Do Not Take Your Loved Ones To Bwmh

[Scott]

In the years past i have heard time and time again that Bryan Whitfield Memorial Hospital was nothing more than a glorified first aid staion. I dismissed this talk and found myself to be proud to have a hospital in such a close vicinity to tend to my ailments and emergencies. After all there is not another place within 60 miles to take an ill or injured individual and atleast it is not Hill Hospital in York. Well after a recent incident involving a family friend i am not so sure that it is any better than the financially strapped hospital in Sumter county! Just a week or so ago a friend of the family experienced chest pains and some nausea. A friend took the individual to the hospital just to be turned back, not once but on 3 different occassions! I once thought that if BWMH couldnt handle a situation that they would atleast transfer the individual to a facility that could! This seems not to be the case. After being sent home for the 3rd time the loved ones of the individual in question took a left out of the hospital and headed north to DCH where it was determned that the person was experiencing a mild heart attack. BWMH had sent the person home to potentially die and i know that this is not the first time this has happened. I have heard of 2 more such occasions where the indiviual was not so lucky and did in fact suffer a fatal heart attack. Luckily this perosn survived not due to the care recieved at our health care facility but due to the caring and diligence of the friends and loved ones. To follow up some blockage was found and a stent inserted and after a few days is at home resting comfortable. So in the future if your friend or loved one is suffering from anything more serious than a few bumps and bruised think twice before taking them to BWMH!

[Bocephus]

The nurses just got a pay raise. $2.00 a hour plus so much for every year employed. I'm not saying they didn't need it, but what about the rest of the employees????????
Several months ago they were *****in about going broke. So much for that.:dunno:

[bohemur]

To once again say the hospital is horrible would be silly!! A little over a year ago my husband had a very bad car accident. When we got him to the hospital they did X-rays and several other tests. After they looked at them they told me that he was fine and they were going to put him in a room to observe him. I proceeded to throw a fit right there in the OR and they sent him to Tuscaloosa. They told us he had no broken bones and no internal injuries. It took them over an hour to get him to DCH and when he got there they started the whole round of tests and X-rays again to discover that he had 2 broken vertabrae, a CRUSHED sternum and a broken leg as well as internal bleeding from the spleen. Needless to say they had him in surgery within an hour. I was so upset at the stupidity that we experienced at out "pretty" hospital that I wouldn't take my pets there let alone another family member or friend.

[joe]

It is unfair to the Bryan W. Whitfield Memorial Hospital to present one or two examples of poor care at the hospital and not credit the hospital with the good care that it provides to its patients everyday. We know that every hospital experiences problems such as described in these postings. I know for a fact that the hospital administrator and the hospital board are sensitive to such problems, they try to prevent them from happening, and they take steps to correct such problems whenever they occur.
If you have a problem with the hospital, take it to the administrator or to a board member.

The Bryan W. Whitfield Memorial Hospital is a vital part of our community and it, along with our good school system and good city government, have helped Demopolis achieve the distinction of being THE PLACE TO LIVE IN THE BLACK BELT OF ALABAMA.

[stickman]

The problem with the Administration and board members is that these concerns HAVE been brought to their attention. In Charles Nabors' eyes, there is no problem. Most, not all, of the board members presently serving are brainwashed by Charles Nabors and believe any and everything he tells them as gospel. Anyone from the inside who tries to validate problems or complains is either labeled a disgruntled employee or a troublemaker. If they are still employed and whistle-blowing, they won't be for long.

People need to know what is going on inside the Tombigbee Healthcare Authority and need to become involved if they expect things to improve.

Stickman

[joe]

I agree that people need to know what is going on at Bryan W. Whitfield Memorial Hospital, and to become involved. However, continued carping about a problem there without going to the effort to remedy the problem is not helpful to you or to the hospital.

I served on the hospital board. Not once during my time on the board did anyone appear to complain about the hospital! Now, I recognize that hospital employee complaintants may fear retribution from the hospital administrator, but, surely, there could be someone who could bring the complaint to the board!

If you have a problem, take it to the board. Don't continually carp about problems at the hospital. That just serves to injure our community and it does no good toward improving the hospital.

[dave]

Most of the problems with the hospital are medical related.

Since you've been on the board, maybe you can elighten the rest of us.

If, say, someone has a legitimate complaint about the course of treatment rendered in the E.R. to them or there loved one. They take it to the board. What happens from there? What, as a board member, would you say to someone that had to to make 3 trips to the E.R. before going to another hospital to finally find out they had broken bones?

