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What we need is some doctors that know what they are doing, we don't even have a number one trauma center here. Most people that live here that needs help have to go to Birmingham, Memphis, Nashville, Huntsville, Houston and even Tupelo to get help.

 

Have you ever went to the emergency room around here and see how long you have to wait to get seen?  Even the lab work that is ordered comes from Birmingham, why?  I guess we will never know why...

 

 

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For clarification, there are only about 100 Level 1 Trauma Centers in the country, covering 50 states.  Well over 90% of communities do not have Level 1 Trauma Centers.  That sort of trauma center here is completely unrealistic, secondary to the number of physicians required, not at all the quality of physicians required.  We don't do transplants here either, which is also unrealistic for the same reasons.  However, almost anything else can be taken care of here.  Can it be taken care of here as well as at Huntsville, or UAB, or Vanderbilt?  Even out of those 3 just mentioned, which one is The Best?  No one really knows.  I venture that there are some docs here who are far better than the majority of docs you are going to run into at those "Level 1 Trauma Center" hospitals.  Just not enough of them.  And as long as a certain segment of the population, hospitals, and docs are OK with sending patients to Huntsville and out of town to serve their own selfish needs, it will continue to be diluted here.  We will not be financially able to maintain enough medical economy here to draw further quality docs here, upgrade our medical facilities, etc.  We are stuck on just enough to service a few of the providers at the top, which is where they want to keep it.  My suggestion... find the actual quality docs here, do some research, and stick with them.  These people actually care about what they do.  If a problem is too big to fix here, for some of the reasons mentioned above, this same quality doc will see that you are taken care of at the most appropriate place, not necessarily the one with which there is some sort of financial arrangement.

I hope that teyates will comment on this as well, but one problem in recruiting physicians here is the Medicaid/Medicare/other insurance reimbursement. When a physician leaves medical school he/she is saddled with huge loan debt. Any sensible person would look at the income potential before relocating. That's not to say that some don't locate here due to the quality of life, but that would probably not the biggest draw for many. Even nurses relocate for the same reason. I still get flyers from hospitals in California extolling the virtues of working in LaLa land. Sometimes it's tempting.

Speaking as someone who has had to visit the ER often, due to having several Blockages account of Crohn's disease, I can tell you that when you have a blockage or Kidney Stone the last thing you want to do is languish in the ER waiting area while you watch someone with a sprain finger or some other minor ailment go ahead of you.  I don't know if a new Hospital will help out any bit because they most likely will have the same management and personnel and it will be run the same way as ECM now.  As for me and my wife when we have to go to the ER we avoid ECM like a plague.  We drive the extra distance to Helen Keller or Shoals Hospital's ER and at least usually get in pretty fast.  ECM is a nightmare.   


Regarding going to one regional Hospital also is a bad deal when you need an ER.  They may have better facilities but again if they don't know how to run an ER and you have to end up waiting 4 hours to get seen in the ER all while languishing in Pain then you achieve nothing, as far as the patient is concerned.  You might have a nice pretty building to point to and show off but ECM and it's management have a long way to go to become an effective Hospital.  Henry County Georgia also had a single Regional Care Hospital which had a dual ER (one for major and one for minor events) yet I saw people having to wait two and a half hours in the ER waiting area in order to go back to a room and they were having Chest pains with a heart attack history.  


Something needs to be done for right now Bigger isn't better at least for the Shoals.  Add to that the cost for a room at ECM (private or non-private) and you wonder what's going on with the healthcare that we have now.  I called and was quoted a rate for a non-insurance person of $6,000.00 a night and that's just for a Hospital Room, if you are admitted, and nothing else.  God help you if you have to have X-Rays, diagnostics and anything else.  I'm all for a new Hospital with state of the art equipment but as I see it we gain nothing unless they find a way to make the ER wait much less and find some way that it doesn't cost you your life savings if you are admitted.   If OLD ECM cost $6,000.00 a night per room how much more will some New Hospital cost?


