Saturday, February 02, 2008

The Four Million Dollar Lie

Anonymous writes:

I don't think this administration or any administration will be able to transform DRMC into a premier healthcare facility. Let's face it. It is not easy to run a hospital in an area where a huge percentage of the population is on Medicaid or have no insurance. Many hospitals in border states have closed because of the financial drainage from uninsured illegals.

It is very difficult to recruit and retain qualified people to an area that offers nothing and is infested with racism and dirty politics.In fact, I am thankful just to have doctors in Greenville!!!

Patiently Awaiting Ray's Exit said...

You make a good point. However, in the past, DRMC has always been managed much more effectively than over the last 5-6 yrs. It is a small, hometown hospital that should provide basic services. No one expects to be able to have extremely specialized care in a rural area like ours. Think about it, how many people do you know who would deliver a preemie here and ok it to stay in DRMC's new NICU? Not my newborn! And, same goes for the heart program. The surgeon is a good one, I'm sure. But, he is only doing a mere handful of cases each month...maybe 3 - 5 on average I think?

Call me crazy, but I'm gonna go to Jackson or Memphis where the surgeons do 2 - 3 a day and the nursing staff is comfortable with the post-op care because they do it daily. He closed our burn center that was a needed service because it lost money, he knows right now the heart program has lost money since he got the first surgeon in here, but he is keeping it going because its what HE wants.

DRMC was once a great place to work. Different story now! Mr. Humphreys has this crazy vision that does not fit the demographics of our rural MS Delta. If he would just work on improving the basics and quit trying to be such a big dog, he would see that 90% of the problems would disappear. I, too, am thankful to have doctors in Greenville. However, I'd also like to know if me or my family needed the ER that we could go there for care and not have to wait seven hours to be seen. I know they claimed they had four critical patients. But, come on...four patients turns their world upside down so badly that other patients who have medical needs also are forced to wait seven hours??? Ridiculous.

So, since we can't staff a department like the emergency room that is a necessity - why are we spending money we don't have on building a NICU and heart hospital??? The thing that I found most ironic about that whole 7 hour ER wait fiasco was that I'm preparing to watch the ten pm news and just before it airs the DRMC commercial starts up. The nurse says, "We'll make sure you see a doctor in minutes upon your arrival to the emergency room" followed by "We're Delta Regional Medical Center and we're building MS's next great hospital". Ten seconds later, you hear the anchor announce, "Just ahead, hear how one pregnant woman who was bleeding had to wait 7 hours at Delta Regional emergency room to see a doctor."

Sounds like Ray may have wasted that four million bucks. You can make promises all day long, but as long as you continue to treat nurses, other employees, patients, families, and even physicians the way he does, none of it is gonna matter.

So, anonymous, you are right to a certain extent. There is probably no one who can "fix" DRMC after this administration has dug the hole so deep (I'm sure the only way out of debt will be a sell out to a private facility, and many folks have sworn for years thats why Ray brought on his old crew of cronies..who knows??), but if we could get him out of here and cut high dollar specialty services that are losing money hand over fist, we may start to see the good ole basic services be brought back a little stronger.

Also, I think the general public and the board of trustees would be shocked to see how many faithful, dedicated, and experienced health care professionals would consider DRMC again. We have all sat back for nearly six years now and let Ray run the show. It's not working. Look at the place - a total mess. Come on board of sups, do your jobs.

I can only applaud "Patiently Awaiting's" assessment of the DRMC mess. He or she does an excellent job of describing why DRMC has fallen from a respected medical facility to the horrific place it has become. Why is Ray trying to develop a NICU or a heart center when he can't even provide patients with competent first aid in the ER?

No one wants to work at DRMC because of its horrendous reputation, both clinically and administrtively. DRMC is doomed with its current administation and if "board memebers" continue to turn a deaf ear to the public, so are their careers!

Excellent comment, "PA"

Forthright

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think I have found a way to make Ray Humphreys understand the damage he causes with his cut backs on staff.

