Truth In Advertising - Vol. II
(Click to enlarge)The idea for this version of the DMH BS Billboard came from the sister of a friend of mine. It would have been more timely last week.
I would love to see a comparison between the two heart programs concerning infection rates, survival, how long the patient had to stay in the hospital, and so on. Anyone know if this information is made public?
I would love to see a comparison between the two heart programs concerning infection rates, survival, how long the patient had to stay in the hospital, and so on. Anyone know if this information is made public?
posted by Watcher2300 at 2/14/2007 04:55:00 PM
21 Comments:
So, how long do the people of Decatur forced by their insurance companies to use DMH have to wait for relief?
Do not these big companies that give their contracts to DMH see how unhappy we all are with the care we receive at DMH? The substandard care? The understaffing that causes repeated admissions to DMH and increased costs to them? Or are the insurance companies only interested in the bottom line too? Does DMH give them that big a discount on services?
If so the the people of Decatur are truly the losers.
Cannot St. Mary's and its administrators come up with some way to get these contracts away from DMH or have they just given up and let Smithmier and Company take over healthcare here?
Somebody, Federal, State, Local officials please take an inpartial look at what is going on at DMH.
People are literally dying because DMH has cornered the market on healthcare (term used loesely) in Decatur.
It seems to me that DMH has managed to bribe, payoff, or threaten anyone who can make them pay for their crimes.
I fear this Federal investigation is going no where and the citizens who entrust their lives to DMH through no choice of their own will be the losers.
Meanwhile Smithmier and the rest of the DMH administrators get a free ride and get richer while patients receive poorer care than ever before.
Do the Feds really care? Is this investigation over?
I agree with this previous message. THe DMH Administration is too well connected. My belief is that when Mr. Pittinger stepped down and retired, the investigation was over. The DMH Administration is now emboldened by weathering this investigation.
DMH continues to get richer by paying new employees MUCH less than they have to pay experienced longterm employees.
An employee in a position to know told me and actually showed me the figures - over 1500 employees have left DMH in just the past 2 years. True, some of them were very young people just getting their first job, but a disturbing number of them were RN's, radiology personnel, Physical Therapists, pharmacists, and other highly educated, highly skilled people who just couldn't take it anymore.
1500 in just 2 years! This person is trying to get the figures for the # number of employees who have left in the past 5 years. I am sure the number will be astounding.
The people of Decatur should really be concerned about this. It just proves that more and more DMH is being staffed by inexperienced people.
DMH should have a sign posted at the door saying "Enter at your own risk." Or perhaps they could post these figures on another billboard and let people know what they should REALLY expect when they go to DMH.
Now that would really be truth in advertising!
I know this is off topic (Truth in Advertising - Vol II") but decided to post here because the other topics have so many posts on them. Am afraid this post would get lost in the crowd.
I have been a DMH employee for over 20 years. I would leave in a heartbeat if it were not for the fact that I am close to early retirement and am worried about having enough money to live on if I leave now. DMH has no retirement plan as such. Their retirement plan for employees is the money employees take out of their own paychecks (and away from paying power bills, medical bills, for gas, groceries, and so on). We are scraping by on my husband's social security benefits for now - it took me too long to realize that DMH had no pension plan for its employees.
If I could, I would leave DMH tomorrow but know that most retirement plans require at least 5 years of service before you are vested. Not sure I can take another 5 years in healthcare. No medical benefits after you retire, and we can't afford to pay for care at DMH anymore (my husband's PPO).
The point of this post (at last) - I would suggest that the federal investigators interview current and past staff at DMH to find out what is really going on - the self-referrals, inadequate care, poor staffing, mistakes made in care because of overwhelmed staff, and so on.
Of course, these employees would have to be offered some kind of protection from retaliation by DMH.
Most if not all ar working because they have to not because they want to.
Federal investigators, if you want the real truth talk to the people who are on the front lines - the ones who actually take care of your spouse, mother, father, friend, or any loved one. Of course you would have to refer to us as employee number 1, 2, -- 1000 to get us to talk. we all live in fear of the power of Smithmier and his cronies and their power.
True story from a DMH ER employee;
Let's see this story on a DMH billboard.
40 something man goes to DMH ER complaining of "indigestion"
Staff parks him in an exam room. 20 something registration clerk goes into room after patient had been there for awhile to get his insurance information and other paperwork.
Registration clerk finds this poor man dead.
So much for the DMH heart center. Man died of a massive heart attack instead of being treated aggressively to save his life.
My heart goes out to his family because he did not receive the care he deserved.
Since this is a coroner's case we can only hope that Mike Day will aggressively pursue this monumental case of negligence, failure to provide necessary care, and so many other basic violations of a hospital's requirement to examine and provide needed treatment.