 

Wow...lab work in the ER is being done in Birmingham?  Where do you get your information?  Have you ever ridden home after a mjor surgery? Would you rather ride 10 minutes or 2 hours?

First off, much like the previous poster, it is ridiculous to think that we can or ever will have a Level I trauma center here. It would be nice, but it is not going to happen since they are pretty rare and are not needed for the population base we have.  I wills ettle for a competent ER that can stabilize me or my family member and either provide the care I need, or get me to a facility in a timely fashion that can do so.

When it come to cardiac issues time means muscle, and having to delay 1 or 2 hours in transporting you to a cath facility can mean the difference in being an invalid or living a healthy life after the fact.

Most of the OP's comments are total BS.  The manin reason we need a new facility is because the current one is almost 50 years old, it is outdated, and cost a ton of money each year in maintenance costs.  Ontop of this as technology evolves things need to be done to the facility to incorporate that technology.  t is cheaper to build new than it is to remodel in most cases.

The new hospital proposal calls for a decrease in the number of current beds for ECM, but with new surgical facilities, laboratory space, and ancillary facilities including ER which will improve medical care in the area. hopefully it will be in a new site, yet to be announced, that will provide easier access.

 

As someone that's lived in Memphis, Nashville, Atlanta and The Shoals and a wife with serious medical problems, let me say:

1.  We've never received any better hospital experience that we've received at ECM.  I cannot say enough great things about the nursing staff.  I assume Keller's staff is the same.  You get a "giving nature" with local nurses that you'll just not get in "the big city."

2.  There are very good specialist physicians in the area, and your primary physician should be able to get you into someone that can handle almost any problem.

3.  Emergency room physicians are not hospital employees, but independent contractors.  ECM has just brought in a new sub-contractor and is promising improved service.  Keller is lining up a group of local doctors to man their emergency room--and it's doubtful they're specialists in the field.

4.  If you've been shot, tell the helicopter to take you to The Med in Memphis.  If you're having a child that's very premature, The Med in Memphis is the place to go.  Everything else, Vanderbilt is the place.  These are the premier emergency rooms in the world--simply put.  Helicopters fly in to those hospitals  from 250 miles out.  It takes just 5-10 minutes longer to get there than Huntsville/Birmingham.

5.  To all of you bums that don't carry health insurance:  BCBS coverage starts at just over $100 per month.  You spend that much in cigarettes and beer in a week. If you had insurance, you could have your own doctor and you wouldn't have to spend your nights sitting outside the local Emergency Rooms complaining about poor service.  Then, Emergency Rooms could be reserved for people that really need them and turnaround times would be reasonable.  Emergency Rooms shouldn't be unpaid clinics for uninsured, second class citizens.

6.  We really need a Pain Clinic that injects back pain patients the proper way--with flouroscopes.  Real Pain Management doctors dispense meds to maintain an adequate quality of life for the patients--not to just push pills.   A great pain clinic can keep hundreds and hundreds of suffering people out in society.  One local doctor claiming to be a pain clinic does no medicine management--and runs a very poor operation.  Many Tennessee pain clinics advertising in our market are scams--not run by doctors with pain management fellowships and proper credentials.  A Nurse Practitioner is not qualified in this field. 

7.  We really, really need more good psychiatrists in the Shoals.  The quality of our mental health care is very poor, and many people go to Decatur.  Last time we checked, no physician in Decatur were taking

new patients.  That leaves having to drive 1 1/2 hrs. to Huntsville for a doctor--ridiculous.

8.  In case you have not noticed, many local doctors are Baby Boomers in their late 50's and 60's.  With O'Bamacare facing them, being a doctor will not provide the income to live and still have a return on their investment in facilities and education costs.  At one point, service levels may be down as there may not be sufficient doctors to service this area.  It will take strong hospital corporations to recruit doctors to replace the many doctors retiring in the near future.

 

Since i don't know who Dr. Dawg is, or if he is a physician or not, I am ethically able to disagree with him. I've worked in Huntsville Hospital while a student, and their neonatal unit is one of the best. I would advise anyone who was going into premature labor to consider H'ville. It's closer, and both its facilities and staff are top notch. Again, this is something, I would like to see t's opinion on.

