Mercy Medical Center Holds Press Conference

If you live on Long Island, unless you live under a rock, you have heard the charges by Dr. Anthony Colantonio, a Garden City surgeon, against Mercy Medical Center in Rockville Centre. LI Newsday covered this story as did the local News 12 channel for days until Mercy Medical Center held a 30 minute press conference to respond to the charges.

The response was by a group of doctors in crisp clean lab coats and staff in suits telling the listeners and viewers how wonderful Mercy Medical Center is. I am sure there are thousands of people, patients and families who also think Mercy Medical Center is a wonderful facility. I have heard great stories come out of there. What I didn't hear them say, is that when patients or health care providers are dissatisfied with their care, there is a way it is handled, there is a place for them to take their concerns and how they are handled.

The press conference participants had some strong words about the doctor who reported complaints. Dr. Anthony Colantonio does not have the cleanest record as reported at this press conference. We have to wonder why, Dr. Colantonio was continually working at the facility and only recently given a "leave of absence" pending an investigation and hearing. Unfortunately, it seems that Mercy as well as other hospitals have doctors who they feel may be unfit to work at their facility still seeing patients.

Unfortunetely, the public only knows what we are told by the media and with continued lack of any transparency the health care system and the doctors reputation are handled secretly while we, the public are left to get treatment at our most vulnerable time not knowing what kind of squabbling is going on possibly jeopardizing all of us.

It is only a matter of time until another story breaks at another hospital and we have to wonder if this one is preparing to work with the public before it happens or are they cleaning their lab coats for the next press conference?

Russian Roulette

Another Patient dies from surgery but even worse, the patient never needed the surgery? https://www.news12.com/NewCDA/articles/media_pop?region=LI&id=207015

I would like to think that this is a terrible accident but I don't think so. I think that hospitals can play Russian Roulette with our lives. Hopefully you, or I won't become the one who falls into the hands of the untrained, unqualified, overworked staff or understaffed "system" that is cutting corners to save money jeopardizing our lives.

The hospital is sorry? Of course they are sorry. They are sorry they got caught and a patient and their entire family have to now pay the lifetime of emotional pain that will go with this incident. They can be sorry but the patient is dead and it never should have happened!

Go Red

February 1, 2008 was Wear Red Day to heighten awareness in heart disease in women. The Go Red for Women movement is aimed to encourage women to change their lifestyle in order to avoid heart disease in order to live better and longer. By wearing red, they are bringing attention to and encouraging women to pay attention to their heart.

Watching the news that evening, I learned heart disease is the number one killer in women. But, stories I heard that made it to the local news were about the misdiagnosis of heart disease. Every woman said her heart disease was misdiagnosed. It sounds like the misdiagnosis should also be being addressed. Maybe then it wouldn’t be the number one killer!

It's the Patient Safety Hour

On January 29, 2008, late in the day, I received an e-mail that the NY State Health Commissioner and my state senator were holding a “round table” discussion the next morning about the infections on Long Island. Specifically, the event was related to the recent press about multidose vials after the recent spread of hepatitis C.

I was a bit surprised to see how this roundtable was actually meant to be a media event http://www.newsday.com/news/local/suffolk/ny-lifink315558189jan31,0,4710641.story

There were no handouts for the general public, only the reporters who attended. And the information was the same as it usually is, these are the problems and this is what we should do. So do it!

Why do our elected and appointed leaders feel that it is the media’s job to report what is being done in the field of patient safety? There are still no groups who are supported to do patient safety education yet in the community. Could you imagine if the only education about breast cancer came from media? We would have never moved forward to battle the disease. Imagine if doctor’s offices or clinics didn’t discuss diabetes with their patients? How would diabetes ever be tackled?

Unfortunately patient safety is still, in my humble opinion an opportunity for healthcare institutions to ask for money and hire people to exam issues within their systems. Until patient safety becomes more transparent, it will stay a secret and not move forward to real change.

What's a Patient To Do?

I wonder what our "rights" are as patients when I read again about another Long Island doctor who reused syringes and had to notify patients about his poor infection control practices. http://www.newsday.com/news/printedition/longisland/ny-lishot165539598jan16,0,1907627.story

In this case, the report is informing the public about the doctor's unprofessional practices when it comes to infection control.

So, what's a patient to do? Tell your doctor(s) to wash their hands? Well obviously it wouldn't have worked in this case. His hands may have been clean but guess what, there are plenty of other ways patients are at risk when it comes to the spread of infections.

Until patient education is taken seriously - before using the healthcare system, we, the public have no clue what we can be doing to get inolved in safe, quality care. I have been teaching patient safety for ten years and the syringe subject would have never come up. Still, I see no reports on what we should be doing to protect ourselves from reused syringes.

Reporting to the public is the medias job but we also must educate!

Hospital Visits

Sometimes, I like to visit people in hospitals or take them to their doctor’s appointments. It helps me stay well connected to the system I find often flawed beyond repair. By staying connected to the real world of patient safety and healthcare systems, I can truly report back, to the people who have the power to make changes, what is really happening. Unfortunately, it can be at the risk of losing someone’s life.

