Danville Register & Bee
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
DANVILLE - LifePoint Hospitals Inc. is committed to fixing the problems at Danville Regional Medical Center, a company executive told Danville City Council on Tuesday.“We look at tonight as a newbeginning,” said LifePoint’s Gateway Division President Jess Judy, who claimed his company and the community had a “mutual objective” in restoring the community’s trust concerning Danville Regional and its quality of care.
Judy’s promise came just minutes after Jim Houser, co-chairman of the Citizen’s Commission Related to the Danville Regional Medical Center, presented council with a report detailing the group’s findings. Houser said the hospital’s most pressing issues are its need to regain full accreditation status from the Joint Commission, improve its staffing levels, enhance its collaboration with staff, enforce its quality service standards, and review its management practices and culture.
“These are the most important problems that need the quickest attention,” Houser said, adding these problems had to be addressed within the next 90 days. “If these problems are solved, others will be also.”
Houser and the commission have spent the past four months gathering feedback concerning Danville Regional’s operations and quality of care by passing out surveys and holding three public hearings.
Houser suggested the city form a full-time hospital panel devoted to fixing problems at Danville Regional that would be comprised of LifePoint executives, civic leaders and other members of the community. Judy said he was willing to work with the panel and offered to represent LifePoint among the group. Judy also said his company was in the process of finding a new CEO for Danville Regional who was committed to working with the community.
Art Doloresco resigned in June as the third chief executive to work at Danville Regional since LifePoint Hospitals purchased the hospital in July 2005.
“Trust is done by delivering on the commitments that we make,” Judy said, adding the new CEO would be required to move his or her family to the area and establish residency as soon as possible.
Mayor Wayne Williams and other members of council thanked the hospital commission for its work identifying the problems at LifePoint and seemed excited about Judy’s willingness to take part in the process.
“We want a better hospital,” Williams said, adding he would start working with elected officials in Pittsylvania County and Caswell County, N.C., to form the panel. “LifePoint wants a better hospital.”
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92 comments:
HOG WASH, Tell us some more Pretty Lies!
Disgusting. Tells you all you need to know about Jess Judy--and more than you want to know about the sort of "leaders" who would listen to him.
Why can't you try to forget. What did they say last night? We need to focus on the future of DRMC not the past yet people like you continue to throw our useless comments like the above.
Forget, Hell!
History is the only guide we have to the future, and history under LifePoint clearly proves that their mission is fueled by deceit and greed over every aspect of our hospital. Only fools will believe anything they say.
Did you not learn about history in school?????
I learned about history in school yes. I learned about leaders who looked forward and PROACTIVELY influenced change by using thier brains, resources, and their influence to create a new future. YOu will not move forward if you are always looking back. YOu need to envision the future and work towards that goal not spend time working to rebuild the past. It won't happen and please also do not look at the past thorugh rose colored glasses. WE had the same problems. But this constant whining will get no where. Did any of the great leaders of the past whine about the past or did they create their own future? By the way...I took history in school and past and still read many historical books on our leaders. We can learn form the past but we can never grow if that is our only focus.
For sharp insight into the financial acumen of the Bank Boys who sold us down the river on the hospital, don't miss today's story with comments by Ben Davenport, a leading Bank Boy, on why he quit Intertape.
It shows a hopeless misunderstanding of business dynamics, coupled with the evil presence of something Davenport calls "the proverbial increase in Asian products."
He also notes that Intertape has always been profitiable though it lost money.
It reminds us of the gobbledy-gook in the minds of Davenport, Ashsby, Motley, Barkhouser and Majors when they threw to the wolves our community's single most important asset.
From today's story:
DANVILLE - Area businessman Ben Davenport has stepped down from the board of directors of Intertape Polymer Group Inc., a move he said was the right step to take.
“It was time for new leadership,” Davenport said Tuesday. “It’s appropriate that I step down and others look forward.”
The board had planned on proposing to shareholders at the annual meeting last week that the company be sold to the investment company of Littlejohn, but before that could happen, another group offered an alternative.
