity encouraged disaster. I'm just saying, sometimes you need to check out the pilots, before you sit down, in your comfortable seat, kick off your shoes and enjoy the ride.
This corporation has a very unique history. In a regular given public, only the ethical and educated local physicians, hours of research with reporting of integrity, and one's own "commom-sense" and logical reasoning can really make an analysis of how one should proceed. Government has not always regulated this area efficiently, although there is a wonderful movement recently in that direction. And it also should be noted here, that Dr. Bill Frist once conducted several excursions abroad in areas of foreign relations, and recently still has been noted to make frequent trips abroad. He has been investigated by the Senate Ethics Committee, SEC, and the FEC. He was once a public policy major in college before entering medical school and graduated with honors! He has been named one of the "most corrupt" politicians in Congress in 2005 amd 2006. His family is worth millions upon millions, and once were part of a private club in Nashville that upholds segregation(all white wealthy). He has written a book entitled "Good People Beget Good People" encouraging the support of "better blood lines", and also supported the "no child left behind act"-and any teacher or professor in America can tell you how well that one is doing! Yet, a large part of his families fortune is tied up in "for profit healthcare" and they publically acknowledge that "low hanging fruit" is their target market! Talk about contradictions!
The current CEO of LPNT in Brentwood, has been with LPNT since it's conception and spin-off from HCA in 1999-put there by the Frist Family-who owned HCA! HCA settled with the investigation by the FBI and is noted as one of the largest fraud settlements in history. AND YES THEY ARE STILL OPERATING AND EVEN BIGGER THAN LPNT. Owen Shell stated that he's been friends with the Frist family for years-he is the current president of the corporation-he considers them almost as "mentors"! It's almost outrageous! Now, do you still want me to stop my whining? LOOK IT UP, PLEASE.
Seek the truth, pray, be able to identify your results when you see them, use common reasoning in what you see as the past, and what you hope is the future. Analyze all the evidence and it's componants/goals/ and the evidence of the results... then, use your voice................
Soon your flight will be boarding.....
You may be mad as hell, but you are a Damned Idiot if you clean up blood at the hospital. And NEVER use a DRMC toilet with blood on the floor or on the seat. That should be a warning sign that there could be other negatives present in that bathroom. We are doing all we can, buit we can't do it all. Remember; IF YOU SEE BLOOD ANYWHERE IN THIS HOSPITAL, STAY AWAY FROM IT AND WARN OTHERS!!!!! We'll get to iut soon as we can.
Simple question:
What does Hitler and the Terrorists have in common?
Arrogance-check
Ability to enjail and then harm their captives-check
A front of "Doing what is good" for human kind with a secret agenda of doing bad-check
Ability/access to kill thousands or even millions-check
Now, go back and plug in Lifepoint Hospitals. See any parallels?
Then ask this question for all three: How did they get by with it?
To the 10:34 AM post,
If the Einsteins who sold our hospital had done 1/2 as much research as you before selling, things might have turned out a lot different. I still say we were smart enough to "economize" and cut waste and run it more efficiently ourselves. But if they had only got the $ signs out of their eyes a short while we might at least been under a different umbrella. I've heard Moses Cone offered $150 million.
on parallel evaluation forgot:
politics-check
network financing-check
The Einsteins, better known as Bank Boys, claim the $150,000,000 offer came from Moses-Cone too late. What they do not mention is that they had refused to deal with Moses-Cone earlier--before it was "too late."
The 10:34 post should be sent to the Register and Bee as a letter to the editor.
What makes you think they'd print it? They are trying to get the LifePoint advertising account back.
...and the past president of the FDIC sits on Lifepoint's Board.
You're right-they did sell Danville out. Maybe they knew, maybe they didn't. The question now is "How can we get them to sell it back?"
Print it off, make copies. You indeed have my permission. It is the truth.
Sorry it will be 30 days before they will print another from me.
Is Sentinal Event still in on this conference call?
Don't you imagine that already a sector within LifePoint is urging that they get rid of Danville Regional? Business is flying off in all directions. Moses Cone is aggressively seeking the good clients. Centra even has a billboard virtually in the city limits northbound.
Isn't it likely that sharp money-grubbers in Brentwood are wanting to dump Danville and cut their losses?
Rumor is they have already been asked. Their reply "we have too much invested"
Fianancial busness is not something I understnad but the person who wrote about cleanign up blood at the hospital is stupid's mother. That is how people get AIDS. When your bath room has blood around, you ALways go find another one, or just go on the floor. Dont get around blood. I dont care if its your own momas blood.
< YAWN >
A Note to "YAWN":
I think you are bordering on superciliousness to make fun of the person warning others about hospital filth, including bloody bathrooms. The astounding diversity of this blog is what brings legitimacy and character to all the commentary you see here. Someday I hope we know who does this public service so we can thank them properly. Some towns have real leadership. Some towns have a newspaper. What we have is this blog leading the way, informing people, eliciting comments from experts. And we find here the nitty-gritty of the basic things that drive patients crazy--filth and blood, etc.
You may be brilliant enough to find such commentary yawn-inspiring. I see empowerment in every voice expressed here.
Consultant bothered by problems
Keith Pryor says the hospital's current issues are unnecessary, but can still be fixed.
By MAC McLEAN
Register & Bee staff writer
June 12, 2007
Give your opinion on this story
DANVILLE - There is an unusually high level of animosity within the community following Danville Regional Medical Center’s transition from public to private ownership, health care consultant Keith Pryor said Monday.
“Your situation bothers me,” said Pryor, who was hired to work with the Citizen’s Commission Related to the Danville Regional Medical Center. “What shocks me is the extremely high level of discord that you are having here.”
Pryor met with the commission Monday to discuss the quality of care at Danville Regional.