Also, how is anyone know where to contact the board? Is the general public invited to these meetings? Is there a phone number available that someone can call? I would be glad to set up a webpage with all the information so more people can get involved with the hospital board. I'v e been to the Hospital website and there's no info on the board.

[joe]

When I was on the board, it met at 5 or 5:30 on the last Thursday of the month. The administrator had a practice, which I did not endorse, of taking up non-controversial subjects during the first part of the meeting, while the press was there.

Then, the board would recess for dinner. After dinner, and after the press had departed, the administrator would take up matters that might be controversial. Admittedly, some of those matters needed to be addressed in an executive session, but not all.

Anyway, you can find out when the board will meet by calling the hospital administrator's office. They may not be happy to receive your call, but they are obligated to give you the information.

I feel confident that most, if not all, of the board would be interested in your complaint, and they would hold the administrator responsible for explaining why the hospital is being criticized and/or coming up with a solution to the problem.

Although I am no longer on the board, I would be happy to help you if you run into any problems in dealing with the board. Several of the board members are friends of mine, and I would not hesitate to call upon them to ask them to help you air your grievances.

[stickman]

So, are you telling us the second half of the hospital board meeting is not open to the public? Charles Nabors has time and again refused to let employees sit in on board meetings, on or off duty. I am curious to know if he expels the public for the after dinner sessions, or does he not admit the public for the entire meeting?

Stickman

[dave]

If the press aren't allowed, then the public isn't either. Of course, I'd be considered the "public" even though I have means of being a "press" as well. The only press I'm aware of that reports on the meetings is Jan McDonald of the Times, and her columns are less than objective at best.

I'm concerned that Nabors has so much control over these meetings. My main concern being the "closed door" section of the meeting would address the actual patient compliaints, and the solutions would be in the best interest of the hospital and not the patients that use it.

[stickman]

Charles Nabors allows the press in. He always has reps from Demopolis Times and Democrat - Reporter at the board meetings. Like Joe stated previously, they left for whatever reasons after they got their bellies full. Once they were gone, the board got down to real business.

Hospital employees have been consistently denied access to board meetings whether on duty or off duty. The hospital board is a public board comprised of members appointed by the City of Demopolis and the hospital board itself. It is also subject to the Sunshine Law which it flagrantly and frequently violates.

Patient complaints can be addressed in these meetings open to the public without violating HIPPA and Patient Confidentiality. The only thing they can take into "Executive Session" by law is matters where the good name and character of an employee are to be discussed, and maybe ongoing legal issues but this last one is real iffy.

Stickman

[dave]

When you think about it, any complaint against the hospital can be considered something againt the "good name and character" of a hospital employee. The Sunshine Law is a good law, but I'm not sure it's not too easily maneuvered around.

[Scott]

I am not carping as you put it JOE about a one or two problems! I have heard all my life that the care at BWMH was mediocre at best and i have been on this earth for 30 years so i have a good feeling that in that time someone has complained to the board and nothing has been done! And how about this I know of not one , not two, but three individuals that went to that ER exhibiting symptoms of a Heart Attack just to be told that they had acid indigestion. It cost 2 of them their lives. What do you say to that? You know another thing? This was over a period of maybe 10years so i would say that the problems are not getting better and are only compounding. As far as i can tell there is not a good avenue for the public to take issue with the board!

[kaye334]

"Pursuant to the aforementioned information", I feel that I should take a moment to let some of you in on a little secret that may work when filing a complaint to hospital board members. "According to my conclusions and findings", you should take these complaints to members of the board who are newer and have not yet been hooked by the long vocabulary words that Nabors uses!!!!!

Hey Stickman, do the phrases in quotes look familiar to you? LOL Oh and BTW "Please apprise if there are any additional questions or comments."

[stickman]

You STILL remember, don't you girl! What about the MMFI and the YCRHCSD and all that other goofy stuff they made up for Joint Commission that they expected us to know by heart yet failed to carry out with their own employees. MMFI = Make Me Feel Important HA!

Stickman

[kaye334]

Hey, can't forget!!!! Every memo, every letter, etc, etc, etc. ALWAYS said the SAME thing!!!!

Funny how the only time you were introduced to the stuff you had to know was a month or two before Joint Commission came in!! Heck even hire a few folks to work for the two - four months before to make all that CRAP up!!!! If JC had undercover people to come and work at this place or even spend one night there as a patient, sadly, people of Demopolis and Marengo County, the place WOULD be shut down!

