Watcher's DMH BS Ad of the Week
While driving towards Forsyth today, I was listening to WSOY and heard the latest radio commercial for DMH Express Care (what some call a "DOC-IN-THE-BOX.")
The commercial made it sound like all the locations could treat minor emergencies, they are staffed with board-certified physicians AND that they have lab services on-site.
NOTHING COULD BE FURTHER FROM THE TRUTH.
From what my customers have said, there are RARELY doctors on site, but rather physician assistants. A lot of people have complained that these physicians assistants (PA's) are fresh out of school and have no real experience doing this kind of work. Also, the only lab services on site might be a urine test or strept test. REAL lab services are only available at St. Mary's, Quest Diagnostics, or at DMH.
The commercial also said that if the patient had a "real emergency" they should go to the ER. The problem I see is, they didn't go into detail explaining what a real emergency is! How many people with chest pain, or stroke symptoms, or severe breathing problems are going to show up at one of these "inexperienced-PA-in-the-box" locations and suffer (maybe DIE?) because DMH's radio ads make it sound like they can handle just about anything that comes their way.
If you want real medicine with a real doctor who will see you in a real hospital, see your own physician, and AVOID the borderline care you might get at DMH "Express" "Care."
The commercial made it sound like all the locations could treat minor emergencies, they are staffed with board-certified physicians AND that they have lab services on-site.
NOTHING COULD BE FURTHER FROM THE TRUTH.
From what my customers have said, there are RARELY doctors on site, but rather physician assistants. A lot of people have complained that these physicians assistants (PA's) are fresh out of school and have no real experience doing this kind of work. Also, the only lab services on site might be a urine test or strept test. REAL lab services are only available at St. Mary's, Quest Diagnostics, or at DMH.
The commercial also said that if the patient had a "real emergency" they should go to the ER. The problem I see is, they didn't go into detail explaining what a real emergency is! How many people with chest pain, or stroke symptoms, or severe breathing problems are going to show up at one of these "inexperienced-PA-in-the-box" locations and suffer (maybe DIE?) because DMH's radio ads make it sound like they can handle just about anything that comes their way.
If you want real medicine with a real doctor who will see you in a real hospital, see your own physician, and AVOID the borderline care you might get at DMH "Express" "Care."
posted by Watcher2300 at 8/07/2009 11:44:00 AM
50 Comments:
McMedicine?
Don't count on getting real care from a "real doctor" in the DMH ER. Or even lab work being done. I went to their ER a couple of years ago with what turned out to be a life threatening injury and was never seen by the MD on duty. I was seen by the PA who ordered NO lab work at all. I was given a shot for "muscle pain" and sent home. The ER doc never stepped a foot into the cubicle I was in.
My doctor was never notified that I was in their ER which ER docs are supposed to do.
Turns out I had internal bleeding, spent a week in ICU and another week in the hospital. I required multiple blood transfusions and had to have a quart of fluid removed from my lung. Was off work for months and had to take pain medicine for months because of the wrong diagnosis of "muscle pain" made by a PA. If only that PA in the DMH ER had ordered a basic blood count they would have seen that my blood count was already dangerously low because of the internal bleeding.
PA's are supposed to work under the supervision of doctors. The doctor was right there but failed to supervise the work of this PA properly.
If you want real care see your own doctor or go to St. Mary's.
This is just another way Smithmier and Stone can save a few bucks to line their pockets with.
Have any procedure done at any DMH facility at your own risk.
If something like above post can happen in the DMH ER which is supposed to have a doctor present 24/7 to supervise PA's I cannot imagine what is happen at DMH Express Care.
"PA in the Box" really is more accurate description of the care provided to unsuspecting patients.
We all know that Ken is not going to spend the money to have a real life doctor at Express Care at all times.
The place should have a sign over the door that reads "Enter at your own risk. DMH is not responsible if your care is screwed up."
Another monument to Smithmier and Stone's greed.
Sad.
Smithmier and Stone just don't get it. People here don't care about how things look on the outside. They care about what kind of care they will receive once they go to a hospital or one of its freestanding clinics for quality care.
What's next? Drive through pap smears, prostate exams, mammograms, colonoscopies?
Think they have almost reached that point at DMH.
Smithmier and Stone are the worst kind of gamblers. They gamble with other people's money -- and lives -- and keep all the chips.