FV,

There are some things that you need a center such as this.  A neonatal Unit is an excellent example.  Forty years ago the survival rate for a premie of 30 weeks was pretty dismal.  Today it is spectacular. But in most of those cases you have time to get a baby there, even after delivery. The important thing is to not lose the ability to take care of sick patients and emergent patients in your own area.  I personally think that HH would like to see the Shoals as nothing more than a stopping place on the way to their facility. Stabilize them and get them out the door.  Too many specialities have already been lost to this area because of that attitude.

We do deliver babies here, and take care of sick children, but for such things as neonatalogy and children's oncology, those things are so specialized that it is beneficial for them to either go to Huntsville or Memphis (St. Jude's). Not everything can be taken care ofl ocally, but we need to maintain as much as we possibly can, or else we might as well just have an ER and a bus station beside it.

I've mentioned earlier that my husband retired from Keller. He loved and still loves the hospital. We were both saddened when it became partners with Huntsville. I've heard it said the powers that be there now actually think Huntsville will buy out RegionalCare. I don't know if Huntsville has the money or if this would be a good thing or not. What I worry about is Keller losing some fine people.

Management can always cause employees to leave with their changes in policy.  What I can say from first hand experience regarding Keller and ECM is the following.

 

I've always got in Keller's ER much faster than at ECM.

 

Keller (Huntsville Hospital) will discount your bill owed if you can pay it off but ECM gives NO Discount.

 

Keller has always seemed clean and the employees very courteous to us.  At ECM we had a dirty floor in our room upon checking in and it took forever to get it cleaned.  The Employees at ECM seemed like they didn't care too much about you but it was just a job for them and they did what they have to in order to get by.  Twice during my wife's stay they got medicine orders wrong that never happened at Keller.

 

I saw in the Times Daily where Pendelton wants to restrict Ambulance service in Lauderdale county to ECM only.  If your have an ambulance then you have to go to ECM.  

 

If I was in a very bad accident and they told me I had a 90% chance to survive if I went to ECM or only 50% if I went to Keller I'd have to think hard and most likely would take my chances and go to Keller.  I don't know when Huntsville Hospital took over but I have always had great experiences at Helen Keller.  Even though ECM owns it I also like Muscle Shoals Hospital.

 

grbk,

Pendleton made no such proposition.  The point of the matter is that currently Keller is running an ambulance system in Lauderdale county that systematically transfers pateints to Keller hospital when they should be taken to the nearest facility or according the Taruma system to the one that can besttake care of them.  Keller has thus far successfully lobbied and kept a new ambulance service from competing with them south of the river, and that has many people up in arms.  Pendleton is privy to the behind the scenes wrangling going on and knows that it is anttempt by HH to keep Regionalcare from building a new facility.

As to your allusions of cleanliness, I too have seen dirty floors, but have also seen them in both facilities.  A newer facility with modern flooring will help to maintain cleanliness.  I do know the director of environmental services and he takes great pains to do what must be doen to keep the rooms clean.  Much more than I have seen in other facilities.

you are entitled to your opinion, but ECM is a mjor employer north of the river and vital to the livelihood of the town. It needs local support. 

I think if our current hospitals are doing a good job, there is no need for a "spanky new" hospital.  I've been to ECM and I am not impressed with the rooms and the care that was administered to my wife.  I can't speak for others who have had great care only our visit.  This ambulance service monoply that is going is just more hogwash crap as normal.  I know in Colbert County that there is a big fuss over who to call first when an ambulance is needed and why there is a hold up on another ambulance service.  If I call an ambulance and I am able, I am choosing where I am going.  I'm not letting the driver tell me.  Several Doctors I know are being run out of Shoals and are going to Keller.  For what reason, I do not know.  grbk just stated what Pendleton was saying between the lines.  I think if we would ever get this our county, their county bull crap done away with, this area would be great.  Instead we have those in local governments fighting over who wants to pay off what company so we can get them on our side of the river. 