I recently met a patient who was in the intensive care unit of a New York hospital. I won't say where even though I probably should. This woman has been hospitalized for 9 months with infections. I witnessed 2 nurses treating her while she lay unable to move on a respirator and swollen beyond belief from fluids. Each nurse grabbed gloves from a box but never washed their own hands first. No antibacterial lotion, no washing. The radiologist came to take x-rays and he shifted the patient, moved her arms and prepared her for x-rays and he never washed, used lotion or put on gloves!

The husband, who I was there to support, did not want me to say too much. He is afraid they will let her die. This sort of thinking is what has gotten today’s healthcare system in trouble to begin with but I have to respect him and what he wants from me as a support to him.

Yes, I wanted to tell them to wash their hands first but I think I was too shocked that it didn't occur to me that what I was seeing was accurate. The simple words "Can you please wash first" that we want so desperately to say just don't come out as easily as we think. If it were my family member, you bet I would say it but it just seemed so irrelevant at the time when there were so many other "issues" I was witnessing at this facility.

People Vs. OPMC

In late 2000, a group of us visited with the OPMC, Office of Professional Medical Conduct in New York City to discuss the unfairness of the group’s cases of what they felt were medical misconduct. The cases were closed by the OPMC and in our opinion, unfairly so.

I met earlier with the person in charge who invited me to bring members of PULSE to present their case and maybe they would be reopened. I spent many long hours investigating cases, reviewing backgrounds and information given to me that I believed was an obvious oversight, or perhaps purposely left out of the cases that were reviewed by the OPMC. I worked with the patient, and sometimes surviving family members to review the information and draw up the correct information to be presented, this time with the patients’ side of the story.

We met with a fairly large group of OPMC staff and each participant got to share their concerns. We presented information that we felt was important to each case. In one case, a patient found a letter to another doctor in her medical file asking her next doctor to lie were he to be called in as a witness. This was submitted to the OPMC. In another case, I used research by the doctor in question that said no one should use the medication prescribed for this patient. The doctor recommended a series of treatments to the elderly patient that this doctor himself suggested should never be used – ultimately killing the patient.

When we left the meeting, I was told by the people there that the OPMC needs a lot of work. “It’s people like you”, one person in charge told me, “that can get things done”.

We trusted that these cases would be reopened as it was early in my advocacy career and I still had faith in the system. Weeks went by and each participant received a letter that read that the case is still closed. No further investigation was in order.

Months later, I was invited to give testimony about the work of the OPMC. I brought some of these people with me but was most surprised when the first panel gave testimony and one of the legislators said to the OPMC staff “you were pleased with the way you operate. You thought you were doing the state a service and you quoted various indicators that nationally you were recognized as doing a good job.”

The staff person now had an opportunity to suggest changes, but he didn’t. He protected his job while putting patients in harm’s way. “He lied to me” I thought. I later saw him in the hallway and he began to share pleasantries. “You lied to me or you lied under oath” I told him. I was soon to learn how the OPMC ran.

Now today, many years later, Dr. Harvey Finkelstein of Plainview is in the news. The doctor broke some rules, the OPMC investigated and the public is not permitted to know what he did, what the OPMC did, what was found or how it was handled. We have to assume that the state has our best interest in mind - but I think we know better. Actually, the whole thing makes me physically sick.

Posters on Infections

I spent today at a local college helping the graphics design class design posters with the subject of my choosing. Of course, with the recent press about the spreading of infections and MRSA, I was able to talk to them about the importance of hand washing and just knowing about germs, diseases and hospital acquired infections.

They had a choice to design a poster for a school or a hospital or even a doctor’s office. Anyplace that people needed to be reminded to wash their hands. My first visit was to talk about the statistics of hospital acquired infections. I put a face on the numbers and we talked about the obvious things people can do to avoid infections.

Today I went back to review their posters before the final project is due next week. The most impressive thing about this is that these kids, ages 19-20 really “get it”. They can be taught about infections and the importance of hand washing, avoiding germs and proper contact. Some developed super heroes. Others focused on kid stuff like the germs on cell phones and I-Pods. Some did their project with instructions on hand washing. One young man designed a super hero that zapped the germs but wouldn’t use the word “kill” because that would not be kid friendly.

It was fun. The best part of my work is introducing people to patient safety in a friendly and fun manner. I give a 100% to my friend Diane who let’s me do this with her class. She’s a teacher who really cares about substance as well as the art.