A PA is supposed to work under the "supervision of a physician". The catch in the law is that the physician does not have to actually be on the same site where the PA practices. The MD just signs off on orders and prescriptions the PA writes. The MD has at least a month or two to sign off on the orders.
Since the doctor who signs off on the orders never actually sees the patient, how can that doctor know if the PA did the right thing?
Am I wrong in thinking that there is something wrong with this system?
It might work in inner cities where there is limited access to medical care but DMH is using the law to protect itself, administrators, and employed doctors simply to protect themselves. Also, SAVES BIG TIME MONEY FOR DMH, WHILE THE BIG SHOTS GROW RICHER BY THE DAY.
PA's play an important role in the healthcare system but it is just plain stupid to ask them to assume a role they simply are not equipped to handle especially new PA's.
To those PA's who have accepted this responsibility for life and death decisions, is it worth putting your license on the line for Ken and Tim to continue to expand their empire?
I agree...McMedicine.
Why did DMH have to spend money they don't have to build a new facility just a few blocks north of the old one?
Was the old building not up to Tim Stone's standards of beautiful buildings? Hey, Tim! Get the landscaping crews out there because the new building is really kind of blah looking and just blends in with the pizza joints and other buildings on that lot. Hard to tell which building is your new doc in the box. Tim Stone is really good at landscaping (and now apparently checking the dirty carpeting in the "Big House" according to a recent blogger) but certainly does not deserve the salary he currently makes for cosmetic changes at DMH while the institution rots from the inside due to reduced staffing.
Actually it was easier to get in to the old building than the new one they certainly didn't need to build.
The money spent on the new place could have been put to better use - perhaps hiring more staff to take care of patients in the hospital or giving current employees a few of their benefits back.
Maybe they built it in the new location to snag unsuspecting people driving south on 51 before they got past the stop light and saw the St. Mary's facility just a couple of blocks south of another unecessary DMH building.
The former DMH doc in a box was located on a spot that WAS HEADING OUT OF TOWN AND PAST THE TURN OFF TO THE MAIN HOSPITAL. Perhaps this is DMH's way of grabbing business from travelers coming off the interstate who are unaware of the deplorable care that DMH provides.
Since DMH loves billboards so much they should put a new one up with a big arrow on it pointing to the new location stating "PULL IN HERE IF YOU WANT MARGINAL CARE FROM NEW PA GRADS WITH LITTLE EXPERIENCE. THE NEW PA'S NEED TO PRACTICE ON SOMEONE."
nuff said.
Ken and Tim will never stop lining their own pockets until some one makes them stop.
In the mean time the rest of us had better just suck it up, evaluate our choices and decide who we want to entrust our health care to.
Maybe the next billboard ad should be something like "The only local hospital where the Hon. Dick Durbin is allowed to have an "open" dialogue" to a captive audience of healthcare workers". What a load of hypocritical BS deemed newsworthy locally. The only attendees allowed were DMH patients/employees and news media. I have to use an anonymous identity due to my spouse being a 3rd shift DMH employee.
Here's another billboard idea for DMH, Smithmier, Stone, board of directors, and all the doctors AND ESPECIALLY POLITICIANS paid so well by DMH:
"We treat them and street them (you) as quickly as possible unless you agree to be referred to someone on our staff. Hope you get a PA with some experience. If you don't agree to this, good luck to you."
Jeez, Dick Durbin, thought you had more sense than that. But hey, as long as someone pays you doesn't seem like you care much anymore where the money comes from. After all Mr. Durbin, you have guaranteed QUALITY healthcare for life so you have little to lose now which is something the rest of us would like.
Sounds like the employees at DMH are growing more and more disgusted everyday.
Big trouble at the McMedicine Mothership (DMH) as a long-time nursing unit director was asked to step down after physically assaulting an employee of her unit. The employee has a civil suit against the director and the "official" word from Linda Fahey was that the director "left to pursue her clinical dreams". Ok, even though she was just months away from retirement age? Whatever. The irony of the story is that as reprehensible as the directors act was to physically assault an employee, she was a good unit director and now the entire floor is chaos as an interim director from another floor has had to step in. This is a major unit at the hospital so once again its "Enter at Your Own Risk" to the unfortunate DMH patients.
