Chatham Star-Tribune
Tuesday, July 3, 2007 9:52 AM EDT
A citizens commission looking into concerns about Danville Regional Medical Center will issue a handful of recommendations this week, including that the hospital get its accreditation issue worked out as quickly as possible, the group's co-chair said."
Everybody is real concerned we get the accreditation through The Joint Commission," Jim Houser said Friday. "That's a biggie."
Danville Regional, bought by Tennessee-based LifePoint Hospitals Inc. in 2005, has a preliminary denial of accreditation status from The Joint Commission, the largest non-profit health care accrediting group responsible for evaluating the quality of care at hospitals in the United States. That status was first announced in March.
The citizens group, appointed this spring by Danville Mayor Wayne Williams, will make its final report of five or six recommendations to City Council Tuesday night, starting at 7.
Besides the recommendation on accreditation, Houser said another one will call for a panel of people from the region be developed to work with LifePoint. That recommendation seems to follow a suggestion from consultant Keith Pryor, who said leadership involving physicians, the community and LifePoint, was needed.
Pryor wrote in his June report that it was time for leadership in the community and hospital corporation "to move forward. In fact, there is no other way."Williams said he expects council to talk about how to form the regional group.
He said LifePoint representatives are supposed to be at the council meeting. He hopes they will respond about what action the company will take related to the recommendations. Houser said staff needs, better wait times in the emergency room, better care on the floors and staff morale emerged as key areas from community forums and written surveys.
The commission held three forums, including one at Chatham High School. At that meeting, speakers told the commission about a lack of care, slow response, dirty conditions, old equipment and staff shortages.
Pryor, in his report, sounded a positive note. He said it seems the community and LifePoint both want a high-quality, successful hospital. He said trust between the community and hospital needs repairing. He suggested ongoing dialogue and leadership were needed to rebuild the trust.
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14 comments:
It's amazing that the community was complaining about these things before Lifepoint and NOW they need to be addressed and by a committe no less. Don't get me wrong, I do not care for some of Lifepoint's tactics but some of the concerns "the people" have spoken about are the same concerns that ten years ago that needed to be addressed.
Ten years ago, though, a large portion of the revenue did not leave the community. Now it does....and it is getting worse.
There have always been robberies, murders, rape etc. but when they occur at a rapid increase, they too need to be addressed.
Health care issues all over America are walking through a time of change. It's a necessity now, not even closely similar to that of ten years ago. The gross national product ratio spent on healthcare in America proves it.
Perhaps we should ask "Do the corporate executives and directors of Lifepoint plan to profit more, the same, or less in the future than in the past two years?" "History shows that our hospital, staff, equipment and community has not benefited nearly as much as their corporate board of directors and its executives. What can we expect from this CEO that could change this?"
"It's amazing that the community was complaining about these things before Lifepoint and NOW they need to be addressed and by a committe no less."
I've lived here my entire life, have family whose entire careers are with DRMC and spent 10 years there myself. I never recall the community complaining as it is now. ER waits have been an issue here and everywhere and that is the fault of the community not the hospital, but staffing levels, cleanliness, services, computers, have NEVER been under question as they are now.
These are much worse than "growing pains" or "reaction to change". It is well documented all of these areas have DECLINED since Lifepoint. Maybe internally there were "concerns" about these issues and maybe they weren't where we wanted them to be, BUT these issues have grown far worse under Lifepoint. If they were concerns before then they are MAJOR concerns now.
If you will research the internet you will find this is a habit and a trend with Lifepoint....most of the changes they have instituted were cost saving measures not health and welfare improvements. And yes we may have been spending more in these areas than was absolutely necessary, but I would rather spend money to have too many people, too clean a facility, too modern a computer charting system etc. etc. (And still earn millions in profit) Than cut all of those areas so we can send some more money to Brentwood.
Any way you cut it "The Boys" knowing the above, chose to take the money so they could build community centers and fund DCC and the Institute over staying the tough course and managing the hospital. It was an easy out for them. They didn't want to be the ones who had to make the tough decisions to keep the hospital going.
