Comments on: N.C. Patient Dies While Staff Plays Cards

Video Shows Man Choking On Medication While Nurses Stood Nearby; State Mental Hospital May Lose Federal Funding Over Incident

[slim1h2o]

Posted by rob416 at 09:15 AM : Aug 20, 2008

Go back and re-read my post, I didn''t say I had experiences with all of the hospitals that you mentioned, just one, and one you have not mentioned.
Which incidentally is a state ran medical hospital. So to say that State run mental hospitals are sub-standard only points to only half the problem. All state run hospitals are sub-standard.

[rob416]

Posted by slim1h2o at 8:44 AM:

Obviously you have an ax to grind with hospitals here in NC. I find it hard to believe you have had experiences with all the facilites I mentioned in my post. I do agree that the medical complex of the US as you describe it is problematic. It is not the quality of care, but is access to it. Yes there are bad hospitals in NC as there is everywhere. To single out the State does not seem fair.

Besides we are getting off the track of the content of the CBS article on the mental health Hospital in Goldsboro. It would appear we can both agree State run mental health hospitals in NC are sub standard.

[slim1h2o]

Posted by rob416 at 08:44 AM : Aug 20, 2008

I replied to your content of your post, and no I do not live in the backwoods. You already named the hospital that I wouldn''t let change the diaper of my kid, let alone do any operation on me. And your assumption that we have Nationally known hospitals here, well I''m going to try change that, and educate people that the hospitals here are sub-standard. Because they are. Further more, The Medical Complex of the U.S as a whole, are sub-standard, in relation to the rest of the world. That''s a known fact. We are currntly ranked 27th in the world. Do you like that rating? I don''t. What we have here in the U.S. is a laughing stock.

[rob416]

Posted by slim1h2o at 8:35 AM:

It is sad when all you have to comment on is a typo error rather than the content of a post. I don''t know what part of NC you live on, probably somewhere in the back woods, but NC has some Nationally high rated hospitals.

[cbsblogger]

Fire the director and criminally prosecute those whose gross negligence led to his death.

[slim1h2o]

but if you are saying all hospuitals in NC are bad that is not accurate.

Posted by rob416 at 08:19 AM : Aug 20, 2008

Yes they are,,they are as bad as your spelling of hospitals. LOL

[rob416]

Posted by slim1h2o at 8:11 AM:
"Better stay away all hospitals here in NC are awful"

I''m not sure what type of hospitals you are referring to and what areas of NC. While I acknowledge State run mental health hospitals are problematic, I live in Raleigh and their are some excellent hospitals Rex, Wake Med, UNC, Duke, etc)located in the Triangle (Raleigh, Cary, Durham, Chapel Hill. Of course they are not mental health faciltes, but if you are saying all hospuitals in NC are bad that is not accurate.

[slim1h2o]

This was a homicide for pete''''s sake!. I hope I never have the misguided fortune of going to North Carolina unless people are treated better there than that.

Posted by Wineberry at 07:38 AM : Aug 20, 2008

Better stay away, all hospitals here in N.C. are awful. In fact I''m thinking of moving because of the lack of health care here.

[wineberry]

They say the hospital may lose its funding over this, did the article say anywhere these losers might be fired with charges of criminal neglect? This was a homicide for pete''s sake!. I hope I never have the misguided fortune of going to North Carolina unless people are treated better there than that.

[timrek10567]

Cutting Federal Funding... sadly the people that is going to hurt the most is the patients. Health Care professionals who neglected this patient should have thier licenses withdrawn. Administrators and care providers should face CRIMINAL charges.
Yes, its a rough job, what they do... but they agreed to the job, agreed to care for people.

To bad we don''t flog criminals, and even worse that we don''t make sure the floggings are aired on SportCenter. That would boost ratings!

[imprisonkarl]

Typical "southern mentality" towards institutionalized individuals -- out-of-sight, out of mind -- and, more importantly, it''s not the government''s "job" to take care of people who can''t take care of themselves.

I only hope that those people who were responsible for not making this man''s last moments more peaceful, experience a similar "exit" when their time comes.