Any DMH employees out there who would care to share with us what the Honorable Dick Durbin had to share with DMH employees?
Dick Durbin's quotes from today's H&R, on why he hasn't held town meetings
..."I don't think that really serves the purpose of informing the public and answering their questions honestly," Durbin said. "It doesn't help."
Rather than participate in a town hall-style public session to discuss President Obama's push for an overhaul of health care, Durbin, a Democrat, has held six meetings with health care officials.
He said those meetings, including one Wednesday at Decatur Memorial Hospital, have led to meaningful and cordial debate.
...."The people who are showing up at these town meetings are not looking for dialogue. They're looking for diatribe. I don't think that's a productive use of my time," he added.
What a cowardly, pompous attitude. And I'm sure DMH was GLAD to hold a meeting - They would not have unless it was in the favor.
I simply cannot wrap my head around the fact this man gets re-elected time and time again.
Wasn't the official party line from politicians that the town hall meetings that input from healthcare providers be more productive because the town hall meetings were becoming no more than shouting matches with no meaningful dialogue?
Input from healthcare providers who have nothing to gain but everything to lose seems like nothing more than the fox guarding the chicken coop and protecting the bottom line and has nothing to do with providing meaningful health care for all citizens.
God help us all if people like Smithmier and Stone actually do have some say in how healthcare is provided in this country.
Their only concern is how healthcare reform will affect the bottom line of their insurance companies, doctors, and of course the hospitals.
At least 2 cases of H1N1 flu - better known as swine flu - reported in Macon County.
EXACTLY how does DMH propose to respond to this especially with the start of the new school season and the soon to be here flu/pneumonia season? And with reports from the CDC that children and young adults are especially at risk?
Beware, pregnant moms. Think twice about having your baby at DMH. Who knows? The nurse you trust with your life and the life of your baby may be at risk because of DMH's short-sighted sick time policy for that nurse you are counting on to care for you.
Since DMH employees now have few if any sick days left are they expected to report to work sick and expose patients and fellow workers to this quite possibly deadly disease? Or should they follow the guidelines posted all over your facility for visitors and stay home if they have cold or flu symptoms? And lose even more income after your massive layoffs, cuts in benefits, and reduction in hours to reduce those "full time equivelants" to save a few bucks on your already pitiful benefit package (term used tongue in cheek here). We all know that benefits are based on the number of hours you work.
If they are expected to report to work sick and spread a contagious disease - any contagious disease - to patients, employees, and the general public, who is to blame? The employees because they have no sick time benefits, administrators who are protecting their bank accounts (while limiting their own exposure to any contagious disease), or the "survival of the fittest" theory?
And if they are expected to report to work even though they are sick how come there is a different standard for visitors and employees?
Will DMH new and inexperienced PA's be able to diagnose let alone treat and contain an epidemic?
Get real DMH, Smithmier, Stone, and directors.
Keep checking ads in local papers, DMH administrators. Surely some hardware store in the area will soon be having a sale on shovels to do fall cleanup work.
You guys in administration will probably want to stock up on those shovels so you can keep digging a deeper hole for yourselves that you will never be able to climb out of.
You guys at DMH never seem to learn. The public is on to your questionable methods of operating a healthcare facility. We now know that you do not have OUR best interest at heart - just your own behinds and bank accounts.
You can pay off as many people in high places including Dick Durbin as you can find to throw the money at but your reputation in the area is ruined. DMH will never be a trusted source for healthcare around here as long as current administration remains.
The city, county, state, and especially the citizens have all lost a great deal because of your misdeeds.
For God's sake! The stress induced by DMH administration seems to be getting to everyone unfortunate enough to work there..
What exactly did the unit director do to "assault" an employee? Punch her out in the middle of the hall?
So the unit director was just months away from retirement age, huh? Anybody see a pattern here of DMH getting rid of long term highly paid personnel?
While not defending the director for assaulting an employee, I do question what the assault consisted of. According to Illinois law a nurse may not touch a patient if that patient says don't touch me. If the nurse does touch the patient, perhaps just to check a blood pressure or pulse that constitutes assault according to the law.
Did the director perhaps touch the employee on the arm? And what did the employee do to provoke this assault? Hand her a note from her doctor saying she was too sick to work? People at DMH have been fired for much less.
For Linda Fahey to say the director left to "pursue her clinical dreams" is laughable! When you are just months away from retirement after years of working in the DMH Bighouse (prison analogy is appropriate here) your pursuit of "clinical dreams" is getting as far away from DMH as possible and trying not to have nightmares about the place. Is everyone in administration incapable of telling the simple truth?
Another major unit at DMH in major chaos....what a surprise. Are there any units or departments at the DMH McMedicine Mothership Bighouse that are not in chaos?
It will be a long time before any member of my family steps foot in DMH even for something as simple as a blood test. Anyplace with that much inner turmoil and obviously unhappy employees is not a safe place to go for quality healthcare.
Previous poster was correct about DMH. "Enter at your own risk".
Let's aee you put that on a billboard, Ken.
It would be nice to hear the truth from someone in DMH administration for a change.
I can only hope that all the people in middle management - all you nursing directors and department heads - realize that you have great big targets on your backs. You are only kidding yourselves if you think your job is safe because you "are so valuable to DMH" and have devoted your lives and careers to the place.
Look around and review all the people who were department heads a year or two ago. How many of them are still there? How many of them had their jobs eliminated after 20 or more years of servitude to DMH? They never saw what was coming and you won't either.
You just might end up like the VP at DMH who came to work one day only to find everything in his office packed up 10 or so years ago.
No one is "valuable" to DMH unless you are a politician or have millions to donate to the place or have access to politicians or corporate bigwigs who have clout with the people who have real power.
Real power is all Ken and Tim care about. You poor middle managers have no real power.
Get those resumes freshened up. You probably will be needing them sooner than you ever expected.
Actually the director of that big unit at DMH who was asked to step down after physically assaulting an employee got off easy. She was told she could either resign or be fired. She chose to resign. Smart move on her part. She's lucky the cops weren't called.
She can still get another job but hopefully she will not be put in charge of anything more important than counting rolls of toilet paper. And she was NOT just months away from retiring. Far from it.
The interim director is a fine nurse with years of experience. She was actually the director of the unit involved for years and knows what she is doing and how to run a large unit the right way. The other unit she is director of is a very small one, so it won't be a problem for her to run both units.
Census is down anyway at DMH, so there really shouldn't be a problem.
The only "chaos" on the unit is caused by the employees themselves. Some of the lazier RN's on the floor might actually have to leave the desk and do a little work with the patients for a change under the "interim" director. One of the smarter things administration at DMH could do would be to give the interim director a big fat raise and make the position permanent.
But DMH administration is not famous for being smart so that probably won't happen.
The world will keep turning in the meantime so it is still "Enter at your own risk" at DMH for anyone thinking about having surgery done there or going there for any problem, no matter how minor.
Things just keep getting screwier and screwier at DMH.
The place really is in the process of destroying itself from within. Maybe after that happens, the Feds will finally be able to tie up loose ends and punish the people responsible for allowing DMH to deteriorate to the sad state it is in today.
Believe me, the physical assault incident between the director of nursing and a member of her staff involved a lot more than the director touching the employee's arm while she was trying to hand the director a note from her doctor.
People all over DMH seem to be out of control these days. Is something hazardous seeping out of the administrative suite and engulfing the hospital?
It's nice to know that Tim Stone has been out on carpet patrol at DMH trying without much success to get that nasty stuff cleaned up.
Too bad the other messes at DMH keep piling up.
Best thing you could do with that carpeting is to just rip it up and start over with shiny new tile floors that you at least have a chance to keep clean.
Once you get rid of the carpet problem at DMH you might as well clean the whole place from top to bottom. Starting at the top of course with administrators.
It's the only way DMH will ever smell nice again.
The assault that took place happened when the employee walked through the open door of the Unit Director's office to inform her that a family member (of the employee) had just been admitted (critically ill) to ICU. The Director screamed "not now" and pushed her in the chest with both hands out of the office. Multiple witnesses saw what happened. This former Unit Director is now going to be an office nurse for Sobol. If that was her "clinical dream" geez, she should really dream bigger next time.
Hmmm....let's see if I have this straight. The unit director who physically assaulted an employee in front of multiple witnesses is now going to be an office nurse for Dr. Sobol.
The same Dr. Steve Sobol who "earned" from DMH in 2006 in the neighborhood of $1.7 million dollars.