“A proposal was presented to a group headed by Eric Baker, who was involved with the original development of the company,” Davenport explained. “Baker is quite a businessman and a highly
respected entrepreneur.”
Baker, previous company president Melbourne Yull and board member H. Dale McSween proposed forming a new board to lead the company. After assuring the shareholders they could find additional capital to refinance the company, the shareholders overwhelmingly accepted their proposal.
“Thus, a new chapter of Intertape Polymer has begun,” Davenport said.
“The company has never been unprofitable,” he said. “Operationally, it has always been profitable, but because of tight restrictions the lenders required, with the least bit of a hiccup, you got off. Each time you wondered if you would be successful in renegotiating the loan agreement.”
Because of factors, such as the decline of the building industry and what Davenport called “the proverbial increase in Asian products,” Intertape had taken on too much debt for a company its size and became too heavily leveraged.
“What was needed was a large infusion of capital to buy down the debt, which is what, hopefully, Baker will provide,” Davenport said.
The negotiations were all friendly, he said, noting that he wished Baker had stepped forward sooner and saved them all the months of work.
“My wife, Betty, is relieved it’s over,” Davenport said. “Every time the phone has rung lately, she has been sure it was another conference call with Intertape.”
Fool me once, shame on you.
Fool me twice, shame on me.
Lifepoint has fooled or tried to fool us an uncountable number of times. It's a legacy of shame. No integrity. No trust.
Can't build a good future on a foundation like that. Reputation and trust are terrible things to lose.
Got to start over, from scractch, and I don't think Lifepoint can do it. It's going to have to be some other organization.
I watched the commission review last night. I have one question:
They have asked to form a panel with physicians,community leaders etc. Where do the DRMC employees fit in? Why can't the employees have a representative on this panel? Employee moral is so important to the delivery of quality product. they are the key factor to this equation and physician satisfaction although important is often obtained at the expense of staff...just look at the history of DRMC that so many of you are so fond in sighting. Many of the problems this organization has had for DECADES is related to the power the physicians had in running the organization and often the best interests of patient care, safety and organizational need took a second seat behind. and please before I insight angry physicians..I have the greatest respect for those of you who have worked tirelessly for the best of the patients but many of those who have been most vocal in this debate are upset because their power has been diminished.
To the person yammering about the future:
What you say about leaders is a given. No one would dispute that.
The point so many are trying to make here is that our history with LifePoint proves that they cannot be trusted or believed. They do not do what they say they will do. That's the point.
We have no reason whatsoever to believe they mean anything they say. No reason at all.
I thought an earlier poster summed it up perfectly by stating that LifePoint clearly proves that its "mission is fueled by deceit and greed over every aspect of running our hospital."
LifePoint has got to go so we can begin again, and there have been excellkent suggestions on this blog about how it can be done.
You start by seeking the best medical care available for your loved ones.
--ANS.
How ridiculous all of this is. The committee formed to look into this incredible mess ends up recommending another committee.
Forget it.
The market forces are going to take care of this one--just as they should.
Employees on the committee? Never. They might cause trouble and be "negative." Don't deceive yourself into thinking any of this is about anything except wearing the community down so that it will accept the sorry medical services LifePoint wants to offer in order to boost its earnings. Anyone who tells you otherwise is part of the problem--not the solution.
Oh yes...there have been so many great suggestions. Buy the hospital back and who pray tell in this town do you wish to run it?
because evidently if you are not from Danville you are not trustworthy. be careful what you ask for buddy..you might find you stumbled on to something worse than you ever dreamed. if you think LifePOint is your enemy then get close to your enemy learn what they do and why and work with them. Don't throw snipe shots form the bushes. Many communities are perfectly happy with their hospitals but they did not work to destroy form the start. We have not had consistent leadership want to know why? Well lets see we keep running them out of town. We insult their families, their dress, we analyze every word and hold them to a level that we have held no one in the past. You could not pay me enough for that.
We all understand your point and agree that you would not be a very good selection for the job. Clearly, the heat would get to you.
I just saw a very insightful post from annother string that's worth copying to this string:
"I'm not sure it matters who the new CEO is....Ruth will destroy him from down under. She'll have his legs off before he can hang up his jacket."
