Nightmare senario for a hospital

Virginia Inmate Kills Guard, Escapes Hospital
Sunday, August 20, 2006

BLACKSBURG, Va. — An inmate escaped from a hospital Sunday after wresting a pistol away from a deputy and fatally shooting an unarmed security guard, officials said. William Charles Morva, 24, remained at large Sunday, as officials searched for him on foot and in helicopters.

Morva, who was jailed on charges of robbing a deli, was taken to the Montgomery Regional Hospital emergency room in handcuffs and leg irons after he suffered a sprained wrist and ankle, Sheriff Tommy Whitt said.

He overpowered a deputy and took his pistol. Shots were fired, killing hospital security guard Derrick McFarland, 26, as he tried to help the deputy.

"We really need to look into it real closely and find out how this happened," Whitt said. "We have an idea, but it's just speculation at this point, and I'd rather not speculate."

The deputy, who was wounded in the struggle, was in stable condition Sunday afternoon but was sedated and could not speak with investigators.

The emergency room closed after the shooting and later reopened, said hospital spokeswoman Suzanne Barnette.

The Virginia State Police, Christiansburg police and the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office searched for Morva on foot and in helicopters.

change of pace

the chaplain gets CPE'd...

CPE'd is a term created to described/created by our wives and then friends to inform us that they are patients to be 'interrogated' or interviewed. Basically when we've been told "Stop CPEing me!" it means we've ticked them off.

A couple of weeks ago I was in the hospital myself receiving treatment for thyroid cancer, actually the treatment to rather straight forward and simple. Other that it is a 4-5 week process.

As I am preparing to be discharged the radiology tech "Eric" turns to me and asks "Have you considered changing any of the treatment options you have undergone?"

Shocked by the question, I mumble "Huh? What are you talking about?"

"Have you ever thought about if you had to do this over again that you would do this differently? Take a different course?"

"Wow, Eric, no one, no Doctor, tech, friend or family member has ever asked me that question. You got me."

"Well,..." Eric pushes undaunted. My thought is 'who's the chaplain here?'

"Actually I have. If I was going to change anything I would not have had the radiation treatment after my acinic cell recurrence three years ago. To me, it seems like I have had all kinds of complications since then. I have lost all but one of my upper left teeth which my Dentist states is a direct result of radiation. My endocrinologist told my getting thyroid cancer is directly attributed to radiation treatment. It has put my jaw at serious risk for necrosis. Top that off, there is NO evidence, in the EVIDENCE BASED FIELD OF MEDICINE, that radiation has any affect or effective healing properties for acinic cell. It's theory/ best guess/ educated pre-caution and standard protocol. Which means no one has a clue, but we probably should do this just in case...in case what? Honestly I have no idea."

"I was just wondering if you had thought about other options?"

Too much disclosure...

Maybe mine will one day also...pet peeve #1

Hospitals Now Offer High-Speed Internet


Aug 6, 2:51 PM (ET)

By KELLEY SCHOONOVER

(AP) The control to a television set is seen in a patients room at the Baylor Regional Medical Center in...


CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) - Feel like watching a movie? Need an extra blanket or some food? For years, guests at hotels have gotten these amenities with a phone call or a few clicks of the TV remote.

Now this instant gratification is available to patients in hospitals across the nation through interactive television, high-speed Internet and other comfort-oriented perks designed to make them feel like hotel guests.

LodgeNet Entertainment Corp. has installed interactive TV systems in 10 hospitals in New Jersey, Missouri, Alabama, Washington state, Texas and South Dakota, and has contracts with twice that many, said Gary Kolbeck, the Sioux Falls, S.D.-based company's vice president of health care business development.

LodgeNet, whose customers include major hotel chains such as Hilton and Ritz Carlton, has been offering the hospital services for about a year and a half.

Kolbeck said the trend is driven in part by baby boomer patients with high expectations and the need to generate revenue in a competitive market.

"To me it was just a no-brainer," said Albert Pilkington III, chief executive of Fairmont General Hospital in Fairmont, W.Va. "It puts more time in my employees' hands and it improves the quality of service."