Please tell me that the coroners office is not in the pocket of Smithmier and company. This man did not need to die - if he had received proper screening and examination he would still be here and this would not be another example of the DMH way of requiring its staff to do more with less.
Mike Day, do something about this. Do not let this man's death be in vain.
DMH Heart Center? What a joke. Go to DMH at your own risk.
Linda Fahey, this is for you.
You tell your nurses that nursing has not changed. It has.
Your nurses take care of sicker patients who require more care. Your nurses cannot even bathe their patients let alone change their dressings that are ordered by doctors, and provide other basic care.
Have you actually worked on a floor and taken care of patients in the past 25 years? Do you know how hard it is for your nurses to have family members give their mothers a bath or turn them so they do not get bedsores? Do you know or care how many of your nurses cry everyday because they were not able to give the care to patients that they expect and deserve?
The best in the world cannot do what you tell them to do.
Do you care that your nurses put their licenses on the line every day they go to work because they are not able to provide the care that Illinois nurse practice law requires of them?
Your nurses work so hard - making DMH administration mad because they have to pay overtime - trying to give the care that they want to give and the law requires.
Linda Fahey - How can you sleep at night? Linda Fahey, would you allow a family member of yours be admitted to DMH without you being at the bedside every minute?
Shame on you for not standing up to Smithmier and demanding that your nurses be able to provide the minimal level of care required by Illinois law.
Regarding your "indigestion" patient ending up with a massive heart attack. Does that really surprise anyone? The cardiac surgeons listed on the DMH website are the SAME SURGEONS covering two hospitals in Bloomington. My understanding is that is where they reside. Also, why did two of the DMH doctors that specialize in heart stents leave? Now there is a third one in almost as many years! Again, it is my understanding it is these doctors that take care of these heart attck patients.
It seems to me that the good heart doctors have LEFT, DIED or LIVE IN BLOOMINGTON.
Does Smithmier or anyone else including the highly paid lawyers on the DMH staff pay any attention to these posts or are we just wasting our time here?
Are they truly above the law?
If so, what a sad day for the people of Decatur.
We NEED 2 healthcare providers in this town to provide us with quality care and a real choice as to where we receive important care.
If Smithier and company pay attention to these posts, how come nothing changes at DMH?
How come Smithmier never mentions any of this in his employee meetings?
Investigators - please continue your investigation. The people of Decatur need you.
When I first graduated from nursing school as an RN I went to work at St. Mary's. All of my children were born there. I loved and still love St Mary's. I chose St. Mary's to provide safe care for me and my newborns because they had the best reputation in town for child and maternity care. Check the records - most babies in Decatur and surrounding area were born at St. Mary's.
I learned so much from experienced nurses at St Marys who completed my education as an RN and taught me how to provide the best care to patients.
That was before Smithmier and his pals came from St. Louis to take over healthcare in Decatur.
I resigned from my job at St. Mary's so I could stay home and care for my children. When my youngest was in kindergarden I decided to go back to work. St. Mary's was not hiring at the time so I ended up at DMH
Biggest mistake of my life. Poor staffing, poor patient care, poor benefits, and so on made me realize after several years that I was working for an organization (DMH) that put quality patient care and concern for its employees far below profits and bonuses for administrators.
How I miss Tony Anthony and Don Gent. They knew what was important in order to give the best care to people of Decatur. Apparently they were booted out because they concentrated on providing good care. Their mistake must have not been taking over healthcare in Decatur and driving St Marys out of business.
Oma Gardner was Director of Nursing at DMH. She was a REAL nurse who made sure her nurses did what they were supposed to do.
Linda Fahey (vice president of nursing at DMH) is a joke compared to Oma Gardner. Fahey is an administrative yes man (woman) and cares nothing about patient care. Fahey has been duped into following administrative commands that the bottom line is profit. Patient care is last on her list.
Wonder what the Illnois department of registration would think of her reign at DMH?
Seems to me that she has much to answer for and her license as an RN would be pulled if the state investigated her actions.
St. Marys, don't give up. There are so many people who need you and trust you. Unfortunately, we are forced by our insurers to go to DMH for care.
St. Marys, fight for those PPO contracts. We need you and prefer you alhough we can't use your services because DMH has bribed, coerced, etc our insurers.
We just can't afford your services now because DMH has cornered the market on care here.
So sad for the people of Decatur and surrounding areas.
I wish I could return to St Marys so I could actually give good care to patients. DMH has me locked in though because of retirement.
How ashamed I am to admit that I work at DMH. Can;t leave now because of retirement.
How about a billboard saying "DMH doesn't care about patients or its employees. DMH cares about bonuses for its administrators"
The bottom line is simple. If you or a family member has a serious medical problem, drive or fly to Springfield, Champaign, St. Louis, Chicago - any where but DMH.