A fresh start as Mr Judy referred to last night would include the removal of RUTHless. We need to build trust and she does not offer this at all.
It would be interesting to know where this new voice defending Lifepoint is coming from. Does it have a familiar ring?
These folks are real comedians.
We're visiting and just saw this dynamite blog.....every town needs one....we have a corrupt police force in our town in Georgia and I would give anything to have a blog in which people could express their opinions withhut being scared of reprisels.
Whatever your problems Danville is a very special place to have this outlet!
Dont foget, this Jesse Judy guy brought us Ruth as well as Delersco. He might be the wolf in sheeps woll behind all of this. He sounded smooth, but i wonder....
Sadly, I would not want Danville to be judged by this blog. We are a better place and need to get beyond a great deal of community hurt and anger. We have the talent, knowledge and know how to have a great successful community that our children would wish to grow and stay here to raise their own families. Sadly, the anger and hatred focusing on this mess at the hospital, unemployement, lack of higher paying jobs, poor education etc. all are intertwined. This is not just a problem around the hospital this is a problem that has been brewing for quite a long time. I am at aloss as to how to repair this. I can only suggest we look outside ourselves and go to other towns who have experienced the amount of economical losses we have and learn how they have succeeded in such dire circomstances.
Mr. Judy did not bring Ruth. She was sent by her buddie shigher up on the food chain. I would bet Mr. Judy would wish they would take her back and soon.
How about lets start with honesty. You say you don't want Danville judged by this blog and go on to list, quite effectively, some of the worst problems. Why shouldn't Danville be judged by them? A big part of the problem is good-meaning folks like you wanting to keep the problems covered up. I think this blog is an excellent reflection of Danville.
So more talk, more committees? Sort of like calling "marital counseling" an appropriate response to a gang rape.
How about lets start with honesty. You say you don't want Danville judged by this blog and go on to list, quite effectively, some of the worst problems. Why shouldn't Danville be judged by them? A big part of the problem is good-meaning folks like you wanting to keep the problems covered up. I think this blog is an excellent reflection of Danville.
Maybe Mr. Judy did not bring Miss Ruth, but he was certainly sitting there beside her in Council Chambers when she was introduced as the latest best answer to our troubles. She and Art Doloresco. Remember him?
UNBELIEVABLE!!!!! LIFEPOINT CAN SAY WITH A STRAIGHT FACE THAT THEY ARE GOING TO FIX PROBLEMS. THIS PROVES THEY THINK WE ARE IDIOTS, LOW HANGING FRUIT VARIETY.
DISGUSTING.
To the comment starting "For sharp insight," talking about Davenport, Ashby, Majors, Motley and Barkhouser:
Of course they are stupid by high standards, but they are smart enough to stay in town where they can find all the Low Hanging Fruit they need to keep them busy and their egos satisfied.
For the Mayor and them to accept Lifepoint claiming they will fix things, after the hell we've all been through working for them, is an insult to every person in this city. How do these people get elected? Does anyone check our elections for voter fraud. I always thought Danny Marshall was a standup guy, but he sure faded out on this one.
What kind of fools do these people take us for? See you at Moses Cone.
all of this talk about fixing things, they broke it to begin with I sure hope they remember how so they can go back and make the changes, like that could ever happen. It is amazing that in just a few short months they can literally tear down what took decades to build, to nothing more that a buliding with many angry and upset people, and they have the nerve to say they can fix all the problems, bottem line they caused them, made it impossible for us to follow their plans and now they blame us for their own stupidity.
Amen!
Its like something in Alice and Wonderland, or maybe a televisison comedy show. Just unbelievable. And so deeply insulting to the entire community as well as the folks working at DRMC.
What an amazing blog. I just heard about it at a 4th of July picnic today. This is fabulous. It shows how many really smart people are in our town, and things just might work if they can ever get rid of the sickos that run everything. Thanks for this great page!
I live in Martinsville and picked up the little card in Danville. The website is a godsend. I wish we had one in Martinsville. I don't think things here are really as bad, but I can tell you they are not nearly as good as LifePoint would have you believe. We do have a decent CEO, but we think he's beginning to get some pretty bad orders from headquarters.
