This hasn't been pitted yet? Woman dies in hospital when 911 refuses her (Major RO)

[QUOTE=EJsGirl]
Maybe LA station are reporting it differently than the national news- almost surely, actually.

This article in the Los Angeles Times refers to the letters as “letters of explanation” and indicates that they carry no penalty or disciplinary action.

I am sure we will see actual copies of them shortly and then we’ll know for sure.
[/QUOTE]

Actually, I did read that article earlier. To be exact, it does not say the letters “carry no penalty”; it says they carry no additional penalty. Having a letter in your file is considered a disciplinary action. The letters are referred to as a form of discipline.

What would you do if you were in charge? Fire them all? Pay cut? Put them all on leave? I don’t really like any of those ideas. What other “disciplinary action” would you like to see them take?

[QUOTE=Vinyl Turnip]
I’m going to frame this quote, hang it on my wall, and laugh at it every day for the next six months.
[/QUOTE]

Ah, c’mon. With a beggarly four thousand posts a year, you can be sure that Guin confines herself exclusively to things that are entirely her business.

The internet is no place for those who mind their own business. In particular, message boards and social networking sites thrive on gossip and (virtual) curtain twitching.

[QUOTE=lowbrass]
What would you do if you were in charge? Fire them all? Pay cut? Put them all on leave? I don’t really like any of those ideas. What other “disciplinary action” would you like to see them take?
[/QUOTE]

Being fired is almost irrelevant to an RN unless you have been fired from everyplace in town. As long as they still have their licence, people will be begging them to come work for them.

Update

What a great solution. Now all the poor people served by it can die in the streets instead of in the lobby. Much better than, you know, fixing it.

[QUOTE=askeptic]
What a great solution. Now all the poor people served by it can die in the streets instead of in the lobby. Much better than, you know, fixing it.
[/QUOTE]
Poor people dying in the streets is much cheaper than having them die in hospital.

[QUOTE=levdrakon]
Poor people dying in the streets is much cheaper than having them die in hospital.
[/QUOTE]

Yeah, the poor can’t possibly afford to die in a hospital, at least not without federal subsidies. OTOH, if they accept federal monies, apparently they can’t allow anyone to die after being admitted – Terri Schiavo comes to mind. So the ER waiting room is a necessary, if not pretty, compromise.

I hear Texas is trying an innovative scheme, making having a fatal disease a crime punishable by death. Straight from the doctor’s office to Old Sparky, really very clever. :wink:

[QUOTE=levdrakon]
Poor people dying in the streets is much cheaper than having them die in hospital.
[/QUOTE]

Not if they didn’t have ID, and their familyl refuses to identify them because they can’t afford a funeral, and so make the state pay for burial, I don’t think. :wink:

[QUOTE=Zabali_Clawbane]
Not if they didn’t have ID, and their familyl refuses to identify them because they can’t afford a funeral, and so make the state pay for burial, I don’t think. :wink:
[/QUOTE]

Burial? Well, I suppose you could call the landfill a burial, of a sort.

[QUOTE=askeptic]
What a great solution. Now all the poor people served by it can die in the streets instead of in the lobby. Much better than, you know, fixing it.
[/QUOTE]
They’ve been trying to fix it for years. They’ve changed the management several times, scaled back its operations so it could concentrate on its core mission, and even put it under the wing of a better-run hospital nearby. At what point do you finally say enough is enough and start over?

Starting over would be fine but didn’t see that option mentioned.

[QUOTE=Pochacco]
They’ve been trying to fix it for years. They’ve changed the management several times, scaled back its operations so it could concentrate on its core mission, and even put it under the wing of a better-run hospital nearby. At what point do you finally say enough is enough and start over?
[/QUOTE]

A private firm is making some noises about reopening King-Harbor in a few years, but with all new staff. The problems ran so deep that they were determined to be unfixable (is “unfixable” a word?). Remember, this has been going on for years.

The LA board of supervisors has been working on a contingency plan for the King-Harbor closure for a couple of years now, and they think they are ready to make a quick, relatively smooth transition. I say relatively because a couple of emergency rooms have estimated that their wait times for treatment during “peak” times (whatever those are) could double.

I know that the people who live in that area deserve the same level of care that people in “nicer” areas deserve- but if you can’t get decent staff to work there, what the hell do you do? Accept that shitty care is all you can get? Deny that indifference to patient care is institutionalized on this campus and nothing short of closure will fix it? Because they have tried just about everything else…

[QUOTE=levdrakon]
Poor people dying in the streets is much cheaper than having them die in hospital.
[/QUOTE]

Well it is more difficult to win a lawsuit for the poor quality of care found in the gutter.

[QUOTE=askeptic]
Now all the poor people served by it can die in the streets instead of in the lobby.
[/QUOTE]

St Francis hospital is 3 miles away from King-Drew. I think the hyperbole is a bit much…

:dubious: