Dying
from Good Intentions
Have
you lost a loved one to poor hospital care?
I lost a relative over ten years ago because her hospital room was
too cold. What is your solution
to the problem below?
Report
Raises
Red
Flag on
Infection
Control at
Burbank
's
Providence
Hospital
An
inspection last fall found 'serious deficiencies' that could threaten the
federal funding for the medical center, which says it's aggressively
addressing the issues.
by
Rong-Gong Lin II,
Los Angeles
Times, July 13, 2008
Something
was amiss last fall at Providence Saint
Joseph
Medical
Center
in
Burbank.
On
Nov. 27, one patient had a wound infection in her groin after an operation.
Another patient, who was in the hospital because of a blocked bowel, had a
drug-resistant form of staphylococcus bacteria detected in his urine.
She
expected routine surgery -- but not flesh-eating bacteria.
Yet
the hospital employee assigned to track and prevent the spread of infections
and communicable diseases was unaware that the two patients were in the
hospital, according to state inspectors working on behalf of the
U.S.
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
An
inspection the next day revealed other problems.
An anesthesiologist who
should have been wearing sanitized scrubs was found wearing, in the
operating room, a black fleece jacket that had visible stains and spots on
the back.
Visibly soiled cloth tape held up paper notices in a different
operating room.
Citing
such problems, the state inspectors said the hospital, the largest serving
the San Fernando Valley, had "serious deficiencies," and federal
officials said it did not meet Medicare's standards for infection control.
...
If
you answer the multiple-choice questions below and e-mail to lessonanswers@mymontebello.com
with “Lesson answers” in the subject field, you will be credited toward
a “certificate of recognition in community affairs” to be awarded in
2008 by a local nonprofit organization.
1. What is wrong at this
Burbank
hospital?
(a) Infection control is
inadequate.
(b) The hospital needs
more staff.
2. What should we do
about this?
(a) Ensure that
hospitals have adequate funding for infection control.
(b) Set up independent
hospital monitoring and rating, posting the findings on the Internet.
September 11, 2008