What does something like this cost? Who runs it? I think something like this in Martinsville could make a great difference.
"I took history in school and past "
You obviously failed english, and
"Those who do not recall history are doomed to repeat it"
Lifepoint/HCA has a very long history of non-profit, and community destruction.
Those in the American Revolution remembered the past and raised hell because of it. Never forget what Lifepoint has done ,they will do it again.
As for who would govern the decisions of the hospital without lifepoint, shared governance or a model of any one of the excellent NON-profit facilities all around us would be an option.
If you listen closely on a quiet night you can here the money going down the drain to a select few while yet another "panel" is formed , it must be nice to be able to state the obvious and get paid thousands at a time.
They fiddle while Rome burns.
I'm way behind time, Sam, but is this a joke? I mean, I'm used to train wrecks, but this mess at Danville Regional is like the World Trade Center. Did the clowns really recommend another study group???? Looks like they did. Am I the only one who is insulted as well as angry?!?!?!
"Area businessman Ben Davenport has stepped down from the board of directors of Intertape Polymer Group Inc.,"
"The board had planned on proposing to shareholders at the annual meeting last week that the company be sold......."
Imagine that...selling off another company.....
No surprise here.
The arrogance and greed of people like Davenport and Majors are far beyond what most of us can imagine. I do not live in the Danville area, but their reputations are rotten wherever they have done "business."
As a newcomer to this Blog, why are these men referred to as the "Boys at the Bank?" That seems so chummy and friendly.
Shouldn't they be called "The Bums at the Bank?"
Just wondering.
as a customer of danville regional what i care about is the unsanitary condition of the tolets in patience rooms. it is disgusting. i'm taking my own lyson and mop when i go back tomorrow to see my nephew.
Not bad. You can call 'em the Bums at the Bank for all I care. These guys never did honest work for a living.
Today's economy in America does not allow for many businesses to have hiccups. Each small mistake is very expensive, and it doesn't take very many of these to cause destruction to a business's viability. For-Profit Healthcare is the same.
However, with Lifepoint and other "for profit" hospitals like Tenant, they have an additional overhead-executive salaries and bonuses that are being handed out extravagantly. It literally is taking much needed supplies from hospitals and patients to accomodate them.
"For profit" hospitals are feeling the pinch not just in interest but also with dividend payments. Their investors expect a decent return on their money too.
Overall, "For profit" hospitals have a bit more load to carry as far as overhead, because they answer to so many entities. (And some of those entities take huge salaries although they are not actively involved in healthcare at all) Today's market environment is closing in slowly on them. Medicare and Medicaid, as well as Commercial Insurance is becoming more scrutinizing in their payments to them.
It is all decided on quality of care-with several key indicators. Changes are happening to make reliable comparisons now, though. These as well as information from patients, and staff are vital to the collaboration.
Patients who do not get good care-(wrong types of tests, timeliness, overtreatment, wrong dosage ...on...on) "standards of care" that are not what was received), should report to your healthcare company, or appropriate regulating office..or file suit. This helps make the hospitals more accountable. If someone passes away needlessly, or is injured-someone else can report it.(And your own records for reference, notes,etc. are good to have for your own safety.) Abusive situations should always be reported. ALWAYS-it is required by law. Even if the abuse is unintentional, it should be reported. (Although sometimes overworked nurses take the fall here, it trully is not their fault-it is usually short staffing)
With all of these factors starting to happen, I too do not see Lifepoint coming out smelling like roses either (but that's just my opinion based on their track record) I don't think their management capabilities have enough expertise on overcoming so many cases of severe hiccups.
They sounded vague in their promises, with no outlined plan. They're probably hoping to pull a rabbit out of their hat....and I don't think they know David Copperfield well enough to hire him for this.
IF they are truly able to lead healthcare for 50 rural communities through this, with quality healthcare becoming the outcome-I'll be absolutely shocked. They simply have too far to go, and too many obstacles to overcome...in more hospitals than just this one. This one was just one of the first to get "preliminary denial.." Until the cards fall( because they play it like a "crap shoot"), their operations will be dangerous for patients, and very straining for staff members. Be careful and take your vitamins!