To see a news clip of the event visit: http://www.rnntv.com/global/video/popup/pop_player.asp?clipId1=2142481&at1=News&vt1=v&h1=Ad+Campaign+Tackles+Patient+Safety+on+Long+Island&d1=154733&redirUrl=www.rnntv.com&activePane=info&LaunchPageAdTag=homepage&clipFormat=&playerVersion=1&hostPageUrl=http%3A//www.rnntv.com/global/video/popup/pop_playerLaunch.asp%3FclipId1%3D2142481%26at1%3DNews%26vt1%3Dv%26h1%3DAd+Campaign+Tackles+Patient+Safety+on+Long+Island%26d1%3D154733%26redirUrl%3Dwww.rnntv.com%26activePane%3Dinfo%26LaunchPageAdTag%3Dhomepage%26clipFormat%3D&rnd=83340389

Dirty Needle Doctor

The recent press about Dr. Harvey Finkelstein has really got me in a tailspin. Just when you think we may be making headway, New York proves we are light years behind in protecting patients. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/16/nyregion/16doctor.html?ref=nyregion

First, how bad must this doctor be if he didn’t know basic infection control procedures? If he didn’t know, he should be closed down immediately - and if he did know but didn’t follow the procedures, he should have been closed down immediately. But instead, our state Department of Health, Office of Professional Medical Conduct kept him open for business while monitoring him allowing him access to more patients and opportunities of spreading more disease and ruining more lives.

Second, what was going on that took the OPMC so long in this investigation? He either didn’t know procedures or he did. (see above) either way, he should have some kind of discipline to make sure he doesn’t think he can get away with not knowing what most medical students (so I have heard a lot about recently) learn in the beginning of their career, basic infection control methods.

This guy is a scapegoat. He’s not the first person to get away with bad behavior in our states disciplining process. He’s one who got caught. With the lack of transparency we have no idea what goes on when a doctor is being investigated – or not. There is no reason we shouldn’t post physicians who are being investigated unless the OPMC investigates unnecessarily. If they don’t investigate for sound reason, let the public know that there is, in fact an investigation going on.

Just look at this guys profile www.nydoctorprofile.com he’s got 10 malpractice payments since 1998 – 5 above average. He only graduated in 1981. Hardly something a patient should ignore. Don’t tell me anesthesiologists get sued regularly. I went to the same website and out of the first 15 anesthesiologists I looked at (in alphabetical order to make it fair), only one had a malpractice payout listed.

Surely someone is not doing their job. After 3 malpractice payouts, shouldn’t someone be looking a little bit deeper at the doctor’s practice?

Its not like patients or surviving family members have too many choices how to proceed if they are not satisfied with their care. They either complain to the facility, go to the state Department of Health or find a lawyer to take their case. In this instance the DOH let the public down by not disciplining the doctor or at least shutting him down immediately, allowing him to control what patients names get shared for the investigation and which names don’t therefore delaying the information getting to the public. The DOH waited until the statute of limitations of 2.5 years ran out. So now what does the public have to count on to protect us?
Thank goodness for the press.

Is Flying Like Surgery?

I used to hate to fly. I don’t hate it as much any more. I don’t fly that much. Maybe much more than when I worked in the post office, but much less than some of my colleagues in patient safety.

I hated flying because of the lack of control, frustration of being locked in a seat for many hours and just missing being with my family. I don’t “hate” it as much for the same reason. I looked at the clouds this morning on my early morning walk and said aloud “I’ll be there soon”, locked in a seat, leaving troubles behind – but still missing my family. The last time I flew, I realized there is nothing I can do to protect myself. I simply had to trust the airline industry, pilot and everyone else who worked together to keep me, and the other passengers safe. It helped me to think of leaving all my frustrations behind and I was “lifted” above the world of work, frustration and any stressful thoughts.

It’s almost like that with surgery. We are “locked” in our seat. My dad is going for surgery next week. I can’t stand it. He is my hero, my rock. He knows about patient safety, maybe too much and he did his homework. He chose the doctor he liked best for a whole lot of reasons. My dad has to use the hospital his doctor uses. Going for surgery is almost like getting on a plane. It is limiting what you can do to stay safe.

I don’t want my dad to be thinking about telling the staff to wash their hands or to plan on asking them to not kill him with someone else’s medication. He should not have to worry about making sure people know who he is and have the correct procedure. I will be there to do my best. But, now I’m nervous because even some of the best doctors have watched horrible things happen to their family and felt powerless to avoid it.

What scares me about this “partnership”, the term used so freely in healthcare to make patients think they have a role in their safe care, is that this hospital has never shown any interest in partnerships – at least to me, a community member who travels around the country talking about the patients role in patient safety and does community education in this hospitals community.

I have reached out many times to South Nassau Communities Hospital in Oceanside LI but have never received a response, even a generic letter from the staff or CEO who I have contacted to learn about their role in patient safety. Although like many Long Island hospitals, I’m sure they do care about patient safety, especially after the recent news about a dead baby being found in their laundry, but I just can’t seem to find how they include the patient in patient safety. Maybe they hand the patient a Joint Commission Speak Up Brochure in their admissions packet.

When putting the words patient safety into their search engine, I get a picture and bio of the CEO. I was so shocked that I asked others to try in case my computer wasn’t working. Nothing – or at least nothing that I could find about this hospital working with their patients for safe, quality care.

So, I guess I will be on the plane later today and hope for the best, and I will be with my dad for surgery next week at South Nassau Communities Hospital and hope for the best, but if for any reason we are not satisfied…………………….