So if a company is willing to invest $250M in the local economy to build a new facility to replace one which is 50 years old you don't see the need for it?

As someone who is familiar with most of the physicians in the area I have yet to hear of one which was "run off" and had to go to Keller.  Many make financial decisions that may be good fo them at the time, and as any good business decision you have to do what you have to do to keep yourself in business, but I challenge you to name one docotr in the Shaols who was "run off" from the hospital.  It would be interesting to hear that sort of information and discover the real story.

It is no secret I have supported the new hospital construction for no other reason than to see the area have a new facility with modern updates that will help in caring for patients.  I have for years touted that there is no need for duplication of services in this area and the two major hospitals should get together and collaborate instead of going to an outside entity that has no desire to see this area improve its ability to provide quality care.

There are good knwoeldgeable doctors on both sides of the rive, as well as caring nurse and techniccians who depend on these facilities to provide a place for them to work and provide for themselves and their families.  Why we want to see that given away to a facility 60 miles away is beyond me.

 

Don't get me wrong, regarding a new Regional Health Center.   I do though feel that the construction of a new center should not mean that Muscle Shoals Hospital and/or Helen Keller has to close.  I don't really think Keller would be in that equation since it's not owned by the same people and because it is in a different county.  Still it was sad to see Florence Hospital close for they always seemed to do a very good job there.  Granted facilities weren't the best and there are just so many physicians to go around but hopefully IF a new regional center is constructed they will not transfer the problems associated with ECM to the new center.  

 

Emergency Rooms should have two areas or sections.  One for minor injuries and less critical needs that those who use the ER for a doctor or med-clinic would be steered to and have to wait and another for critical care and more immediate need processing.  ECM does have a mobile app now, and some areas have billboards, advertising the current wait time.  This is a good thing if it's accurate but so often it's not and people should have correct information on which to make critical decisions.  ECM also has a very serious sanitary problem whether or not people admit it or not.  Staff infections are a very real possibility anytime you are there and there have been several instances where people have contracted infections due to the sanitary conditions at the hospital.  Also although paid parking is pretty much a norm at most Hospitals it is a very customer friendly and nice benefit for families if you have complimentary parking such as found at Keller and Muscle Shoals Hospital.  Lastly ECM has a very rigid policy about not discounting for patients any percentage even if the patient works out a way to pay off their bill in one lump sum.  When you charge $6,000.00 a night for a room and you contract to provide large discounts for the insurance companies surely you should be able to help out a person that has no insurance when in need.  ECM does not.  Additionally I think a new center would be a good draw and incentive to attract new physicians to the area that may would choose Huntsville or Madison otherwise.  Also, and I know it's rambling, but pay the nurses better and give incentive for better nursing.  Now it seems they all look at the job as a terrible inconvenience and seem that they would rather be somewhere else (ECM at least seems that way from what I have witnessed firsthand) .  At $6,000.00 a night per room for just occupying the room you surely should think they could pay the nursing staff at least a competitive salary with other regional hospitals such as Madison, Huntsville, Russellville and the like.  I don't know for sure about that salary differential personally but I've heard it from enough nurses that I believe it is a fact. 

 

I'm sure there are several other suggestions that, if followed, would help and enhance a new regional care center other than what I could think of.  I do hope they build a new center here just because so many technological advances have happened that could be implemented and taken advantage of.  ECM has many problems and I just hope those problems aren't ported over to a new center if we do get one.

grbk sez .." ECM also has a very serious sanitary problem whether or not people admit it or not. Staff infections are a very real possibility anytime you are there and there have been several instances where people have contracted infections due to the sanitary conditions at the hospital"

 

When I came to this area 14 years ago the Staph infection rumor was circulating like a bad cold.  It continues to circulate and is one of the biggest detriments to this area I ever hear. If you want the true information I urge you to call ECM and speak with the director of Infection Control who can tell the statistics.  They are obliged to keep data on all infections including MRSA (Staph), VRE (E-coli) and numerous other organisms which are of public concern.  They also keep data collected on handwashing of employees from kitchen workers to physicians on the floor.  People are tasked with watching employees and physicians alike as they enter or leave a room to see if they observe suggested handwashing techniques.