Didn't Jess Judy stand behind Art?
Didn't Jess Judy plant Ruth?
Has Jess Judy acted on information given him from inside staff in a timely manner...information that could have prevented chaos within the organization.
Isn't Jess Judy a company man?
Use to think he was a good guy...not anymore!!
What a good comment on the economic dynamics at play at play here. In covering up for LifePoint, the newspaper and the mayor's group keep saying Doloresco was the THIRD ceo. For every practical purpose, you must include all the ACTING CEOs, since out commuinity has paid them handsomely to be there.
Imagine the fortunes we have already paid these characters--Jess Judy among them--in money that has done no good whatsoever.
Each one has made things worse.
Yes, Jess Judy had a certain credibility, but it's long gone now. He's just one of them.
LifePoint is a piker company, tottering along as they try to fool investors, and they will cut and run from Danville as fast as Doloresco did. These folks are not in business to take the heat. They just take money and run.
Soon enough, they'll be long gone and we can start to rebuild.
Will the Bank Boys help?
Ashby, the wannabe Bank Boy, is the weakest link. He just might want to come clean, ask for forgiveness, and lead his community out of the wilderness.
Every good person in this town would rally behind him.
YAWN.....SNORE
Here's our old idiot again. Bored by all of this. Wait until he gets dragged into LifePoint.
Just consider the valuable input he has a ignor the rest....OK just ignore his input.
Relax. He's gone back to sleep. He's on a bench in Ballou Park.
Sorry to be so basic, but seriously, why do we care if Danville Regional has become a dump? We have excellent options. We did care a year ago, but now that we are all set up elsewhere, it doesn't matter any more. It's hard to believe so many people are wrought up over it still.
Sure, you can get hit by a truck and be taken to DRMC, but life's a crap-shoot.
Woa! Thats the kinda comment we dont need. We cant get good jobs in here with a dump for a hospital. Thats why we need to care.
I disagree that DRMC is a dump. The parts destroyed by Lifepoint might be a dump, but plenty of us are woprking our heads off to take care of people and the part we are doing is in noway a dump!
Hey guys, I'm not on a bench in Ballou Park. Too hot for that. I'm in my cool office laughing at all you fools who think you'll change something. It'll never happen. Stay tuned.
-YAWN SNORE
Bums at the bank. That's pretty good. They run to the pawn shop with everything they can get their hands on. Especially if it isn't theirs.
I think BOYS AT THE BANK started back during a time when people presumed those guys had the community interests at heart. No more. Now we know the truth. BUMS AT THE BANK sounds about right.
I agree with the lady that said she was gonna to take a mop and lysol.
Let me explain somthing. You can see the docs and nirses coming, and you can make your own jugment. What you can't see is the germs, and thats what will get you. You understand/
What kind of germs are you talking about? Society germs or infectious ones?
I agree but I have worked in 3 hospitals and I think our hospital is the cleanist I've ever seen. If you want to start a riot, start holloring that a roach is on the loose. A lot more people will come running than if you hollored a fire had started. I think Lifepoinbt is doing a good job on cleanleniss.
But what if a staff infection is on the loose? Staff can kill you quicker than a roach, and it takes much larger bites invisibly!
Have any of our city officials looked into getting the hospital back through eminant domain?
I agree with the above post. I have also worked in 3 different hospitals as well and this one is by far the cleanest. On our unit, the service associates clean their butt off all day long.
Additionally, the staph infection rates in this facility are significantly less than other facilities like Duke. Duke is rampant with uncleanliness and staph.
But all units are not the same. Why would patients' families feel the need to bring mops and lysol?
Is the data you are comparing reported in the past through "volunteer self reporting basis"? Can this be data be very reliable from hospitals whom are known to downplay incidents and cover them up to seek profits?
As I understand it, mops and Lysol, if used properly, can get rid of normal filth as well as staph stuff. Is that wrong? Pretty important point here.
You can work your pretty little butts off all you want, and you are not going to get rid of the "staff" infection that comes from Lifepoint.