He said the biggest problem facing the hospital is a growing lack of trust between members of the community and LifePoint Hospitals Inc. Pryor said this problem started when LifePoint purchased Danville Regional in July 2005.
Pryor said the transition from public to private ownership requires “leaders who are the best of the best” and that LifePoint’s own admission that it made leadership mistakes during this time did not make the process any smoother.
“There is a lot at stake here,” he said, adding the level of distrust could hinder anything from the community’s health care system to its economic development efforts. “(This problem) is so unnecessary and I think you can fix it.”
Pryor told the commission members the best way to restore the trust was to open up a dialogue between LifePoint officials, community leaders and physicians at the hospital.
The participants in this dialogue must be willing to leave the past behind them and focus on some of the core problems that were identified through the commission’s efforts, he said.
“It’s time to start walking on a new path,” said Jim Houser, co-chairman of the commission, adding he felt the “old path was very negative and destructive.”
Houser said the commission identified five areas the hospital needed to improve at its last meeting, including staffing levels, poor patient care, wait times in the emergency room, morale among employees and administrative issues.
Houser said these topics covered most of the problems that were brought up at a recent series of public hearings, but some positive things were said about the hospital as well. People testified that the hospital’s cleanliness, one-day surgery program and heart center seemed to show improvement.
Pryor said some other “good news” was that about 80-90 percent of the community and hospital staff wanted the situation at Danville Regional to improve.
He said LifePoint has no other choice but to listen to concerns because Danville Regional’s situation may hinder the company’s ability to grow.
“We too have come to the same conclusion. We have to build trust,” Danville Regional CEO Art Doloresco said Monday at the commission meeting. “Building that trust means having the dialogue that (Pryor) talked about.”
Is anyone here surprised by these findings?
Why on earth couldn't Art and Lifepoint have drawn these same conclusions without the help of 25,000 of our dollars and numerous hours by the commission and citizens?
Oh thats right, they can't even identify the morale of their employees......
Wake up idiot! You don't have dialog with vicious, hungry animals like Lifepoint. So this consultant was sent from Central Casting, to urge dialog. Shoulds known that's what we would get.
You can bet theres good reason why the paper did not quote Arline Creasy. Shes the only honest broker in the bunch.
For those of us who were not at the meeting last night...what else was said that the paper is not reporting?
SNORE !!!
Pryor has expertise in advising non-profit healthcare institutions. He probably is not aware of the level of abuse that is commonly conducted in a for-profit hospital community. The situation of DRMC is almost beyond opening more doors of conversation. Once it has been attempted over and over again by a community, the community becomes frustrated and angry because their efforts have no impact on the lack of quality healthcare provided by the hospital.
In this particular case, the community became greatly alarmed when Joint Commission issued a "Preliminary Denial of Accredidation", and they are VERY THANKFUL they did so for the safety of the community. It also forced the hospital leadership to listen to their concerns.
What Danville is experiencing is a NORMAL REACTION TO DISTURBING NEWS.
1)Administration at the hospital is disturbed that they received "Preliminary Denial of Accredidation" and they have to fix it or they will loose revenues. They must decide how much money the corporation will have to spend IN THE COMMUNITY and is directly related to salary and wage levels, number of paid personnel, advertising, charitable contributions, etc to do so. (And it might mean that Art D. will not get his year end bonus for bottom line profits)
2)Citizens are disturbed because feel that they have been mis-led and mis-guided by their leaders whom were leading the safety and betterment of their community. It is also a normal reaction for community members to become angry when they feel that information is hidden behind closed doors.
3)Employees of the Institution in Question are angry because they have been working hard to continue the well-being of their community by doing all of the "hands-on" provisions that they possibly/ physically can. As they have tired , they have seen large amounts of money go into executive pockets when it should have been used to fullfill efforts of what a hospital should do.
The level of mis-trust and hostility is normal in this community. Those who have expressed their concerns should be commended. This is simply a community who has had the courage to stand for that which is right for all of its citizens. Most everyone who has voiced their concerns are doing so at their own
expense of time and money, not because they are profiting financially.
All comments made by people- should be scrutinized by one of the largest motivating factors in our commercial society-money. (Another is vanity)
All comments made by people-should also be scrutinized by a larger motivating factor-FEAR.
If Mr. Pryor is truly an expert of problem solving, he will see that all of the problems he addressed originated from FEAR-one of the motivational factors of humans that is larger than money. A fear that is normal for all citizens who are experiencing these type of difficulties in their community.
"They no longer feel safe, Mr. Pryor, because they feel that their primary healthcare institution has continuously lied, continuously covered it up, and they FEAR for their SAFETY because this THREATENS THEIR PERSONAL HEALTH, WEALTH, and FUTURES and those of their FAMILIES. They are ANGRY because they have expressed their concerns in the past and have had no true action of correction." These are simply not symptoms that can be corrected with stitches and a bandage.
Absolutely!
Add, They are angry, because they fear they will be forced like some of their co-workers to leave a community they are fond of to seek job security and to maintain the income they once had. Did you know that if you were at top pay level with the old DRMC and transfer to a new position your pay drops to Lifepoints top pay? For some this can be a 10-20% cut in pay. Nice reward for decades of service huh?
Is it any wonder so many are interviewing at other facilities where pay, bonuses and benefits more than offsets the expense of the commute.
Not so sure about the salary ranges. A previous employee was recently recruited back to DRMC to her previous role as Director and is said to have "had her salary doubled". If this is true, the pay isn't so bad!!
She has certainly bragged a great deal about this at her current employer [Morehead].
Sounds like Ruth was once again fooled by a "smooth" talker. I see she still can't keep her mouth shut. It should be top secret if her salary was doubled.
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