Glimmers and Bashing
On a recent posting, a commenter stated “Enough with all this boring blogs, lets get back to Bashing Floyd Memorial Hospital. Lets bring back the "Glimmer Of Hope" as a Part II blog. Its much more interesting.”
I see several issues with this response.
First, we have to get out of the mindset of relating the Hospital to the current Administrative leadership. Bryant Hanson (CEO) and Floyd Memorial Hospital and Health Services are two very distinct entities. For some reason, many people cannot separate them and refer to them as one in the same.
The employees on the front line and in the trenches make Floyd Memorial. They are the heart and soul of the institution and continue to try and overcome the tremendous challenges placed upon them by this administration.
The problems and concerns related to Floyd have not been related to employees. The “bashing” as it was stated has mainly concerned the decisions made by the current leadership including the Board.
Our hospital will rise to the challenges placed before it by this leadership and will eventually overcome some of the decisions that have been made.
The glimmer of hope many of us feel is the fact that this administration is on its way out as recently validated by the CFO “resigning”. If the 2007 financial situation continues to decline, we will see other changes being made.
Then we can look forward to bringing our Hospital back to its admired and trusted status.
I see several issues with this response.
First, we have to get out of the mindset of relating the Hospital to the current Administrative leadership. Bryant Hanson (CEO) and Floyd Memorial Hospital and Health Services are two very distinct entities. For some reason, many people cannot separate them and refer to them as one in the same.
The employees on the front line and in the trenches make Floyd Memorial. They are the heart and soul of the institution and continue to try and overcome the tremendous challenges placed upon them by this administration.
The problems and concerns related to Floyd have not been related to employees. The “bashing” as it was stated has mainly concerned the decisions made by the current leadership including the Board.
Our hospital will rise to the challenges placed before it by this leadership and will eventually overcome some of the decisions that have been made.
The glimmer of hope many of us feel is the fact that this administration is on its way out as recently validated by the CFO “resigning”. If the 2007 financial situation continues to decline, we will see other changes being made.
Then we can look forward to bringing our Hospital back to its admired and trusted status.
posted by Anonymous at 5:43 AM
37 Comments:
From reading past postings, I believe you now hold some medical staff position that allows you to participate in hospital board meetings. How do you expect to be effective in working with board members and hospital management when you constantly criticize board decisions, hospital administration and, by implication, raise questions about the care provided by the hospital? You don't seem to have learned much about working with others from your failures as a board member.
If you really have read and kept up with the postings, you would know there are 4 new Board members and at least 2 old members who are very open-minded.
The potential shift in power is occuring and will be evident before long. Don't count on the Commissioners to retain the next two members whose terms expire at the end of this year.
Dr. Dan has worked very effectively with many people.
They just don't include the CEO and a select few Board members. But it isn't because he didn't try.
I don't think you know much about HB's reputation around the community when it comes to working in group environments. He may be a great doctor, but he is frequently criticized for his inability to work well in a group setting. He is viewed as rigid and unwilling to see other points of view.
Most MDs seem to strike people this way. They consider themselves the center of medical care, with the ancillary services revolving around them. They often carry this perception into the rest of their life as well.
You either do not know him or have never worked with him.
He is very straight-forward but certainly not unwilling to work in a group environment. Yes, he is challenging at times, but always truthful and a straight shooter
He does get things done. Many times when others have failed.
Maybe his success is why you seem to have sour grapes
Anonymous 8:44,
You obviously have a personal issue against HB because I have heard many wonderful things about HB in the community. He has put effort and time into improving Floyd Memorial and our community.
Dr. Dan is very honest and tells you exactly what he thinks, but that isn't a bad thing. Many people in our society like to use manipulation and other round about ways of getting things done and in my opinion that is wrong.
Anonymous 10:49 said "Most MDs seem to strike people this way. They consider themselves the center of medical care, with the ancillary services revolving around them." I have not found that to be a trait of HB’s. I would agree that SOME doctors have that attitude and I don't care for that, but you have to find a Doctor that fits your personality best. It is more about you and your perception of doctors than the DR.
Alright children...
Just because you have had a good experience with the Dr. doesn't mean everyone has. And just because your experience has been bad doesn't mean that the Dr. is always like that.