The same Dr. Steve Sobol whose staff is paid by DMH?
Quite possibly this WAS the director's "clinical dream". It is common knowledge around DMH that the director in question and Sobol have been EXTREMELY close friends for quite a few years. They have been seen together in many public places and made no attempt to hide their close "friendship".
Did the disgraced director even have to apply for the job or did Steve just swoop in wearing his magic cape and tight jeans and create a position for her?
What a crock! Sobol will continue to protect his longtime friend, pay her very well for services rendered (actually DMH will continue to pay her since they do pay the employees of ENTA) and life goes on as usual at DMH.
They do have a tendency to protect their own, don't they?
The YUCK factor here is just amazing.
DMH does it again! The lesson for all citizens who have supported DMH over the years is simple - when you make your bed with the devil (DMH administrators and their doctors) you are safe from any financial consequences. Someone on the payroll will protect you no matter what.
Are there no limits to which DMH is unwilling to stoop?
Anyone care to hazard a guess as to who will be paying the former unit director's legal fees and any judgments that may come down against her as she defends herself against civil charges filed by the employee who was assaulted?
Now would be a great time for Ken and Tim and the board to step up to the plate and say NO to one of their own. Surely there are some lines that even they will not cross.
This will be a very interesting one for all to watch. Just be sure to put your nose clips on since this is really quite the smelly scandal.
Does anybody out there remember when DMH was a great hospital that helped support the community and the people who live here?
I do and it is so sad that Smithmier and Stone have managed to destroy the place for their own personal gain and worse yet turn this once wonderful asset to the community and people into a soap opera and personal source of questionable methods of getting richer at the expense of the people who once trusted DMH to care for us when we needed them.
Now when people think of DMH they think of greed, lack of concern for patients and employees and the community.
I pray daily that someone will come in and help restore DMH to its once fine reputation. While God might not like the following prayer I also offer daily, I really do pray that the greedy people who have managed to turn DMH in to a joke that honest doctors avoid like the plague have to answer for their crimes and sins publically and at great cost to them both personally and professionally.
God answers all prayers. Unfortunately for all of us sometimes the answer He gives us is no!
I am finally starting to give up hope that Smithmier Stone and all the others will ever have to answer for their crimes and sins.
Smithmier keeps saying the investigation is over. Seems like the appearance of elected officials at his "Monument to greed" just proves that Smithmier really does have clout with the powers that be and these politicians are throwing the people of the area to the wolves also and letting Smithmier and Stone get away with all the wrongs they have commited.
The whole mess at DMH is so sad. And it is the people who suffer not those responsible for the mess that is now DMH.
Decatur suffers also because more and more people are choosing to leave Decatur and get the care they need at other hospitals.
I blame St. Mary's too for the problems here. It seems like they waited a little too long to really start to fight back against Smithmier.
What a joke DMH is. It is more like the set for a soap opera or reality TV show. They have cameras all over the place. Surely the incident involving the employee being assaulted by the director was caught on one of those tapes. Now, if the employee's lawyer can just get in the place with a warrant and get those tapes before DMH detroys them his client has a good chance of winning her civil case against the director.
No wonder DMH is such a mess. Dealing with crap like this has to distract them from their real job of providing decent and safe care for their patients.
So the nurse who assaulted an employee at DMH is still on the payroll at DMH even if her salary is funneled through the office of the highest paid doctor on the DMH payroll? Bet she gets paid a lot more than any other office nurse in the area. That smell that lingers over Decatur all the time does not come from ADM it is coming from DMH. Thought you big guys in charge of DMH were better at covering your tracks than this.
No wonder that carpeting at DMH needs to be cleaned up . It's not only the dirt on the surface that makes it filthy all the dirty stuff that is being swept under the carpet just makes the problem worse.
What happened to the five story luxury addition?
Where will this monument be located?
Has this expansion project been cancelled due to financial disability at DMH?
http://www.idph.state.il.us/hcja/members/smithmier.htm
Surely there is a conflict of interest involved somewhere, somehow when a director of a large nursing unit at DMH is told she can either resign or be fired for physically assaulting an employee only to have this same nurse suddenly take a position as an office nurse at the office of the highest paid doctor by DMH. No matter how you look at it she is still being paid by DMH. Either she was fit to work at DMH or she wasn't. Looks like DMH just shuffled her to a job out of the mothership to a building not physically connected to the bighouse. Bottom line is she is still being paid by DMH unless Dr. Sobol, her "longtime very close PERSONAL friend" is paying her salary out of his own pocket (highly doubtful) or DMH is just trying to make it look like they are handling a problem employee by getting rid of her.