[rob416]

North Carolina (NC) has a history of a troubled mental health system and this is just another example of that. While problems within a state mental health system is not unique to NC, it does appear in the Southern United States state run mental health care can leave a lot to be desired.

[adfolder]

Maybe that nurse will die the same way.

[ausus-2009]

kenhamlett,

This is not a peculiarly American problem. In Australia which has a much more socialized health system an Labor Party Governments in power at every level, people with acquired brain injuries (car accidents, etc) are dumped into aged care nursing homes with no plan for rehabilitation.

[ausus-2009]

kenhamlett,

This is not a peculiarly American problem. In Australia which has a much more socialized health system an Labor Party Governments in power at every level, people with acquired brain injuries (car accidents, etc) are dumped into aged care nursing homes with no plan for rehabilitation.

[kenhamlett]

Here is little secret...our government wants a way to dump people into a prison system without rights or reasonable recourse. It is a quick way to get inconvenient people under their control and/or steal their assets. That is the prime reason for these hell holes to exist. The fact that there might be people with real needs is secondary. They won''t get any help anyway since there are no cures other than removing them from the meds that cause the problems.
I saw someone mention the compassion aspect. That is a total crock. Regardless of the state, the victim, or the alleged reason, I have never seen anyone in the industry who is competent at anything in particular, honest in any respect, or willing to give compassion unless they notice a visitor nearby.
The compassion angle is just another part of the con.

[ausus-2009]

cbsfan73,

I wouldn''t be surprised if this problem wasn''t endemic in North Carolina.

As a person who has some experience in working with mental hospitals and aged care facilities, I would say it dates well before Bush and Iraq. It is a problem of recruitment, training, administration and regulation.

These things don''t happen overnight or even in eight years.

[curious_mind]

As usual, I find the death of a person at the hands of these charlitans to be vile. Let''s go beyond this for a moment. Every day people are abused, mained and treated like chattel but it takes a death to get anyone''s attention. The staff, especially the doctors and directors, claim to be responsible when they want money but deny responsibility when they are exposed as the subhuman degenerates they really are. Then let''s move up the ladder to the inspectors and to those that provide the funds to keep these torture artists in operation. There should be no second chances. These hospitals should be shut down and those that supported them should be fired. After that criminal charges should be filed against both groups for every violation of Constitutional, civil and human rights.
Then move on to the irresponsible Supreme Court for not protecting the humanity of the victems. What most don''t seem to realise is that the poor souls who are captive in these hospitals have their human rights stripped from them until a lawyer comes along to help restore some of their rights. The Supreme Court, in it''s cowardice, tries to avoid any blanket restoration of the rights of the victems. They apparently don''t want to interfere with the corruption of the mental victemization profit system.
Over all, any person associated with this system should be held accountable. From nurses to judges, they are all corrupt.

[jamesesq-2009]

Unfortunately our health care system is driven by three concerns- monetary, legal and practical. Combine those three concerns with patient and family expectations, Doctors expectations and their inability to micromanage care, the administration disconnect from patient care and oversight, and the nursing staff, technicians, therapists, and aides natural tendencies to streamline patient care when under pressure, when lacking oversight or working in poor conditions and the end result is unfortunately death.

The problem is not who is doing the work; rather it is the circumstances that health care professionals and patients find themselves in. No amount of money can fix a problem that has not been discovered. Governments will regulate and facilities will comply but beyond meeting the bear minimum most will not venture further until something stimulates their concern whether it is money or death.

More regulation is not necessary what is necessary is a paradigm shift that involves greater voluntary oversight by facilities of the actual care givers and the care given to insure that at least the minimum of quality is provided. Only after the facility knows what care it is giving can it increase its quality without sacrificing working conditions for those giving the care. This shift can be national but the application must be accomplished at the local level without further regulation. The government involvement in a paradigm shift should be by means of incentives not regulation.

[cbsfan73]

ausus wrote:
"I note that the contributors to this discussion include those anxious to blame the GOP for this fiasco."

All political parties are guilty for this fiasco. They have spent 600 million on a war being fought under false pretenses while neglecting the health and well being of the citizens (taxpayers).

Oddly enough, they still sleep fine at night.