I honestly meant to touch base with everyone by now...I have tomorrow off, so will attempt to so at that time.
Loretta (who posted just a little while ago; this is something that anyone who had problems at Northside can do, so everyone listen up): Write down everything that happened to you or your loved one. Even if it seems trivial (ie, "It took 10 minutes for anyone to answer a call light," or "So-and-so on the night shift refused to help with the bedpan"), write it down. Conversely, if something positive happened ("One nurse in the ER, Sue Anne Lastname, was extremely helpful and made sure we were taken care of"), write that down, too. It will help in several ways: You're acknowledging those who are doing their job well; you're appreciative; etc. Then, once you've written down everything that happened while you or your loved one was hospitalized (or as much as you can remember; obviously, it's important to do this as soon as possible), make two copies, one to keep, the other to send to the Agency for Health Care Administration. You could possibly make a third & fourth copy; one to send to Northside Hospital (address: 6000 49th Street North, St. Pete, FL 33709; I would address this to the President/CEO, though a cursory Google search didn't pull up any names; anyone?), one to HCA's corporate headquarters (HCA, Inc., One Park Plaza, Nashville, TN 37203; anyone, does Bill Frist still run HCA?).
To start an investigation with the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA), the phone number is 888-419-3456. There is a local branch of AHCA, but to start an investigation, you have to go through the toll-free number. I found that it was good to have the notes I had written in front of me when I called so that when I got a live person, I didn't sit there, saying, "Uh, so then we, um, I think it happened Thursday, or was it Friday..." You'll have everything there in front of you so you can be as concise as possible.
I hope this helps, Loretta, as well as anyone else who was wondering. Granted, it won't make what happened to you disappear--it won't bring my husband back, though I wish it would--but if enough of us stand up and say, "This is what happened to me, to my loved one, and I'm mad, because it shouldn't have happened," maybe, just maybe, we can keep it from happening to more people.
Let's face it, if someone--or enough someones--had done what all of us are trying to do now years ago, our loved ones may not have had to endure the horrors that they endured at Northside Hospital.
And if anyone reading this has never been in Northside (or any other HCA or for-profit hospital) and gotten the horrible lack of care you've been reading about, consider yourself fortunate. But in the meantime, voice your concern. Write letters. Make phone calls. You never know when it will be you being transported to the nearest understaffed for-profit hospital.
Please, please, please help me make a difference. For all of us.
Loretta (who posted just a little while ago; this is something that anyone who had problems at Northside can do, so everyone listen up): Write down everything that happened to you or your loved one. Even if it seems trivial (ie, "It took 10 minutes for anyone to answer a call light," or "So-and-so on the night shift refused to help with the bedpan"), write it down. Conversely, if something positive happened ("One nurse in the ER, Sue Anne Lastname, was extremely helpful and made sure we were taken care of"), write that down, too. It will help in several ways: You're acknowledging those who are doing their job well; you're appreciative; etc. Then, once you've written down everything that happened while you or your loved one was hospitalized (or as much as you can remember; obviously, it's important to do this as soon as possible), make two copies, one to keep, the other to send to the Agency for Health Care Administration. You could possibly make a third & fourth copy; one to send to Northside Hospital (address: 6000 49th Street North, St. Pete, FL 33709; I would address this to the President/CEO, though a cursory Google search didn't pull up any names; anyone?), one to HCA's corporate headquarters (HCA, Inc., One Park Plaza, Nashville, TN 37203; anyone, does Bill Frist still run HCA?).
To start an investigation with the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA), the phone number is 888-419-3456. There is a local branch of AHCA, but to start an investigation, you have to go through the toll-free number. I found that it was good to have the notes I had written in front of me when I called so that when I got a live person, I didn't sit there, saying, "Uh, so then we, um, I think it happened Thursday, or was it Friday..." You'll have everything there in front of you so you can be as concise as possible.
I hope this helps, Loretta, as well as anyone else who was wondering. Granted, it won't make what happened to you disappear--it won't bring my husband back, though I wish it would--but if enough of us stand up and say, "This is what happened to me, to my loved one, and I'm mad, because it shouldn't have happened," maybe, just maybe, we can keep it from happening to more people.
Let's face it, if someone--or enough someones--had done what all of us are trying to do now years ago, our loved ones may not have had to endure the horrors that they endured at Northside Hospital.
And if anyone reading this has never been in Northside (or any other HCA or for-profit hospital) and gotten the horrible lack of care you've been reading about, consider yourself fortunate. But in the meantime, voice your concern. Write letters. Make phone calls. You never know when it will be you being transported to the nearest understaffed for-profit hospital.
Please, please, please help me make a difference. For all of us.
Labels: Agency for Health Care Administration, AHCA, Northside Hospital (Tampa Bay)
posted by feminist writer - Robin Shwedo | 4:44 PM
4 Comments:
"I would address this to the President/CEO, though a cursory Google search didn't pull up any names; anyone?)..."
I will go over to Northside sometime this weekend and look at the administration board. I will get some names for you and post them here Monday, if not sooner.
Beautiful, Joanner. I greatly appreciate your help on this one. When we all pull together, we're a lot stronger than any one of us alone can be.
Thanks.
--Robin
Yup, Ward Boston is the CEO as you posted elsewhere. I went over this weekend and he is not on the staff board. I had to look at the employee board to find something he had signed. I wonder why they make it hard to find the CEO's name?
Only thing I can think of is so that when something like this happens, it's more difficult to say, "I'm going to tell your boss and/or the CEO." If someone has to go searching--and searching hard--to find out who's running a company (including the hospital), maybe they'll give up and not bother complaining.
Just a thought...
--Robin
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