The outcome couldn't be any worse - better to try and get proper care than to be parked in an exam room in DMH ER and assume they are getting the care they need only to learn that a registration clerk with nothing more than a high school diploma finds him dead when he enters the room to get insurance information.
If you go someplace else for care at least you will know you tried. More than you can say for the DMH ER staff.
Karen Schneller - are you not supposed to make sure patients receive proper care in the DMH ER? How come so many people fail to receive the care they need?
New billboard for DMH - "If you care about your family, go anywhere but DMH. We do not have experienced nurses or doctors that care"
"Anyplace but DMH 31, DMH 0"
DMH 2nd largest employer in Decatur. Great. We need jobs.
They employee at least 2400 people.
Sad thing - over 1500 employees have left DMH in the past 2 years. That's over a 60% turnover. That is phenominal and certainly not cost effective.
True, some have been minimum wage employees with no experience, but the majority have been physical therapists, pharmacists, RN's, specialized radiology technologists, and other highly educated, highly educated personnel.
How much does it cost DMH to replace these employees? Tens of thousands of dollars at minimum.
Check out the huge ads DMH puts in the Herald and Review every Sunday. They need highly educated and highly skilled people to provide the care insurers are paying for and patients deserve and expect.
Thank goodness I left DMH. My heart goes out to those who remain employees of this terrible institution.
Are the Feds really investigating Smithmier and how he has made DMH a hospital I would never take a relative to. Has he managed to pay them off too?
Investigators, if you care, please make these felons pay for their crimes.
So sad that a once great hospital has become a cash cow for administrators and an enter at your own risk for patients who do not know any better or are forced by DMH owned doctors to go there.
Someone please come up with a billboard to state these facts.
Investigators, please don't quit - Smithmier and company are guilty of multiple felonies.
Will they get off scott free?
Healthcare in other cities is looking more attractive to me every day.
How sad for Decatur that one man has managed to make Decatur a city that no one wants to go to if they need medical care.
Truth in advertising at DMH does not exist.
Administrators twist the truth to suit their own purpose. That purpose? To line their own pockets.
So far, it seems Smithmier wins and we lose.
How can federal investigators ignore the outrageous bonuses administrators have received while employees cannot even afford the medical insurance DMH provides the workers who actually provide patient care?
Smithmier will pay in this life or the next. In the meantime, the people of Decatur suffer.
BS seems to be policy at DMH.
It also seems that no one in Decatur has the guts to stand up to Smithmier and say enough is enough - the health of the people of Decatur is most important.
Newspapers, TV, radio stations and so on seem to fear the loss of revenue from DMH more than they care about reporting the truth.
Do they not have a moral and ethical responsibility to report truth?
Let's see a billboard about the federal investigation into Smithmier's activities, investigations into physician self referrals and other blatant crimes.
Is DMH above the law or will these felons finally be made to account for their crimes?
WAKE UP DECATUR!!! TAKE MATTERS INTO YOUR OWN HANDS!!!
The only people that can make a change are the employess that work there and the community.
My belief is that regardless of what you hear, the investigation is over. Smithmier & Co are too well connected and have pockets that are deep! The Grand Jury has a term of two years and I believe its been much more time than that. Furthermore, Mr Pittinger left in the middle of the investigation.
I have seen it first hand and left because of disagreeing of what they wanted to do for care of residents of our community. I should know, as I am a physician.
I left because what was going on at DMH was wrong. The doctors, nurses, employees of DMH that disagree should leave too. Pateients should REFUSE to go to DMH and support other institutions for their care.
Don't depend on the government to take care of this. The entire community has to take this matter into their own hands. If the employees leave and the care goes elsewhere, justice will be served and the patients/community will be safe.
The investigation may APPEAR as if it is over. That is what Smithmier and Stone want you to think; they want you to think it's over and bend over.
Sources close to the situation say a new investigator was hired and is supervising the investigation. A grand jury, to my knowledge, can be kept as long as the case takes.
Kudos to you, doc, for having the courage to just say no to Smithmier.
Would love to go to St. Mary's for care but am forced by my insurer to go to DMH.
Unfortunately we live paycheck to paycheck. We buy our clothes at the thrift shops in town and at rummage sales. I have been wearing the same winter coat for 12 years. Our car is 10+ years old.
Will St. Mary's provide us the care we need for what our insurer pays DMH? We cannot afford to work out a payment plan for the difference with St. Mary's. With braces for the kids, power bills, taxes, grocery bills, the high price of gas just to get back and forth to work, taxes, and so on we are lucky to be doing as well as we are. We cannot afford to pay the thousands of $$ difference between what our insurer will pay DMH and SMH. We cannot afford another monthly payment. We do not use credit cards, we do not get paycheck loans - we just try to pay our bills and take care of our kids.
