Happy 4th of July to all!
Last Sunday the Las Vegas Sun reported that its analysis of area hospital records identified 969 cases of preventable infections, bone breaks, bed sores and other harm that were not present when the patient was admitted.
In today’s Las Vegas Sun is a report on a meeting between Leslie Johnstone, executive director of the Health Services Coalition; Bill Welch, president of the Nevada Hospital Association; and Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley for a round-table discussion at the Sun. [Note: The photo above of Johnstone, Welch and Buckley at the round-table was obtained from today’s Sun article]
Yesterday I placed a post here about the Sun’s initial analysis of the hospitals in Las Vegas. Today we’ll take a look at the round-table discussion.
This video records the round-table discussion held.
The idea of transparency of information available to the public, to me, is important. For example, I want to know which hospital I would choose in the event I need to be in a hospital. Finding out the track records of various hospitals is next to impossible. There should be, in my judgment, a central location where I can go check reliable accurate information about each hospital so that I can make an informed decision about where to go.
The Las Vegas Sun has performed a valuable public service by bringing this hospital quality topic into the public’s view.
I have no doubt that the various hospitals themselves wish to provide the best quality of care they possibly can. The information now available from the Sun’s articles on the subject is a start.
Hopefully, we in the public, will benefit from any improvements the current system. Nevada seems to rank in the lowest quartiles in many areas. That, I believe, is largely because of the mindset of so many residents of the state—“I want what I want when I want it but don’t ask me to pay for it.”
That attitude doesn’t help much. There are no free lunches. You get what you are willing to accept.
In today’s Las Vegas Review-Journal there is a full page ad by NHA (Nevada Hospital Association) stating the the Las Vegas Sun article “did not accurately represent the facts.” [See page 10A, Sunday, July 4, 2010]
You can read the NHA ad in the RJ on the NHA website.
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