We might have some 'pretty little butts' around Danville Regional, but not a one of them came from Lifepoint.
Jess Judy TRUST ME> Ask the revolving door of O's hired and fired by Judy. Ask Judy why he failed to take the CEO job when offered. To truly give the next poor fool a chance how about a new Division President, a new Advisory Board, and a commitment to move to town. You might have a fighting chance if you sweep all the failures of the LPNT past out the door. Since Lambert every one has been put in place by Judy and every policy and action has had his personal approval That is the LPNT way. Great blog spread to all LPNT hospital communities and you might find LPNT can run some pretty good hospitals-- better operators out there than Judy. No one can figure how he has survived.
Where is Tod Lambert when we need him most?
Perhaps the mayor should look into acquiring the hospital property back into the hands of the community through the traditional eminent domain laws. Sure they may have to temporarily borrow some funds to do it, but they could use the lease income to pay off the debt. The city could lease the property to management of their choosing-through effectively written leases, and have more control over it-for the good of the community. The city could regain some of the revenue that now goes to Brentwood. Part of the money would at least go back into the community, and the hospital is for community/public use.
If the hospital is not effectively serving the citizens of the community (and recent reports reflect this), it just seems that this could be a time when this law would be used well for the public good.
It could very well be the best way to get past the monopoly that Lifepoint has on the community with urgent medical needs and taking advantage of the people who can't travel-as well as the employees.
It could also give some of the employees as well as community members an opportunity to have a voice in management, to see that it is run well-for the ongoing good of the community.
As I understand the law, other groups of local government could also initiate the action. This could very well be a way to take the hospital back to its people.
Bring Lambert back. Now he was in touch with the REAL problems.
Surely its someones idea of a joke to bring back Tod Lambert?
Hey, a serious question....does lysol kill staff infection?
No local CEO can make any difference. Nothing has changed with Lifepoint. Decisions and policy are made by the corporate (Brentwood) CFO now as it was on the day of the sale. Local O's are here only for the P.R.
DRMC is a business and needs to make money to feed the stockholders. No expense is to small!
So why are things working pretty well in Martinsville?
Commission offers suggestions about hospital
By MARK THOMAS/Star-Tribune Staff Writer
Thursday, July 5, 2007 4:07 PM EDT
A citizens commission that spent four months hearing concerns about Danville Regional Medical Center recommended last week the formation of a leadership council to work with LifePoint Hospitals.
The commission also suggested five areas the council should address in the next 90-180 days, issues co-chair Jim Houser said need the most attention.
Houser, in presenting the citizens commission's final report to Danville City Council July 3, said the new panel should have members from across the region, including physicians and community leaders. He said the group's work would be ongoing.
Jess Judy, a LifePoint regional president, said the hospital corporation, which bought Danville Regional Medical Center in 2005, supported the idea and would participate. He said it could also be a way for the hospital to tell the community about its achievements.
Mayor Wayne Williams, who appointed the seven-member commission in March, said he would meet with the chairs of the Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors and Caswell County Board of Commissioners, along with delegates Robert Hurt and Danny Marshall, to put the panel together. He said the group would have one citizen from each community and two doctors.
"He said it could also be a way for the hospital to tell the community about its achievements."
Sounds like they view the new "Leadership Council" as more of a PR machine than an advisory board.
(DANVILLE) -- LIFEPOINT SAYS PATIENT NUMBERS ARE UP IN THE EMERGENCY ROOM AT D-R-M-C, BUT DOWN FOR ELECTIVE PROCEDURES. REGIONAL PRESIDENT JESS JUDY SAYS IT APPEARS MANY ELECTIVE PATIENTS ARE ELECTING TO GO ELSEWHERE. HE SAYS THE ONLY WAY TO TURN THOSE NUMBERS AROUND IS TO RESTORE THE PUBLIC�S TRUST IN DANVILLE REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER. ONE AREA THEY�RE STRESSING IS THE NURSE-TO-PATIENT RATIO. STAFFING ISSUES WERE ONE OF THE TOP CONCERNS IN THIS WEEK�S REPORT BY THE MAYOR�S CITIZEN�S COMMISSION.