Last night a close friend and her very sick child had to go to ER. The child was running a high fever, heavily congested, ear aches and lethargic. The two of them sat waiting for nearly two hours. At that point I was called, the time was 11:30PM. After hearing how long they had been there and that their intention was to demand to see the Supervisor, I recommended that they call "good old Ray" at home and tell him their plight and demand that the child be seen PDQ. They did, woke him out of a dead sleep from what they could tell. After telling him the story, he assured them he would make a call to ER on their behalf.

Within a few minutes, the child's name was called and he was seen quickly and properly.

So there is the solution to long waits in ER....CALL RAY AT HOME NO MATTER WHAT TIME OF NIGHT IT IS....he lives on Arnold Ave., listed in the phone book. I bet if he gets enough of those, additional staff will be back on duty in a hurry all over that hospital! ;>)

Anonymous said...

No there won't be. There will only be a few more heads on the chopping block. And soon Ole Ray will have an unlisted number.

Anonymous said...

Exactly! Ray will quickly change his number and it will be unlisted. Plus, they will not staff any more nurses or docs because it will cost him some money and he needs to spend that on his field of dreams. I can guarantee you that the staff on last night in the emergency room was working their tails off and then will face serious consequences today after Ray Ray is finished scolding them. Because after all, it is NEVER HIS FAULT!!! The nurse/doc can always do better, more, and faster. Productivity, volume, staffing matrix, cut backs that is his game. Just think of how many man hours could have been bought with four million! That old geezer needs to go back to Hattiesburg. Oh wait, he can't because his name is MUD there. Find a new home Ray, we are all sick to death of you here in the Delta.

Anonymous said...

I worked at DRMC for 20+ years and then retired! My greatest thanks is that now I don't have to choose DRMC as a hospital and I can pick my own physicians. Thanks to AARP I don't ever have to go back to that place again....With all I know, I am not comfortable being a patient there, and there are only a few docs I would trust!!!

Anonymous said...

I think calling Ray is an excellent idea! He needs to hear from the "little people" whose lives are endangered every day because of his incompetence. But if you find that Ray's line is busy, here are some other options:

Board of Trustees:

Billy Schultz
Mildred Crockett
Henry Rucker
James Hollowell
George Lewis
Sam Newsom

And if you can't reach any of these folks, you can always share your views with any member of the "six-figure club":

Allyson Williams, COO
Florence Jones, CNO
Mazie Whalen, CCO
Alphe Wells, HRO
Courtney Phillips, CFO

While I know that Ray would love to hear from each and every one of us, I believe that we should share the love!

Anonymous said...

Don't call Ray at home....it's a subtle form of harassment that only undermines credibility of those hoping and praying for change.

Anonymous said...

That place is a zoo. I went there this morning to visit my neighbor and the hospital is very understaffed. Upon arrival, the first floor was full of bosses dressed in dress suits, coats and ties. But, ride up to the second floor and the scene is very different. I am not a nurse, but I truly felt sorry for them. They were running their behinds off and there were several complaints from other patient's family members in the few minutes I was waiting there. How sad that this brutal leader is so concerned about new construction while the existing hospital is in such disarray. We must have a horrificly incompetent board of trustees in addition to a board of supervisors who are not doing their job very well. Shameful.

Anonymous said...

Who cares if somebody harasses the CEO in a subtle way. He is supposedly responsible for the hospital. Let him face the music. I'm tired of seeing him in the media proclaimaing how great things are. We all know those are lies. Things are less than great. Dangerous to say the least. So, go ahead, call him.

Anonymous said...

Story for all...
After last weeks 7 hour wait in the ER.. The next day a lady went into the ER after sitting there for 5 hours she was feeling to bad to stay any longer and left the hospital. Shortly after, the ambulance was called out to this woman's house, she had no heart beat, and was not breathing.. She had congestive heart failure. Fortunately the paramedics was able to revive the lady.
THIS EPISODE COULD HAVE BEEN PREVENTED IF THE ER WOULD HAVE GOTTEN HER IN AND DIAGNOSED HER PROBLEM!!

Anonymous said...

Her problem was considered non emergency. I don't think the paramedics thought it was non emergency.

Anonymous said...

When one of their family members or friends are hurt by all of this, they will change things then. Until then, as long as none of those sue they aren't worth their time. Take a look at the poor patients who are being neglected. It is the ones they know they can run over or push back and nothing will be said or done about it.

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