How can this possibly thought as acceptable? Patient dies in pain on hospital floor while staff igno

June 20, 2007

There is absolutely NO EXCUSE WHATSOEVER for a hospital to allow

a PATIENT TO DIE ON THE WAITING ROOM FLOOR and have the staff

IGNORE her as SHE DIES IN AGONY! People must go to prison for this,

this is no less than murder through neglect.

(page is down on site, here's Google cache of it:

http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:0gClOyB1LeEJ:go.sosd.com/servlet/nrp%3Fcmd%3Dsty%26cid%3DRIM%26pgn%3D1%26ino%3D1159823%26cat%3DCalifornia%26lno%3D5+king+drew+medical+center+perforated+bowel

Pressure to shut L.A.'s King hospital after woman dies on ER floor By

Robert Jablon ASSOCIATED PRESS

5:24 p.m. June 13, 2007

LOS ANGELES -- Martin Luther King Jr.-Harbor Hospital, once a symbol

of hope in the inner city, struggled Wednesday to survive amid new

reports of breakdowns in patient care, the replacement of its chief

medical officer and an ultimatum to correct long-running problems or

close.

The treatment of a woman who was ignored as she died on the floor of

the emergency room last month "was callous, it was a horrible thing,"

Los Angeles County Supervisor Yvonne Burke said.

Earlier this week, the county Board of Supervisors grilled health

officials about conditions at the public hospital and ordered them to

return in two weeks with a plan to deal with a hospital shutdown if it

is unable to correct deficiencies laid out in a federal inspection

that concluded emergency room patients were in "immediate jeopardy."

The federal decision was based, in part, on a report that in February

a man with a brain tumor waited four days in the emergency room when

he needed to be transferred to another facility for lifesaving brain

surgery.

Juan Ponce told KABC-TV Wednesday that he was ignored after initially

being seen by a doctor.

"He never come back," he said in broken English.

"Better they change the hospital ... fast," Ponce said.

After the inspection last week, the federal Centers for Medicare and

Medicaid Services gave the hospital 23 days to correct problems or

face a loss of federal funding that provides much of its budget. That

could force it to close.

Burke said the county-run hospital, which handles 49,000 emergency

patients a year, is a crucial facility and efforts should be made to

keep it open because nearby hospitals could not handle the load.

"I can't tell you whether it can be fixed but ... the community can

not stand to lose another emergency room," she said.

Dr. Roger Peeks, the hospital's chief medical officer, was placed on

"ordered absence" Monday and replaced on an interim basis by Dr.

Robert Splawn, the county Department of Health Services' senior

medical director. Health department spokesman Michael Wilson confirmed

the change but declined to elaborate Wednesday, citing privacy

requirements involving personnel matters.

Health officials are "doing everything in our power to help MLK-Harbor

meet national standards," Dr. Bruce Chernof, director and chief

medical officer of health department, said in a statement.

In a report to the supervisors on Tuesday, Chernof said quality of

care had improved but warned that there was no "roadmap" for what he

called the most difficult effort to "reinvent a failing hospital" ever

undertaken in the United States.

The hospital has served "thousands of patients well and a few very

poorly," he said.

Weeding out poor nursing has been a major issue. Chernof reported that

47 percent of the hospital's licensed vocational nurses failed recent

nursing skills tests initially, although most passed after retraining.

The hospital, formerly known as Martin Luther King Jr.-Drew Medical

Center, was built in unincorporated Willowbrook several years after

the 1965 Watts riot to provide badly needed medical care in the South

Los Angeles area. However, it has been cited more than a dozen times

in 3

June 20, 2007

On Jun 20, 1:43 am, zeez <Ultim...@excite.com> wrote:

> There is absolutely NO EXCUSE WHATSOEVER for a hospital to allow

> a PATIENT TO DIE ON THE WAITING ROOM FLOOR and have the staff

> IGNORE her as SHE DIES IN AGONY! People must go to prison for this,

> this is no less than murder through neglect.

>

> (page is down on site, here's Google cache of it:http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:0gClOyB1LeEJ:go.sosd.com/servlet/...

>

> Pressure to shut L.A.'s King hospital after woman dies on ER floor By

> Robert Jablon ASSOCIATED PRESS

>

> 5:24 p.m. June 13, 2007

>

> LOS ANGELES -- Martin Luther King Jr.-Harbor Hospital, once a symbol

> of hope in the inner city, struggled Wednesday to survive amid new

> reports of breakdowns in patient care, the replacement of its chief

> medical officer and an ultimatum to correct long-running problems or

> close.

>

> The treatment of a woman who was ignored as she died on the floor of

> the emergency room last month "was callous, it was a horrible thing,"

> Los Angeles County Supervisor Yvonne Burke said.

>

> Earlier this week, the county Board of Supervisors grilled health

> officials about conditions at the public hospital and ordered them to

> return in two weeks with a plan to deal with a hospital shutdown if it

> is unable to correct deficiencies laid out in a federal inspection

> that concluded emergency room patients were in "immediate jeopardy."

>

> The federal decision was based, in part, on a report that in February

> a man with a brain tumor waited four days in the emergency room when

> he needed to be transferred to another facility for lifesaving brain

> surgery.

>

> Juan Ponce told KABC-TV Wednesday that he was ignored after initially

> being seen by a doctor.

>

> "He never come back," he said in broken English.

>

> "Better they change the hospital ... fast," Ponce said.

>

> After the inspection last week, the federal Centers for Medicare and

> Medicaid Services gave the hospital 23 days to correct problems or

> face a loss of federal funding that provides much of its budget. That

> could force it to close.

>

> Burke said the county-run hospital, which handles 49,000 emergency

> patients a year, is a crucial facility and efforts should be made to

> keep it open because nearby hospitals could not handle the load.

>

> "I can't tell you whether it can be fixed but ... the community can

> not stand to lose another emergency room," she said.

>

> Dr. Roger Peeks, the hospital's chief medical officer, was placed on

> "ordered absence" Monday and replaced on an interim basis by Dr.

> Robert Splawn, the county Department of Health Services' senior

> medical director. Health department spokesman Michael Wilson confirmed

> the change but declined to elaborate Wednesday, citing privacy

> requirements involving personnel matters.

>

> Health officials are "doing everything in our power to help MLK-Harbor

> meet national standards," Dr. Bruce Chernof, director and chief

> medical officer of health department, said in a statement.

>

> In a report to the supervisors on Tuesday, Chernof said quality of

> care had improved but warned that there was no "roadmap" for what he

> called the most difficult effort to "reinvent a failing hospital" ever

> undertaken in the United States.

>

> The hospital has served "thousands of patients well and a few very

> poorly," he said.

>

> Weeding out poor nursing has been a major issue. Chernof reported that

> 47 percent of the hospital's licensed vocational nurses failed recent

> nursing skills tests initially, although most passed after retraining.

>

> The hospital, formerly known as Martin Luther King Jr.-Drew Medical

> Center, was built in unincorporated Willowbrook several years after

> the 1965 Watts riot to provide badly needed medical care in the South

> Los Angeles area. However, it has been cited more than a dozen times

> in 3

June 20, 2007

just the other night I was being told by some stupid Bush supporter

that America has the best medical care in the world, "second to none"

I think the stupid ass said.. gee, I'd hate to think how bad it is

elsewhere if this is "second to none"

June 20, 2007

"zeez" <UltimaUW@excite.com> wrote in message

news:1182318213.738391.255330@j4g2000prf.googlegroups.com...

There is absolutely NO EXCUSE WHATSOEVER for a hospital to allow

a PATIENT TO DIE ON THE WAITING ROOM FLOOR and have the staff

IGNORE her as SHE DIES IN AGONY! People must go to prison for this,

this is no less than murder through neglect.

She did not have insurance. Let her lie there -- better yet, drag her

outside so she doesn't take up space that could be used by a paying

customer.