Your own experience is not ultimate truth--it is simply your own experience.
Personally, I have not had pleasant experiences with him. But that doesn't mean he is always that way. I'm glad to hear he isn't like that with everyone.
You people on this blog fight like little children. You think that because you have a particular view, everyone else should think that way, too. And if they don't, well, nothing they say can be trusted.
I hope I never become so out of touch with reality.
Re: "Dr. Dan is very honest"
In my view, you have a narrow view of honesty. From the time he began critcizing Floyd Memorial's management, he has consistently challenged any positive comment that he considered false or misleading. On the other hand, he has repeatedly let stand without comment, critical statements that he knows to be absolutely false concerning individuals and hospital policies and practices. He seems content to permit misrepresentations and outright falsehoods so long as they support his agenda of making hospital management look bad. That might be your idea of "straightforward" and "honest" but it sure doesn't seem to me to be a very good model of integrity.
Well I'm glad to see it has been another productive day of responses.
I challenge some of the anonymous bloggers to give examples of things I have "repeatedly let stand without comment, critical statements that he knows to be absolutely false concerning individuals and hospital policies and practices"
The problem arises because some individuals do not want any accountability or criticism.
I've opened myself up to both all while bringing to light a number of pertinent issues.
You want examples: Start with statements that were made that board members supported management because they personally profited from their relationships with the CEO. Specifically, it was said that hospital funds were deposited in one member's bank and that hospital insurance contracts were given to another member's insurance practice. I heard later that neither is true and either would be a violation of the hospital's conflict of interest policy. You allowed those two men to be falsely accused of being compromised when you knew that there was no truth to it. If you want more examples, I will be happy to keep going.
I want to thank Dr.Dan for all the times he comes in to see his patients and helps the patient out(ex. helping to get on the bedside commode,pulling patients up in bed,etc.)I do not see that from other doctors.Instead they turn right around and yells for the nurse.Thank you.
While on the topic of the hospital's "admired and trusted status", what is the status of FMH's JCAHO accreditation? I was amazed (putting it mildly) to learn not only that FMH had lost its accreditation, but that at last look, it was the ONLY hospital in Indiana not to be so accredited.
Maybe I wasnt surfing these blogs when the accreditation was lost and the issue was discussed. However, I'm a bit surprised that I've never heard much more about it. While I'm an "outsider" of sorts, it seems like a rather serious shortcoming, and would have hoped that those responsible would have been put to task to address & rectify the problems.
Any word in this regard? I think its a rather important issue when our community hospital is trying to hold itself out as a regional leader, at least in my eyes.
Thanks HB for getting the ball rolling on my request to post part II of "Glimmer of Hope". I do agree that there is a big difference between "bashing" FMHHS versus the management. Very glad to see this topic back up for discussion. Thanks!
Yeah, and the President swept the Lab Issue under the rug like it never happened and chose to look for another review company that had easier criteria rather than hold the lab director's feet to the fire. Our community should be ashamed of this and not accept this as the final decision. We did wrong, take responsibility and quit making excuses.
lawguy,
Your point is a great one. The only hospital in the state of Indiana to not be accredited. Shameful. Won't catch me within 300 feet of that place.
The hospital IS accredited. It wouldn't be able to treat Medicare or Medicaid patients without accreditation. JCAHO is not the only accrediting agency around.
Has anyone talked with the pathology docs who work with the lab to see just what the issues were and how substantive they were? There is a lot of "hip-shooting" going on here in the absence of real information. Not unusual for this blog.
JCAHO is the top accrediating agency. Only the top hospitals have this agency. Floyd is officially a second rate hospital. Does the lab have 2 directors managing it now???
The lab is really bad. Nothing gets done quickly. We have to make numerous calls to get our results back.
Not to mention the lost lab results and the pathetic wait times. Just take one walk through the lab and you will see how disorganized the department is.
For a group that HB describes as the backbone of the hospital, there sure are a lot of "buddy backstabbers" and complainers.