One thing I get to do is see this data at least every month or every other month. ECM, or Regionalcare, has one of the lowest infection rates in the country, and is in in the top 10%.  So much so that they were the first to be recognized locally by BCBS as such, they just did not bother to buy a billboard to broadcast it.  Their critics always love to throw up "someone they know who got staff (staph) at ECM".  Research was done years ago and found that in reality it is rampant in our community.  People bring it into EVERY hospital and nursing home in the region. If you come to ECM with a history of previous Staph infection you will probably be put in isolation until it is proven you are still not carrying the bug. The infection control team is very serious about trying to prevent any spread as well as stomping out ridiculous rumors such as this.  It is difficult however when people spread things that are either not true or have been misunderstood and sensationlized.  I am sure they can give you the data you request, and then call and get the same data from the other hospitals in the area and compare them before you make a statement such as this.

As to the salary differential, yes that is true, but it is also because there is a huge difference in the Medicare Wage Index, which is set by the government, between this area and Huntsville, of which Russellville is in that zone.  Many have lobbied for years to try and change this but with no success. Currently there is a difference between ECM and Keller, or so I am told, and I could probably say something that will make some mad, so I will leave it at that.

I have no idea what a room cost, nor how it is quoted to anyone, but I would be willing to bet that you can call any similar sized hospital and ask the same question, and specify the type of care you are asking about and you will get a multitude of answers. However insurance payments for hospital stays are based on DRG's, a calculation made for the disease (ie, pneumonia, abcess).  So for a patient with the same disorder, a governmental payor will pay the same thing irregardless of how long it takes you to heal that patient.

It is easy to throw innuendos about patient care and slouch off on an insititution when in reality you don't have any idea about how things are being done.  Perception is often slighted by rumors and in the current environment it is to be expected.  All kinds of things are said that ruin the re****tion of local providers and the places they work. 

 

The ER at ECM has a triage nurse. That nurse is tasked with getting more emergent cases to the back ASAP.  If you come in with an earache, I seriously doubt you are gonna go in before a car accident. There are dedicated trauma rooms that are used for such things. People who use the ER like an after hours clinic are typically going to wait a long time since they could be pre-empted by an emergent situation, not like they might have at somewhere like Med Plus, and if the ER is really busy the triage nurse can usually tell you it might be better to go somewhere like that and be seen quicker.

So you know nothing of two on the 1st floor of the doctor's building at Shoals and one on the second floor being run off?  Something to the tune of doubling their rent?  Or the excuse of that they do not have Shoals Hospital's best interest in their profession by allowing the patient to choose where they want surgery? You say that the floors are in bad condition.  When we had our 'experience" with ECM, the rooms we were in had just had new hardwood installed in them.  Or fake hardwood.

Last edited by HARLEY FLSTS

The experiences, other than staph, were first hand experiences observed at ECM.  As for rates due to unfortunate health problems, my wife and mine, we have been frequent visitors to most area hospitals including ECM, Shoals, Keller, and Huntsville Hospital.  Of all these hospitals ECM was the worst all way around in patient care, patient attention, cleanliness, and definitely COST.  ECM makes not allowance for patients whereas all the others did and have.  One caveat being that we haven't been to Shoals recently since ECM took over that hospital.  I didn't call around at Huntsville, Keller or the others because, after insurance, cost to us was only a fraction of what it was for ECM and the only thing we did at ECM was occupy a room while a new medicine was tested on my wife.  No special equipment or anything else.  As for the room, it did have new floors but those new floors were  obviously stained from a prior patient and either the room was not cleaned before we were put into it or wasn't cleaned very well.  I wasn't making anything up but only relating first hand my own experience.  I certainly admit that I might be a 1 in 1000 exception and maybe everyone else finds ECM to be the best hospital in the nation.  As for the infections or chance of them the statement I made about that was from information from nurses that work or worked there who said their never allow their relatives to go there after seeing first hand what happens in what is supposed to be sterile areas.  I personally don't know about that though for I wasn't there but I have no reason to doubt them.  Maybe the former employees had an ax to grind but two were current employees and didn't seem to be ax grinding.

