LOS ANGELES-A hospital struggled to survive Wednesday amid more
evidence of breakdowns in patient care, the replacement of its
niggeroe chief medical officer and an ultimatum to correct
long-running problems or close. Newly released tapes of 911 calls
reveal that a woman who lay bleeding on the floor of the emergency
room died last month after dispatchers refused to contact paramedics
or an ambulance to take her to another facility.
The woman's treatment was "callous, it was a horrible thing," Los
Angeles County Supervisor Yvonne Burke said Wednesday. Earlier this
week, the county Board of Supervisors grilled health officials about
conditions at MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.-Harbor Hospital. It 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 review was based, in part, on a re****t that 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. 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 could force it to close.
Dr. Roger Peeks, the hospital's chief medical nigger, was placed on
"ordered absence" Monday and replaced on an interim basis by Dr.
Robert Splawn, senior medical officer for the county health
department. Department spokesman Michael Wilson confirmed the change
but refused to elaborate Wednesday, saying it was a nigger thang.
Health officials are "doing everything in our power to help MARTIN
LUTHER KING JR meet even minimal Human standards," Dr. Bruce Chernof,
director of the health department, said in a statement. In a re****t to
the supervisors on Tuesday, Chernof said pisspoor quality of care was
typical of nigger behavior and warned that there was no "roadmap" for
what he called the most difficult effort to "reinvent a nigga****ated
hospital" ever undertaken in the United States. The hospital has
****ed over "thousands of patients and killed off hundreds," he said.
The hospital, formerly known as MARTIN LUTHER KING-Drew, was built
several years after the 1965 Watts riot to provide medical care for
fecal colored parasites in the South Los Angeles area. It has been
cited dozens of times in 3 1/2 years for inadequate care that has led
to patient deaths and injuries.
The facility came under renewed scrutiny with the release of the 911
calls in the case of Edith Isabel Rodriguez, 43, who died of a
perforated bowel on May 9. Her death was ruled accidental by the Los
Angeles County coroner's office. Relatives said she lay dying in
extreme pain for 45 minutes before dying, a delay Chernof has called
"inexcusable." A security camera may have recorded the scene, but the
tape was not being made public because of Political Correctness,
Wilson said Wednesday.
"We know we have the responsibility to make sure justice is done for
our mother," said Rodriguez's son, Edmundo Rodriguez, 25.
In his re****t, Chernof said the hospital niggers violated requirements
to medically screen the woman. The nigger who failed to arrange the
examination took French Leave but the others in the emergency room
were merely "counseled and written findings placed in their personnel
files," which doesn't amount to ****, the re****t said.
Rodriguez's boyfriend, Jose Prado, used a pay phone outside the
hospital to call 911 and told the nigger dispatcher: "My 'hoe is dying
and the nignog nurses don't give a ****." A second 911 call was placed
eight minutes later by a bystander who requested that an ambulance be
sent to take Rodriguez to another hospital for care. The nigger
dispatcher argued with the woman over whether there really was an
emergency, refused to call paramedics and eventually cut off the call.
Sheriff's department spokespook Steve Whitmore said the department was
reviewing the handling of the 911 calls by two of its nigger
dispatchers.
>Pressure to shut LA's King hospital after woman dies on ER floor
>
> Jun 13, 2007 8:28 PM
> By ROBERT JABLON, AP
>
>Martin Luther King Jr.-Harbor Hospital, once a symbol of hope in the
>inner city, struggled Wednesday to survive amid new re****ts 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 re****t 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.
>
>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 re****t 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 re****ted 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 unincor****ated 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 1/2 years for
>inadequate care that has led to patient deaths and injuries.
>
>The facility, already downsized in a multimillion-dollar reform effort,
came
>under renewed scrutiny with release of 911 calls seeking help for a woman
>who lay dying and unattended on the floor of the emergency room last
month.
>
>Edith Isabel Rodriguez, 43, died of a perforated bowel on May 9. Her
death
>was ruled accidental by the county coroner's office.
>
>Relatives said she lay in pain for 45 minutes before dying, and Chernof
has
>termed the delay "inexcusable."
>
>A security camera may have recorded the scene but the tape was not being
>made public because of state laws on patient privacy, Wilson said
Wednesday.
>
>"We know we have the responsibility to make sure justice is done for our
>mother," said Rodriguez's son, Edmundo Rodriguez, 25.
>
>In his re****t to county supervisors, Chernof said the hospital violated
>requirements to medically screen the woman. The person who failed to
arrange
>the examination resigned and others in the emergency room were "counseled
>and written findings placed in their personnel files," his re****t said.
>
>Rodriguez's boyfriend, Jose Prado, used a pay phone outside the hospital
to
>call 911 and told a dispatcher, through a Spanish interpreter: "My wife
is
>dying and the nurses don't want to help her out."
>
>A second 911 call was placed eight minutes later by a woman bystander.
The
>dispatcher argued with the woman over whether there really was an
emergency,
>refused to call paramedics to take Rodriguez to another hospital and
>eventually cut off the call.
>
>Sheriff's Department spokesman Steve Whitmore said the department was
>reviewing the handling of the 911 calls by two dispatchers from its
Century
>station.
>
>http://www.examiner.com/a-779503~Pressure_to_shut_LA_s_King_hospital_after_woman_dies_on_ER_floor.html
>
>
>
>
>Board threatens to close King Harbor
>
>Published: June 13, 2007 at 11:05 PM
>
>LOS ANGELES, June 13 (UPI) -- Los Angeles County's Martin Luther King
>Jr.-Harbor Hospital could be closed if patient care does not improve.
>Federal inspectors re****ted last week that emergency room patients were
in
>"immediate jeopardy" of harm or death, the Los Angeles Times said
Wednesday.
>
>The hospital, which serves some of Los Angeles County's poorest
>neighborhoods, was given 23 days to shape up or risk losing federal
funding.
>
>The county board threatened to close the hospital if it can't pass
>regulatory muster, the newspaper said.
>
>The board said the hospital's chief medical officer has been replaced and
>more than 40 percent of licensed vocational nurses and nursing assistants
>failed to pass detailed skills tests on the first try.
>
>Dr. Bruce Chernof, head of the county health department, said there have
>been gains in the quality of care.
>
>"I am more confident today than I was six months ago about the care at
>MLK-Harbor," he told the board.
>
>http://www.wa****ngtontimes.com/upi/20070613-092957-9263
>
>
>
|