Clark is accredited by the Joint Commission. Even little old Washington County Hospital and Scott Memorial and the hospital in Paoli are accredited by the Joint Commission. JCAHO has always been the crediting standard used by almost every legitimate hospital. And FMH, to my knowledge, had never lost JCAHO accreditation for any length of time prior to 2004. This is shameful. But the people who have tried to diminish the significance of this and have chosen to sweep this under the rug are probably the same people who foolishly thought carpeting the floors in the lab was a good idea too.
In response to anonymous.
There is a "conflict of interest" policy all board members now have to complete.
In response to the two examples, the history of the Board has been somewhat questionable in the past.
The same political things we see in our city and county have occured in the past with various Board members. Special favors, etc.
There have been insurance agents on the Board in the past that the hospital also had relationships with and the hospital does keep several million dollars in various banks in the area in which empployees of those same banks have served on the Board.
I have not witnesses any overt misconduct by any of these people, nor did my being a physician ever present a conflict that could not be worked around.
When there is a conflict, board members are supposed to abstain from voting.
This has occured with previous Board members.
HB, it would have been nice if you had shared this information with your readers at the time the two board members were falsely accused of wrongdoing. Instead, you allowed your readers to assume it was true.
And, for those of us with long memories, the worst of the kinds of abuses you mentioned (including special classes of "connected and protected" employees) were very common years ago--a period you and some others would like to characterize as the "golden years" of Floyd Memorial. A long and difficult effort by the current CEO to eliminate conflicts of interest and other unethical practices have made our hospital a much more professionally managed operation than it was in the past.
I am still unaware of any false allegations of wrongdoing that you continue to refer to. There is perception problems, but I do not recall any specific allegation on any specific person or persons.
Please elaborate.
What do you mean by admired and trusted status? Do you mean Baptist Hospital East at Floyd Memorial? Norton Floyd Memorial? JHHS/Floyd Memorial?
Be careful what you wish for.
The overall viewpoints on HB differ from confrontational and blunt to benevolant and crusading.
At most institutions a Vice Chief or MD/Board member would be someone who is seen as cohesive, collaborative, engaging, fair, level-headed, motivating, a "bridge-builder", empowering, supportive, expressive of alternative views PROFESSIONALLY - need I go on?
Anony 7:32 - It sounds like you'd prefer a "YES MAN" as opposed to someone willing to stand up and speak candidly. Whether you differ with HB's opinions, wouldnt it be far worse to have yet another corporate "YES MAN" idylly following the march of the CEO's drum. I dont think that's good for anyone.
Anony 10:18 - do you really think that some second rate accredidation by anyone other than JCAHO really measures up? C'mon...we all know better. Arguing that FMH is accredited via the accredidation of some other 2nd rate organization hospital is insulting to all of us...
after dealing with other hospitals through family illnesses, I have to say that floyd does have many problems with the speed and efficiency of the lab and imaging depts. results are almost impossible to get in a timely manner. paitent stays are extended due to the wait for results from tests.
And the people in the lab seem rude.
Hey, has anyone heard from "DIOGENESTRAINEE" ?
We haven't heard from that person for awhile.
I have never posted on this blog and rarely have time to read the content, but now I feel I must. I will not be anonymous. My name is Vicki Summerville and have worked for over 27 years in the FMHHS laboratory. Except for the past few months I have worked the entire time on third shift. I was approached by two coworkers today who told me of the comments they had been reading on this blog. They are deeply hurt by the things that, I would venture to say, those posting them know little about. Laboratory professionals - and I do mean professionals- are nearly unrecognized as such in the hospital itself, much less in the community. I have had nurses ask me if I had to go to school to do what I do. I am used to it, but I like my job and strongly believe that the laboratory is one of the most vital links to patient well being. Ask any physician how they would treat patients if there were no laboratory to perform testing. Our laboratory at FMHHS has undergone monumental changes in the past year. We have moved to a new location in the new part of the hospital. We are in the process of implementing new instruments in Chemistry and Hematology. We are beginning to use an automated processor linked to the Chemistry instruments that we hope will make us more efficient since we are feeling the constraints of staffing shortages. We have MANY MANY awesome laboratory associates. We also have a few who are not so wonderful. For those who feel they have been treated rudely by someone from the lab I would like to apologize. It should not happen, but I would like to know of any other hospital, department store, grocery, etc... that does not have a few employees who do not put customer service first.