 

Additionally, only at ECM, did nurses come in more than once with wrong medications or amounts and we caught it by asking about it.  You may be high on ECM and ECM may be a good hospital for some but from my personal experiences I'd choose (and do) to go anywhere but ECM unless the doctor makes us go there and then we protest quite a bit.  ECM has problems, more than one, and unless the hospital makes changes I don't care if they have a Billion dollar facility I wouldn't choose it over Keller.   As for the $6,000.00 a night to occupy a room that was quoted to me by ECM when I called because I couldn't believe my co-pay for three days there just for observation of my wife while she started a new medicine.  It was OBSCENE what they were charging or so I thought.  When I called though I called and inquired as if I had NO insurance with NO co-pay.  I then ask, after the $6,000 a night quote would they reduce it for me being on disability or if I could find a way to pay it off early and NO was the answer.  They make discounts for insurance companies but pity the poor Florence resident who does not have insurance and has to go to ECM.     

I am sure every person here can name good and bad at both hospitals. I think it's great a new hospital is upping the ante with these guys. Maybe it will improve their employees' bed side manner and result in more updated technology and facilities.

Personally, if I have an emergency, Keller is a lot quicker although I have to drive further. They seem to have a better grasp of triage and time/resource management.

Shoals was great during a recent surgery and was very clean.

The ER doc at ECM was extremely hospitable and thorough. The ER desk, not so much---however, I may have caught them on a bad day. The rooms were very dirty.

I will say that as far as child care at ECM, my daughter's nurses were very rude and dismissive. On top of everything else, my child got a staph infection. And although they obviously did not have time to answer my questions, they did have time to discuss car sex, thongs, and affairs while I was sitting with my baby in the infant area, scared she was going to die (not that those topics are bad---but should've been in an offstage area IMO). I was nervous when they moved my daughter to Huntsville, but once we got there, the staff was friendly and patient, and the facilities were much cleaner. The nurses explained everything and the doctors were available frequently to discuss issues. Going to HSV was the best choice we could have made for her.

"So you know nothing of two on the 1st floor of the doctor's building at Shoals and one on the second floor being run off? Something to the tune of doubling their rent? Or the excuse of that they do not have Shoals Hospital's best interest in their profession by allowing the patient to choose where they want surgery? You say that the floors are in bad condition. When we had our 'experience" with ECM, the rooms we were in had just had new hardwood installed in them. Or fake hardwood."

 

Yes, I heard about those physicians, or the one in particular, and there is more to the story than what is being told. I am on outsider, but can guess from the stroies that I have heard there are at least three sides, their side, the hospital's side, and the truth.

For years many guys have played both sides of the river against each other to get their way.  Some of those people have been outspoken critics of the new hospital and have their own reasons for that.  Things are not always as they appear.

" As for the $6,000.00 a night to occupy a room that was quoted to me by ECM when I called because I couldn't believe my co-pay for three days there just for observation of my wife while she started a new medicine. It was OBSCENE what they were charging or so I thought. When I called though I called and inquired as if I had NO insurance with NO co-pay

 

One reason might have been the fact that insurance companies do not recognize "observation" for any longer than 24 hours.  They have become very strict with the way they recognize and pay for hospital stays. Observation is one of those items than according to "their experts" is something that should only be done for 24 hours, unless the patient has other complications, and then it is considered an admission.  To call an ask about "observation with no idea what they are asking for is to assume the worst case scenario which may mean ICU or CCU, which includes monitors and close observation of vitals, as well as labs and oxygen.