"IT APPEARS MANY ELECTIVE PATIENTS ARE ELECTING TO GO ELSEWHERE. HE SAYS THE ONLY WAY TO TURN THOSE NUMBERS AROUND IS TO RESTORE THE PUBLIC�S TRUST IN DANVILLE REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER. ONE AREA THEY�RE STRESSING IS THE NURSE-TO-PATIENT RATIO."
Wasn't it someone on here who said "The only thing that will make them listen is $$$$$$"?
What they have been hearing for months fell on deaf ears until it started affecting their wallets. Kinda shows how much they value the opinions of their employees and customers vs. how much they value their wallets.
has anyone heard from mr calloway he looks pretty good after judy and ruth
"IT APPEARS MANY ELECTIVE PATIENTS ARE ELECTING TO GO ELSEWHERE."
I'll be damned, imagine that, you cut the quality of your product and people start buying a different product. Who'd have thunk it?
Also, with elective surgeries and this being a for profit corporation, they are also requiring copays up front now and that has turned many off because they were used to the old DRMC way of having the procedure and then getting billed for it.
I think a big part of the whole problem in Danville is how fat people are and how much they smoke. It is incredible. I remember a survey they once named Dallas Texas as having the fattest people in the country. Could Danville be far behind. And they move about like blimps with smoke pouring from them. That's why our numbers are so bad--not the hospital.
I doubt things are much better in Martinsville, though they certainly have NOT lost their accreditation. One big difference is that Martinsville does not have a healthy blog like this one so it is easier for them to cover up their problems.
For goodnesses sake, Martinsville is a mecca of sophistication compared to what is left of Danville after decades of having its blood sucked dry by the likes of the Bank Bums.
"UNBELIEVABLE!!!!! LIFEPOINT CAN SAY WITH A STRAIGHT FACE THAT THEY ARE GOING TO FIX PROBLEMS. THIS PROVES THEY THINK WE ARE IDIOTS, LOW HANGING FRUIT VARIETY."
Amen.
To our friend in Martinsville...on your question...
"What does something like this cost? Who runs it? I think something like this in Martinsville could make a great difference. "
...did you mean a blog like this?
They are free.
https://www.blogger.com/start
As a former employee at Martinsville let me explain the situation. 5-6 years ago Martinsville was bought out by Province healthcare and everything went to pot. The employees, citizens, and officials begged the hospital to partner with Carilion after they made an offer for the hospital. We had the same type of board here as is at DRMC. The same 5-10 people run every board in town. They choose money over patient care. Province healthcare came in and slashed programs, fired employees, slached benefits, and ran the hospital into the ground. At one time we had more travlers working then regular staff. We began losing our patients to Baptist, Moses Cone, Carilion, and Danville. Then Lifepoint bought Province healthcare and actually did some improvements. A very small amount of staff was hired and they brought in Meditech (not great, but, we never had computers before). Martinsville fits in the mold of Lifepoint, 150 bed hospital that does just general procedures, no neuro, open heart and things of that nature. They did not and still do not keep the sickest of the sick as Danville used to do. My sister works at DRMC so I was told that they rarely shipped anything out unitl the sale. As you can see, we fit their mold and we were already beat down by a worse corporation that Lifepoint.
""IT APPEARS MANY ELECTIVE PATIENTS ARE ELECTING TO GO ELSEWHERE."
Wow...I don't have an MHA but I can see that that might be a slight problem for the bottom line.
Thanks for the info on M'ville....
Tod, where are you? Please xome back.......
So...with all this corporate hate, surely none of you bloggers shop at Wal-Mart or buy anything that belongs to Proctor & Gamble. Your victim mentality is showing again.
Ask yourself "why was the hospital for sale in the first place?"
Is it just so hard to swallow that LifePoint does a great job in so many communities and that perhaps it has something to do with the suspicious, paranoid little isolationist minds in Danville that might add to the problems?
"Is it just so hard to swallow that LifePoint does a great job in so many communities and that perhaps it has something to do with the suspicious, paranoid little isolationist minds in Danville that might add to the problems?"