Hey, DMH administration...your employees know what you have done and now the public does too.
Does Sobol have that much power at DMH?
Are there no ethical or moral boundaries you will not cross?
Can't imagine that something like this would happen at St. Mary's since they don't pay the salaries of arrogant "can't touch me" doctors like DMH does. I think if a nurse at St. Mary's did what this DMH nurse did you would never see her again at anyplace remotely connected to St. Mary's.
Of course this doesn't include anesthesiologists, radiologists, pathologists, etc who don't see individual patients and don't have private practices like the family practice doctors, neurosurgeons, internal medicine doctors ENT DOCTORS and so on who are owned and paid for by DMH.
As I said earlier either this nurse was fit to work at DMH or she wasn't. You can't have it both ways. As it stands now, this nurse is still employed by DMH even though she is now in Sobol's office rather than out on the floor.
If this nurse was not fit to be in charge of patients on your surgical unit she is not fit to have anything to do with patients in Sobol's office.
Wonder what the Illinois Nurse Practice Act has to say about this nurse's actions? Have any complaints been filed against her with the folks in the state of Illinois in charge of licensing nurses? If not the state should certainly look into whether or not this nurse should be able to keep her license.
You folks at DMH really do circle the wagons and protect your own no matter what, don't you?
Nasty things seem to be the norm at DMH. Thank God we have St. Mary's to go to to get honest care provided by doctors and staff who seem to put patients first not their bank accounts.
Decatur Memorial Hospital now has a page on Facebook! Wonder how much they pay someone to keep that page updated? Seems that person might put his or her time and our $$$$ to better use at other tasks
Is Linda Fahey is still putting trackers (like GPS trackers) on all "her" nurses to keep track of where they are at every second of the day? Only problem with her plan, the nurses take them off and leave them with the secretaries when they leave the units to take hour long lunch breaks and when they go out 3 or 4 times a day for smoke breaks. What's next - embed tracking chips in all employees?
Yup...employees still being tracked. Waste of time and money for DMH tho b'cause employees just take the devices off when they leave the floor.
Employees finally win one. Outsmarted the powers that be, though it wasn't that smart to figure out how to get around the system.
If they had adequate supervision of employees -- or if they actually treated staff members like adults who were responsible, compassionate caregivers -- they wouldn't need GPS tracking. How sick is that? When I think of GPS and employers, I think of employees going into dangerous places (ie: South America), and the employer trying to PROTECT them with GPS!
The reason they have to use GPS on their nurses is because a large portion of them are fresh out of school. Ken and Tim ran off all the experienced nurses; most of them went to St. Mary's or area nursing homes.
The 22-year-olds tend to be a bit less dedicated than the experienced nurses that got run off--and need to be watched closer. Then, after they get some experience and wise up, they too will leave DMH to go work for St. Mary's.
All the while, Ken and Tim get to pay starting salaries and less benefits. Nice gig.
Maybe they are using the GPS units to "protect" the nurses. The female nurses anyway need to be protected from a certain neurosurgeon who just ended a year-long affair with one of the assistant managers of a prominent floor. He has now moved on to another manager from another floor. The nurses do need protection . . . . from him. BTW, he is married and says a divorce would be too "expensive" for him. Imagine that, thinking only of the money.
Don't most medical specialties have ethics rules that doctors must follow in order to keep their license and or their board certfication? Perhaps if the truth were to shine full & bright this neurosurgeon would be found out and be disciplined.
The GPS is all about control. If BIG BROTHER knows where you're at, or if the citizens think BIG BROTHER knows where you're at, then the citizens are less likely to revolt. Seig heil.
This info about "GPS tracking" is indeed disturbing, but many of the nurses who have figured out how to bypass the system are long term employees (not new nurses) who misuse the system by leaving their trackers with secretaries or other employees just don't want to follow the rules. They don't want the biggies in administration to know that they are taking hour long lunches and leaving the units for multiple smoke breaks. When they do this they are indeed leaving brand new 22 year old RN's alone on the floor with no experienced nurses to turn to if they run into a major problem they need help with. Patients suffer and quality of care at DMH gets even lower.
