Hospitals Can Be Dangerous
Patient rooms were found to contain overflowing trash bins, excrement and blood. Hundreds of medications were improperly administered to patients. Dozens of beds remained empty despite crushes of patients seeking emergency care. Senior leaders kept critical information from the hospital’s board of managers. One patient died, apparently after receiving a drug without doctors’ orders.
Where is this hospital? In Toronto? London? Answer below the fold.
It’s Parkland Hospital in Dallas! One of the largest safety net hospitals in the country.
During last summer’s CMS review, inspectors found widespread unsanitary conditions and improper handling of medical waste. But the report obtained by The News describes a hospital that still fails to meet basic standards of cleanliness…
A new problem area highlighted in the report: the main operating room, which is supposed to be among the most sterile environments in a hospital. Monitors found a dirty, potentially unsterile environment that could sicken patients, cluttered by equipment and in need of repair. Staffers told the monitors that they didn’t know the standards or regulations for cleanliness…
Among the most serious and common violations cited in the report were medication and surgical errors. The report documented numerous lapses from inconsistent labeling, failing to secure drugs, giving improper dosages to patients, and sometimes medicating the wrong patients.
Full report on the persistent life-threatening problems at Parkland Memorial Hospital in The Dallas Morning News.
Remind me to avoid Parkland the next time i have a medical problem.
If you think this sounds bad, check out some of the hospitals abroad. A few years ago I accompanied a Canadian health economist on a tour of American hospitals — including Parkland Memorial. Parkland supplied an administrative resident to be our tour guide. The Canadian economist was very impressed with the condition of the hospital, quality and services compared to the hospitals she had toured in Canada.
Doesn’t surprise me.
Who owns and runs this hospital? Government.
From the website: The Dallas County Hospital District, doing business as Parkland Health & Hospital System, is governed by a seven-member Board of Managers appointed by the Dallas County Commissioner’s Court.
Members of the Board of Managers are appointed for two-year terms. Board members meet the fourth Tuesday of each month and do not receive compensation for their service. The Board is responsible for governing policies and also has budgetary oversight for the hospital district.
What’s really bad it the voters in Dallas County recently voted to let them build a new $1 billion hospital at taxpayer expense. During the Texas legislative session, Parkland and its minions send lobbyists to the Austin in an attempt to expand its taxing authority to include wealthy, neighboring Collin County, which has far less generous indigent care provisions. As someone who plans to move from Dallas County to Collin County in the next year or so, I have a problem with these shenanigans.