Uh....yeah...
We're just having a little group delusion that we have managed to drag the media, the attorney general, Joint Commission, CMS, and maybe some folks in Texas into.
Somebody call Agent Mulder...quick!
Hmmmm....that's all you can muster?
Get it done
Danville Register and Bee
July 8, 2007
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Jess Judy got it wrong Tuesday night when he told Danville City Council, “We look at tonight as a new beginning.”
Every patient receiving treatment at Danville Regional Medical Center represents a new beginning for LifePoint Hospitals Inc., the Tennessee company that bought the hospital two years ago this month.
Danvillians didn’t want their nonprofit hospital sold, but that wasn’t LifePoint’s fault. However, everything that has happened at the hospital since the July 2005 sale has been LifePoint’s responsibility - including the preliminary denial of accreditation that now hangs over Danville Regional.
Some positive things have happened over the past two years, such as building out the top two floors in the Landon Wyatt tower and buying new diagnostic imaging equipment. But those projects were part of the original sale agreement.
Judy, a Clarksville native and LifePoint’s Gateway Division president, knows the history. He’s heard the complaints and he probably knows what the controversies - there have been more than one - have done to the hospital’s bottom line.
But if he knows all of that, he also has to know that the people of this community have heard promises before. Judy himself was quoted on the pages of this newspaper in March 2006, after LifePoint’s first local CEO left, as saying: “The future of this hospital and our ability to provide quality care kind of rests with our physicians and our associates and us working collectively with them to make sure that they have the resources and the tools and the technology to do that.”
Judy was at the Danville City Council meeting this week to hear the final recommendations of the Citizen’s Commission, the group formed by Danville Mayor Wayne Williams to investigate problems at Danville Regional.
Jim Houser, co-chairman of the Citizen’s Commission, said Danville Regional must earn full accreditation from the Joint Commission, add more people, work with its current employees, enforce its quality service standards and review its current management practices and culture.
“These are the most important problems that need the quickest attention,” Houser said. “If these problems are solved, others will be also.”
Will they?
One of LifePoint’s biggest problems - besides the preliminary denial of accreditation - is that its customers have other choices. It’s not a case of the sharks circling, it’s a case of the free market kicking in and people taking their health care dollars elsewhere.
“Over the last year-plus, Annie Penn and Moses Cone have received increased interest from physicians, patients and employees from the Danville area,” said Susan Fitzgibbons, president of Annie Penn Hospital in Reidsville, N.C. “Our goal is not to be predatory, but to increase the awareness in the Danville area that there is an excellent facility 25 minutes down the road.”
That’s what some letter writers have said on these pages - Danvillians have the choice of other hospitals in the region if they’re not happy with Danville Regional.
For the Dan River Region, though, the best outcome would be for Danville Regional to fix its problems and regain the public’s trust and confidence. For a lot of reasons, Danvillians need a high quality local hospital they and their families can rely on.
Keeping the hospital fully accredited - and keeping the promises that have been made over the past two years - represents LifePoint Hospitals’ best and possibly last chance here.
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Editorials are the consensus view of the Danville Register & Bee's editorial board -
Publisher Steven W. Kaylor, Editor Arnold Hendrix and Opinion Page Editor Robert Benson.
It is "staph" infection not "staff" infection. The best defense is to ask all healthcare providers to wash their hands before caring for you. This infection staph aureaus is common in all hospitals and is resistant to many antibiotics and treatment. The normal healthy person may carry this organism but due to a healthy immune system they have no issues. The sick, elderly are most at risk. an excellent measure of hospital quality is the hospital's nosocomial rate (i.e. the number of patients who leave with an infection they did not have prior to entering). I do not know our numbers, they were up several years ago but I believe we doing quite well with this measure. We have an excellent infection control practitioner who monitors and intervenes very appropriately.
They were only using staff of a metaphor.
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.
Have any of our city officials looked into getting the hospital back through eminant domain?
Are you kidding? Our city officials work for the bums at the bank and would just turn the hospital back over to them to run. Now, that's an idea. Maybe the bums could resell it them and have $400 million!
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