Our laboratory does thousands of tests every day of the year. I would like to say that we never "lose" a specimen or put out one incorrect result, but unfortunately that does happen on occasion. With the volume of testing done I do not think we will ever be able to be 100%, but believe me, no other hospital laboratory is either. We go to monumental lenghts to make sure that what we result is right. The time and money spent on sophisticated equipment, quality control done on every shift for every test run and verifying highly abnormnal results are second to none. We have fantastic pathologists who are supportive to our efforts. We are trying hard to fix the overall problems the lab has had. For the person who complained about not getting through in a timely manner on the phone I also apologize. Our phones NEVER stop ringing and many times there is only one person to answer the call, look up information in the computer, and usually fax reports to various offices all while three or four more calls come in. Actually, many times there is not even one front office person and the techs (especially on 2nd and 3rd shift) field the calls in the middle of their many other jobs. We strive to comply with the wishes of our physician customers. Every morning when we have as many as 140 patients to stick and test for morning rounds we still do our best to get STAT results out as best we can. I personally think we do a pretty great job overall.
My phone number at work is 949-7918 and I invite anyone to call with questions. I would really love to personally give you a tour of our laboratory. I think you would be surprised and impressed. It is way past my bedtime, but I hope I have spent this time convincing at least one person that what is being written about our laboratory is not the entire story.
Thank you for your time,
Vicki Summerville
I commend you Vicki for being upfront and explaining. However I think it is time for the Director to step up and explain. Its a shame that you have to be the one to try to set things straight. Nobody is blaming you for the issues, we are blaming your leadership. Sure you have new technology, but that cant replace the human factor. Things will still go wrong and you are right that it happens everywhere. We just feel that it does not have to be as bad as it is and we think that under a different leader, the department and your staff would not be in this position.
Vicki,
I too commend you and any comments certainly are not directed at you or any of your co-workers. But here are two example from today alone.
A patient had routine labs done there yesterday. Potassium came back 6.0 (which is a panic value and, by the way was never called to me). I sent the patient back today for a repeat and the potassium was 4.3 (normal). How does one explain that?
Another patient on Coumadin yesterday had an INR of 1.4 (subtherapeutic) yesterday and today (without any change in medications) it was repeated and was 2.4 (therapeutic). Sure shakes my confidence.
To the previous post - if you will call and leave a patient name on my answering machine at 949-7918 I will go to the lab tomorrow and personally find those specimens and retest them. As for the potassium, the critical value that the FMHHS physicians have approved is >6.0, therefore 6.1 or above would be called. It goes without saying that the first specimen may have been hemolyzed. I would be happy to look at the specimen. As for the protime I do not know how long the patient has been on coumadin, but if it is early in treatment I have seen changes such as you describe until the patient is in a steady state. I believe what you are saying and understand your concern. I also have worked in coag countless times and assure you we do run two levels of control on every shift and with reagent change. Protimes and PTTs are generally very much on the money in control results. Again, if these are problems you are seeing on a daily basis or even way less often let me investigate and see if we can not figure out what is going on.
Thank you
Vicki, once again I commend you for your actions. But while it is every employees responsibility to assure patient satisfaction, I would really like to see the lab director step up and take responsibility. Maybe you should be in his role? I have seen you defend the department but yet to see you defend him? Maybe you feel the same way?
to anonymous 10:08
You said "the hospital is accredited. It wouldn't be allowed to treat Medicare or Medicaid patients if it wasn't accredited."
I am not sure you are correct. The hospital is licensed to operate as a hospital and certified (not accredited) by Medicare and Medicaid to accept and treat patients. And the standards are far different than JCAHO
TO MATT'S POPPY:
I went to the suggested site www.qualitycheck.org/consumer/searchQCR.aspx and reviewed the list of standards that need to be improved upon in order for the hospital to be in compliance with JCAHO.
But unfortunately like so many of those organizations, the statements are too general. Where can I read of the specific findings that caused these sightings? How serious were the actual findings? Having worked in a setting in which we were surveyed annually by the State Dept of Health, I know the stated deficiency can sound far worse than the actual fact. This is so because the standard used covers a broad area. In reality, the infraction is sometimes placed under a standard simply because one doesn't exist that would accurately describe the actual infraction.
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