Hey, here's a thought, since Austin Caldwell is not going to be the mayor anymore, then maybe, just maybe, Charles will realize that he's not such a spring chicken anymore and will step down and let someone else with a little more people skills as well as business skills, take over!

[Amber]

Late one Sunday while I was in high school (sixteen years old, if I remember correctly), I was taken to the BWWMH ER by my mother with excrutiating pain my lower back that had escalated over a course of just a few days. When the "intern" or whatever the little boy in the scrubs was (he seemed to be younger than me at the time) heard my symptoms, he simply looked me in the eye and said, "What do you want me to do about it?" What did I want him to do about it?!? I was tempted to tell him to take his little Doogie Howser rear end down the hall and find me a real doctor!! All he did was give me an Ibuprofen and send me home. He didn't even bother to examine me! The next day, I went in to see Dr. Fitzgerald (by now, I was in so much pain I couldn't even sit down in the chairs in the waiting room) and he took one look at me and sent me to the OR for an emergency operation; it turned out I had a very large cyst near my coccyx (tailbone) that was infected nearly to the bone.

[dave]

The problem with Joint Commission is they tell them ahead of time when they are coming. It really needs to be a suprise visit.

[Bug]

Another BWMH story...at lunch today I overheard (ok, I was listening) to a woman talking about her toddler being in BWMH for a night for dehydration due to a virus. She said she knew things were gonna be bad when they handed her a cup and asked for a speciman sample. The mom said she just shook her head and told the nurse that her child (obviously in diapers)wasn't even peeing in a potty yet much less a cup and she would love noting more for her DEHYDRATED baby to pee b\c then they could just walk out the door!

[clay_tew2004]

Well everytime I have been in BWWMH they have been extremely nice and very helpful, and since there is a new person in the place of neighbors I think everything is gonna change for the better it will just take time.

[Bug]

I hope you are right Tew b\c this area certainly needs a reliable hospital\staff. I have been there recently to see a relative. My cousins nurses were real nice but some were real lazy. Several times my cousin buzzed the nurses station when the iv alarm went off and no one came. Once one us walked down to the station about 3-4 would be sitting arount the table. Then they'd jump up and act like they were on their way. The baby's mom (from my earlier post) said also that it took them nearly 2 hours before they gave her DEHYDRATED baby the iv....the sole reason of the baby being there in the first place. Again, it wasn't b\c they had a house full to take care of that day.

[Bamafan25]

Well I would like to see something happen with BWWMH.I have had the unfortunate experience of being there,for longer than I cared to.I was admitted with abdominal pain less than a year ago.I was kept for five days,yet I was still getting worse.They did an ultrasound and could find nothing,they did I.V.P 's (dye test) and could still find nothing .So they just kept me really doped up for the duration of my stay.Let alone when I first went in they immediately gave me emulcified castor oil which on their part should not have been given to a patient with abdominal pain without knowing what the cause was .Due to the fact that if it had been my appendix it could have caused to be fatal.It took a good while before I saw a ( REAL ) doctor.Needless to say they could not seem to determine the cause of my pain.So on the day they decided to release me their words to myself and to my husband were" we don't know what is wrong ,go home and if your pain gets worse come back and we will do more tests". So my husband took me home in a lot of pain .After we made it home I was in a severe amount of pain .My husband took me to another hospital in Mississippi and two hours later they knew what was wrong. All it took was a cat-scan,and a real doctor who knew what he was doing. Bwwmh could have detected this but at the time they had no one for the cat scan machine.I did not find this out until after the fact. Personally I will never go back to that hospital unless maybe for stitches but even then that is questionable.

[Eagle101]

The key words Bamafan 25 said wa REAL doctor. The staff does not conduct any tests or procedures without your doctor's orders. I had to go to BWWMH twice under emergency conditions. Each stay way for eight days. The ER doctor both times was less than desireable, but when my doctor arrived things got on the right track. Select a good local doctor for your normal non-emergency care and make sure you or a family member contacts him/her as soon as you arrive at the emergency room. Don't depend upon the hospital staff to make the contact.

Other than the emergency room problem, I was well taken care of. My biggest complaint was being disturbed by too many treatments and tests while I was trying to get some sleep!

The ER patient processing area need to be redesigned. It id hard to hear the person in the room sometimes.