If nothing else we could have taken a small portion of annual profits and hired a hospital management firm to make those decisions. That way they would report to a group of our citizens and join us in making the best decisions.
It was a cop out by "the boys" and worse than that they profited from being weak.
I too have been a 10 year employee of DRMC. But I have seen public complaints of not only ED waits, but uncleanliness, computers, patient care, etc. prior to Lifepoint. I remember constantly hearing numerous complaints from individuals out in the community when I told them I was a nurse at the hospital. However, I do agree with you that there has been a declining trend in money spent at the bedside. I have always been proud to work at DRMC even during this long term crisis that has arisen. I still continue to maintain my personal integrity that goes beyond whose management the hospital is run through.
I agree and remember practically no business has 100% approval and support from the public. Nearly everyone is going to have a bad experience (whether real or perceived) at any business from time to time. I even get less than acceptable service and meals from my favorite restaurant occassionally. I'm just saying the complaints and problems have gotten worse not better over the last couple of years. You would think LFPT would have come in and spent money and gone the extra mile to IMPROVE things for the first couple of years, then gradually gotten things to the point they wanted. Instead the almighty dollar got in the way and they had to slash and cut right off the bat which caused them to be under even more scrutiny.
Guys, Face reality. Lifepoint is a multibillion dollar corporation. Danville will not hurt it, no matter what happens. Trying to throw stones at Goliath will not work in this century. There are quality problems that are being addressed. Staffing levels are concerning but not horrendous. Things could be much worse, believe it or not. To keep "boycotting" the hospital does not hurt Lifepoint, they will make money selling gas to you leaving town. It only hurts the quality people staying behind doing their jobs. Then when things hit the fan, you will have a "transfer station" that hopefully will take care of you. In reality that does NOT exist. You are not going to build another hospital. The Boys at the Bank will grovel until the furor dies down and not contribute anything to help us. Lifepoint will go on, with or without you. Face reality! This is, what it is. If there are specific concerns, bring them up, to the newspapers, to the attorney general, to your doctor. Blanket condemnations do not work and do not bring about change. We asked for a new CEO, now we have one. Stop for a minute and give him a chance. Do you even know what to ask for next?? If so, be specific! Otherwise the only losers in all this will be the doctors, staff and patients (now and future) that live in Danville. You can bet Lifepoint and the Boys could not care less.
"I even get less than acceptable service and meals from my favorite restaurant occassionally."
Point taken and acknowledged. You are completely correct that they should have at least started like they really care about the patients and the community before they began to frugal with their money.
If I thought there was a good chance I'd die if I ate at my favorite restaurant, I wouldn't go back.
There is no new CEO yet.
Before you complain about wait times in the ED, stop and ask your neighbor who abuses the system by using the ED for their primary care. Ask your other neighbor who never intends to pay their hospital bill, but knows by showing up at the ED, that they will be seen and treated. If you think Danville is the only community in the country with ED wait issues, think again. More sets of feet walking in...fewer paying for it...many too lazy to take their kids to the doc's office earlier in the day. Ask the very good nurses in the ED...they'll tell you it's true.
Before you complain about wait times in the ED, stop and ask your neighbor who abuses the system by using the ED for their primary care. Ask your other neighbor who never intends to pay their hospital bill, but knows by showing up at the ED, that they will be seen and treated. If you think Danville is the only community in the country with ED wait issues, think again. More sets of feet walking in...fewer paying for it...many too lazy to take their kids to the doc's office earlier in the day. Ask the very good nurses in the ED...they'll tell you it's true.
Ask the one's in danville on a time limit that have to shove patients to the floors without having completed any of the labs consults xray's or even a decent IV because patients have been there "too long", then the floors play catch up for the remainder of the shift. Didn't happen before lifepoint , it was a write up offense, now it lines the admin. waste baskets.
Right on! You got it exactly right. These people are frantic and desperate.
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