There are lots of RN's at DMH who don't do this but what can they do? Rat out their fellow employees and take their chances that administration will do something about the people who feel the rules do not apply to them and then having to deal with nurses who refuse to help them in any manner because they squealed on them? Been there, done that. Many of the long term RN's at DMH will grab any opportunity to back stab another nurse just to make themselves look better in the eyes of their directors and DMH administrators and doctors.
So sad that DMH does not do everything in its power to punish people who feel that they are better than other employees, refuse to help them learn how to give real quality care and figure out ways to beat the system.
No wonder so many new grads leave DMH so quickly. They get no support from the nurses who have been there forever...poor things have no idea when they hire on at DMH that they have targets on their backs and nurses who have been there far too long will do anything to make them look bad and incompetent...and make themselves look better to doctors and administration.
Who do you think a director or administrator is going to believe...a new grad or someone who has been there for years?
As for "protecting" the nurses from doctors who prey on them....that's a load of BS. As a nurse with over 20 years experience, I learned that many docs may try to do something morally and ethically wrong with a nurse, but the nurse HAS TO BE WILLING. It is very simple to keep this from happening. JUST SAY NO you nurses! The docs get the message very quickly and move on to another piece of meat who thinks she will get rich by becoming a "close personal friend" of the doc.
I'd bet the ranch that I know who the neurosurgeon mentioned in previous post is. Long history of same behavior. The nurses involved allow it to happen. You can go to almost any restaurant or bar in Decatur and see surgeons and other doctors "treating" nurses to dinner and/or drinks. The docs figure out very quickly who to make their moves on. Disgusting but true.
Go to the cafeteria at DMH and see which doctors are having lunch with which nurses (nurses involved are usually directors or assistant directors of units) and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what is going on.
And does anyone in the DMH community or anyone who knows her really wonder why the director of the large surgical unit who was fired (or chose to resign) after physically assaulting an employee had a job in Dr. Sobol's office within days of the alleged assault?
The people of the area pay a very high price because DMH NEVER disciplines a doctor or even a nurse for such disgusting behavior. The people of Decatur and the entire area deserve much better.
Unfortunately, that is not high on the list of Ken and Tim's priorities.
Way to go Watcher! You hit the nail right on the head (sorry about the pun)! One of the reasons this same neurosurgeon left town years ago was the same behavior with no effort made to hide it. Now he's BAAAAAAAAAAACK!I'm sure he did the same thing at the hospital he moved to but was disciplined there and decided to return to DMH where he knew administrators would do nothing to control his behavior or protect nurses. Previous poster was right in saying that the nurses allow this to happen. They look at this guy and see $$$$$$. Gross!
But he has the money - DMH paid him big bucks to return to Decatur. Way to go Ken Smithmier, Tim Stone, Mike Zia. Hey Zia - do you check out moral standards and any complaints filed against a doctor by a lowly, expendable nurse or just technical ability when you decide whether or not a doctor is "good" enough to be a DMH doctor?
Linda Fahey, don't you have a responsibility to your nurses? Do you have a process or policy in place to protect your nurses if they file a complaint against a predatory doctor? I'll bet if a nurse does file a complaint against a doctor DMH comes down on the side of the doctor and DMH will find some reason to get rid of the nurse, federal laws against sexual harrassment be damned. DMH can always come up with a reason to get rid of an employee who makes waves without ever putting in writing the REAL reason the nurse is no longer a DMH employee.
Wouldn't it be nice if members of Congress & all politicians were covered by the same medical insurance, including Medicare, as the rest of us poor slobs who work for a living?
Bet Dick Durbin and everyone else in government would get behind REAL healthcare reform in a heartbeat if they had to count on Medicare to pay their bills. I'm sure it would be much cheaper for tax payers to put government employees under the Medicare umbrella than to continue paying for the best of the best medical care for them and their families for as long as they live while the rest of us our left floundering under the sinking ship that is Medicare in its present form..