 

As to your other assumptions about infection rates and care, please go to

http://hospitalcompare.hhs.gov/hospital-compare.aspx?hid=010006,010157,010019&stype=SURGICAL&bpid=CAT_3&spid=GRP_15&Tab=5&lat=34.8287425&lng=-87.6482474&stateSearched=AL

and put in hospitals of your choice for comparision.  You will see that not only is the infection rumors untrue, but according to most patient data returned to the polling agency there is not a statistical difference in the way people view ECM nor Keller.  Other than Keller is a smaller facility, and a newer plant, the cleanliness issues are something again that is purely asthetic. In the care of the patient it means very llittle if the quality of care is not there.

Like the other poster said you can find good and bad stories from every organization.  Yours may be slighted by your experience, while mine may be the same. Disgruntled employees are always going to say things like you mentioned, and to take them into consideration it requires a real assessment of the data and not someone's personal opinion based on something they think they saw.

The current law in Alabama requires hospitals to report infections, I think it is called the Denton Law.  It is more interesting how that law came about, and the circumstances which brought it to fruition.  To know the real history it might change your mind, but I am not here to argue with you, but to tell you simple facts about the data, how it is collected, and what it actually means. Hearsay and rumors cause more trouble for the healthcare community in this area than anything else, and some of that is brought on by healthcare workers who are ignorant of the data, but choose to mkae their own assumptions about something.

 

I had reason to go to ECM recently for help with a kidney stone. I was taken to a room in the back within minutes of my arrival to the triage area. My pain was stopped within 5 minutes. I was in and out within 20 minutes!  I have lived in the Shoals for 7 years and as long as I have lived here, all I hear is whining about ECM and the service here. Some of you need to spend a little time in the big city! In my hometown it is not uncommon to spend 24 hours in the ER waiting for services.

I really felt the need to address two points here:

 

1. Wrong meds - I don't know what happened there, but ECM and Shoals use a machine to dispense meds. The nurse puts in the pt's name and the med drawer opens up. Now, what's in the drawer is the pharmacist tech's responsibility. After the drawer opens, the nurse is supposed to check the type of med and dosage. In other words, if pharmacy makes a mistake the nurse catches it. What we check:

 

* right med

* right time

* right dosage

* right patient

* right administration route

* expiration date on med if applicable

 

When I read about medication errors, I'm usually at a loss as to how they occurred. You may have read about the twins of Dennis Quaid who received a huge dose of Heparin several years ago. Both the nurse and the pharmacist made the same mistake. So if you're a patient and have a question, ask. It shouldn't offend anyone.

 

2. Nurses talking about inappropriate things - Most nurses who work the floor are young. They should not have been discussing such things in an area where there were patients or patient families. I firmly believe it's usually best to go to the offending person's immediate superior whenever you have a problem, but in this case I would have called or written a letter to the director of nursing. You would not have to mention names, just relate what you heard and how it was out of place. I'm sorry you had such an experience while your infant was ill.

I should add to check that your family member is receiving the right meal. I was visiting a family friend who had congestive heart failure. I noticed she was asking for sugar for some tea. When I looked at the tray, I saw extra packets of salt. I immediately found the charge nurse, stated I didn't want to second guess the cardiologist, but was concerned that my friend who was over 100 was receiving the wrong diet. Bottom line, she was. I don't know who had entered the info in the system (it wouldn't have been a nurse), but I'm sure that may not be that unusual.

I too have had positive and negative experiences at both Keller and ECM. More negative than most I will guarantee. The bottom line here is a new facility. The economy will benefit from it, moral will likely improve among the nursing and hospital staff, and patient care should increase as a general rule. The positives far outweigh the negatives in my opinion.

Here is what I know.  The newer model in health care is to have a 'regional' hospital that serves several counties, and has local 'feeder' hospitals.  This is what HH and Keller are doing.  Keller will provide basic care, but if you need anything more than basic, you will be shipped to HH.

 

An area the size of the Shoals can easily support a regional hospital.  Regional Care is our best chance to have one locally.  If they don't succeed, we will be relegated to basic local care and having to drive or otherwise be shipped for everything else. 

 

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