The New ER
So how many readers have visited the new Emergency Room at Floyd. It opened earlier this month and is now in its 3rd or 4th week.
I have heard ongoing patient complaints about continued wait times and over the weekend, at least one patient ended up leaving and going to Clark where they had an emergency procedure done.
The new ER has around 40 beds but is only utilizing about half of them because of staffing issues. The ER docs are frustrated. The nursing staff is frustrated and patients remain frustrated. All this is continually reflected in the patient satisfaction surveys.
But, the patients get to stay in some pretty nice rooms as they endure their waits.
Today's allergy levels: Tuesday - 8.0/High
Today's predominant pollen:
Grass, Mulberry and Hickory/Pecan.
posted by Anonymous at 5:57 AM
6 Comments:
There are a lot of sour grapes amongst physicians and the administration.
Check out today's Courier and the article on the new hospital coming.
They plan to add more beds than originally planned because of interest among physicians.
This should speak very clearly to the skeptics.
You want to know why there are waits in the new ER? It is because of doctors, like yourself, that think they can get special treatment with family members. Instead of having a family member, or friend, check into the ER the traditional way; triage, see the doc, get tests done, see the doc again and finally know what is going on. You call the ER doc and let them know that you are bringing someone in and that they need to be seen. Then you sneak them in the back door so that the angy mob in the waiting room doesn't see you. Many docs do this and it needs to stop. Hospital employees, or the public, don't get this kind of treatment, why should a docs family or friend?
I too have passed the Floyd ER due to the precieved wait time and gone to the Clark ER. This was a mistake that I will not repeat. I waited 2 1/2 hours at Clark to be seen and had problems with my billing that took 5 phone calls to resolve.
The reality I have come to is that ER's have their peak periods of utilization. It is just like a lot of businesses that have peak and slow periods in their business model. It would be inefficient for a hospital to build and staff each department for its "potential" maximum capacity and absorb the inefficiencies of overstaffing.
It is just a reality that sometimes you have to wait a reasonable amount of time for something. You cannot have everything on demand!
Medrep said "you must join the other physicians and build a hospital" - I heard Dan has already spoken with Eli about being (one of the) top dogs at the new facility....and to think, he was a board member at FMHHS less than six months ago...hmmmm.
Also, interesting enough, when healthblogger did not like the comments made by another anonymous contributor, he requested to know their identity to validate the veracity of their comments. Let us not forget that he spoke under the comfort of anonymity for several months, and it was OK for him at that time. Guess the rules aren't the same for others...?
I have worked for FMHHS for 4 months now and am glad I joined the team. It bother's myself and other staff when we here how some of the finest doctors in the area want to pull up stakes and back a different hospital. It's as if they've lost the battle and are running away from the fight. If everyone would stand shoulder to shoulder with each other and fight the battle rather than tuck tails and run prehaps the FMHHS problem could be resolved. Dr. Hallal, whom I had much respect for at one time, was a sore loser and didn't want to play anymore.
The new ER doesn't seem to be the only problem at Floyd Memorial. For years I have looked at Floyd as being a premier hospital that offered wonderful care. Recently I had the opportunity to visit patients on different occasions and was saddened at what I saw. There didn't appear to be enough staff to care adequately for the patients. One of the patients I visited said it took a long time for their call light to be answered. The other said everyone was constantly in a hurry, taking away the personal touch Floyd had always been known for. I commend the staff I saw while there. They were doing their best to provide the best care possible, but they were obviously stretching themselves very thin. The private rooms are great, but the care needs to be great as well. Their management/administrative staff need to re-evaluate the importance of quality care, especially if there is competition on the horizon.
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