They also might get a little more aggressive in investigating the crimes DMH administrators have committed and finally make these crooks pay for all they have done to ruin healthcare for people of Decatur. They need to be forced to pay back the money they have stolen, too. After all, their (government employees) access to medical care for their entire lives would be limited by the billions of dollars people like Smithmier and Stone have stolen (yes stolen) from honest people.
I know Smithmier and Stone aren't the only crooks running hospital who have been robbing all of us, but let's just get started with them.
Does anyone seriously think that Congress, any member of government or public employee NOT covered by SS or Medicare would voluntarily allow themselves to be part of these programs the vast majority of us are stuck with?
Ain't gonna happen because they would be stuck with the same substandard care we receive at DMH and the high copays we have.
Wouldn't surprise me to see Smithmier and Stone run for state legislature. I understand if you serve just 1 term, your medical bills are covered for life. Of course, they would never be elected unless they called in all of their many markers.
Stranger things have happened in Decatur and at DMH with Ken and Tom at the helm.
Wonder what they would call a movie like "The Informant" that was based on the shenanigans Ken and Tim have been pulling at DMH?
Oh wait, we don't have an informant yet for them.
Maybe Gary Peacock is wearing a wire right now! We can only hope. They probably frisk the poor guy everyday he goes in to work.
Maybe Gary Peacock is wearing a wire right now!- Anonymous said ...
Is it possible Mr. Peacock has been wearing a recording device for some time?
Is it possible he is not the only person similarly outfitted?
Only the F.B.I.knows?
If they were smart, there would be quite a few people like Fahey, Peacock, Zia, and the highly paid doctors owned by DMH wearing wires for the FBI. That way they might be able to help cover their highly paid a$$es when the Feds finally filoe charges.
Ken and Tim certainly aren't going to help protect them when the hammer falls.
What's the deal with the soon to be opened new Restaurant(s) at DMH?
Is it ethical for DMH to compete with local tax paying restaurants while a "not for profit" Hospital?
Is Dunkin' Doughnuts located near the Heart Center?...
Is this to become Decatur's new Mall?...
Smithmeir Mall?...will a Casino follow?
DMH is already a casino.
You bet your life if you allow yourself to be admitted as a patient there.
A Dunkin' Donuts near the heart center would fit perfectly into Smithmier and Stone's business model. Drum up more business for the heart center and bottom line for Smithmier & Stone. Krispey Kreme would be even better. Cancer Care Center would profit, too, since high fat diets are a known risk factor for cancer. Shame on all of you.
There is nothing ethical about DMH or its hired for profit doctors.
DMH and ethical behavior or practice is an oxymoron like pentagon intelligence or dozens of others I could throw out here.
How sad that DMH is such a joke in Decatur while their grossly overpaid administrators and doctors get richer everyday but more and more people have learned that St. Mary's provides excellent care provided by excellent doctors and nurses. I think St, Mary's is finally starting to pull into the lead in this race St. Mary's never wanted in the first place. Keep up the good work, St. Mary's - we the people need you.
Heard it was a Subway. Also heard Dr. Rhode is putting up a new bldg. off Rt. 36?
Rohde is indeed putting up a building near Dollar General. An acquaintance confirmed from the cement company who was building the building. In this economy, Dr. Rohde has elected to build rather than continue to rent from DMH.
Probably cheaper, knowing what Ken and Tim do to their non-employed renters these days.
Does anyone know what happened to Dr. Gregory? I saw that Dr. Smith passed away earlier in the year. Friends say the office is telling them Dr. Gregory "no longer works there."
There was some sort of "incident" and he no longer has DMH privileges.
Ken and Tim....Ive seen Ken once since I started working there. Tim came to the unit the other day to meet people. No Shit....I met him, told him my name, and how long I had been there. Five minutes later, he was introducing himself again and asking me how long I worked their. That ignorant stiff doesn't give a shit about anyone but him and his pocket book. Oh and doing everything possible to ensure his jail sentence is short. Maybe he can share a cell with one of our governors.
So, Tim Stone didn't remember 5 minutes after meeting you that he had already met you? Probably because you are a lowly DMH employee and not one of his bankers or lawyers! And this surprises you because....?
DMH employees (the working people) ARE NOT LOWLY in anyone's eyes except those of Decatur Memorial Hospital's administration.
The rest of us respect the almost impossible jobs you are trying to do with no support whatsoever from the guys making all the money.
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