Does anyone in St. Mary's administration care what is happening? Are they willing to really give those of us who do not have savings accounts and high salaries the opportunity to use their services? Are they willing to meet the prices DMH receives from all of the big companies that have sold their souls to DMH?
Is St. Mary's willing to help us have a choice in health care in Decatur?
Is St. Mary's ready to go head to head with Smithmier and really aggressively bid for those PPO contracts?
If they are not, the people of Decatur are screwed and forced to continue to make Smithmier richer and medical care in Decatur a joke.
If the feds can's help us, is SMH willing to help us?
Doctor who posted - will you accept my family as patients and take what our insurer pays DMH employed doctors?
You can afford to leave DMH. We cannot because our insurance forces us to use DMH and its owned doctors.
How can people who barely make ends meet stand up to Smithmier and DMH? We can't afford thousands of dollars in medical bills just to make a point.
You say the investigation is over.
Are you willing to help the people of Decatur WAKE UP and take only what our insurers would pay a DMH owned doctor?
If you are willing to put your money where your mouth is, we will change doctors in a heartbeat.
To the doctor who left DMH, good for you. We need many more like you though to make a difference.
I am an RN at DMH and would love to leave, but St. Mary's will not pay me the same salary I am now making at DMH. I know many other RN's, pharmacists, physical therapists, and other professionals who would love to leave and go to St. Mary's but are trapped at DMH for the same reasons I am.
The people of Decatur are stuck with DMH because Smithmier and his financial geniuses have managed to capture most of the insurance contracts of employers in the area. They have done this through bribery, payoffs, kickbacks and so many other illegal means.
Do the people of Decatur who are not insured by one of these companies who go to DMH realize that they are actually subsidizing the care of patients of DMH PPO's, medicare and medicaid patients? God help you if you are a private pay patient and actually have to pay what is actually on your bill!
The nurses and other employees of DMH do not make as much money as you do, Doctor. How are we supposed to stand up to Smithmier when we have families to feed, tuition to pay, and so on?
Wish I had your financial assets and earning potential. Unfortunately I am limited in what I can earn. I cannot charge patients for the care I provide (which happens to be very good) but I am forced to accept what DMH will pay an RN.
You are right when you say that DMH employees, doctors and patients should go elsewhere for their care but I think it is too late for that to happen. Smithmier has taken over the city of Decatur.
Smithmier wins, Decatur loses.
By the way, Doctor, if you would like to have an RN with years of hospital and office experience in all areas of medicine work for you and pay me what I am worth, just let me know. I will start working for you Monday.
If you are not willing to pay me what my experience is worth, you will understand why the employees of DMH do not and cannot leave.
For those who responded to my comment, all I can say is this. Yes, I am a physician who said NO to DMH and walked away. But I am only one in a handful. I cannot work in Decatur anymore because of Smithmier & Co. They are smart, they have you sign these contracts that bind you to their ways, if you disagree, you are forced to leave town. I loved the people of Decatur, my patients, the community I lived in, but feel in my heart that I did the right thing. Most of the docs don't have the guts and I guess morals, and I am ashamed of them. HEY GUYS DO YOU REMEBER TAKING THE HIPPOCRATIC OATH? First, do no harm!
Hey, doctor in Decatur who finally left because you were tired of the BS at DMH.
Will you and St. Mary's take me and my family as patients and accept what my insurance company pays DMH and the doctors who work for DMH?
If you will, you will have 7 new patients.
If you won't, we have no choice but to continue to go to DMH and the doctors it owns because we cannot afford to pay the difference in what our insurance company will pay.
Are you willing to really help the people of Decatur WAKE UP or do you just say that because you have the assests to tell Smithmier to shove it while the rest of us cannot afford to do the same thing?
So, the doctor who had the guts to stand up to Smithmier was forced to leave town and/or no longer practice in Decatur because of the contracts Smithmier & CO force doctors to sign.
What a sad day for Decatur.
Why can't anyone in the media (call the Wall Street Journal, please - I am sure Smithmier and his doctors all read it faithfully) to do an investigation that local media and politicians do not have the guts to do. Call Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, national ABC, CBS, NBC about this medicare and Medicaid fraud.
Surely one of them could find time for this story on a slow news day.
There might even be a Pulitzer in it for them if they do it correctly.
There have been many news stories lately about the poor care our veterans have been receiving at Walter Reed.
Our veterans deserve the finest care, but their family members here at home in Decatur deserve no less.
Am praying for the day when one of the national news outlets has Smithmier and Co and its illegal practices as a lead story.
The entire nation is paying for Smithmier's crimes in higher Medicare costs taken directly out of their paychecks.
To the doctor who had the courage to say no to Smithmier, I applaud you for ethics and taking your Hippocratic oath seriously.
Sadly, Decatur has one less honest doctor who truly cares about his patients to turn to.
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