Fairmont General's system, which Pilkington expects to be online within 90 days, will include a numeric keypad that can be used for everything from choosing a movie or a video game to ordering items from the gift shop or requesting room temperature changes.

Pilkington said the system also can provide educational programming that is specific to a patient's condition and treatment. These programs can be viewed as many times as the patient wants.

The system also includes a real-time patient satisfaction survey that allows staff at the 207-bed hospital to address concerns or complaints immediately.

(AP) The Coffee shop in the lobby at the Baylor Regional Medical Center in Plano, Texas, Friday, Aug. 4,...
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"We're a very patient-oriented hospital," he said. "Service is a big deal for us. It's probably our main focus."

Pilkington declined to disclose the system's price, except to say, "it'll be a six-digit purchase." He said there will be no additional cost for patients.

The cost to install a similar system in 400-plus patient rooms at West Virginia University Hospitals' Ruby Memorial is estimated at $600,000, said spokesman Steve Bovino. He could not say when the system will be in place.

"When it comes to health care, or any other service for that matter, consumer expectations continue to rise," said Randy Bury, chief administrative officer for Sioux Valley Hospital USD Medical Center in Sioux Falls, S.D.

Bury said Sioux Valley's system creates a more homelike environment for patients or visitors who often feel stuck "with nothing else to do."

(AP) The control to a television set is seen in a patients room at the Baylor Regional Medical Center in...
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Sioux Valley officials initially planned to phase in the system in the 500-bed hospital over four months, but Bury said positive feedback from patients spurred them to implement it all within a couple of weeks.

"What was happening, we'd have a patient in a unit with the system who got used to it, then that patient would be transferred to another unit without the system and would be dissatisfied," he said. "We started hearing that loud and clear."

Some hospitals have taken the concept of creating a hotel-like atmosphere even further.

Interactive TV is just one of many perks available at Baylor Regional Medical Center at Plano in Plano, Texas, which offers room service from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

"Guests can have breakfast at 2 p.m.," as long as it's within their dietary requirements, said Deanne Kindred, vice president of finance. Each patient can order from a menu that has been specifically created for him or her.

"It's not like the old Jell-O in the plastic cup," she said.

Besides wireless Internet access for laptop users, Baylor also has a "business center" on each floor, equipped with personal computers so that visitors can have access to the Internet and e-mail.

Other amenities offered at the 96-bed medical center include a Starbucks, a terraced garden, valet parking and toiletries for patients or family members. Staff refer to patients as "guests" and information is obtained from the "concierge desk," said Kindred.

Bury said guest-oriented hospitals will soon be the norm rather than the exception.

"If you don't have it, you might as well start planning," he said, "because consumer expectations are going to be there."

Jehovah's Witnesses.....

My hospital has patients of all religious variations that are out there...every hospital does also. Frankly, that's not that insightful.

But of all the 'religious' peoples' who become inpatients the Jehovah Witness patient tend to be... well... "jerks."

I have been backed out of rooms. Told to "Stay away!" Told to "Don't ever come back."

Hey, patients have told me they didn't want chaplain visits. That's ok. The bottomline of hospital chaplaincy is that "It's about patient care, not chaplain care!"

But this is different.

In talking to our Social Workers and others in the Medical Team; it seems that it has been this way for a long time.

What the F#$%^^& is up with that?

Get over yourself!

Infamous tattoo...

I am continually amazed at the couple's I met, including my wife and myself. Yes, I understand that is a non-connected or conjunctive thought or something like that, but I know what I am talking about.

It started, the thought that is, when I was watching the TiVo of Letterman last night. He had Sandra Bullock on the show. She is beautiful and engaging...hot! And she's married to Jesse James of West Coast Chopper fame on the Discovery channel. He has full body tattoos. She, though a superstar actress, 'seems' pretty tame compared to him...in the Breakfast Club kind of way.

We have a 'frequent flyer'(ick!) patient who has multiple system (think organs--heart, lungs, kidneys...) failure. Frankly, she is very sick and each time we see her as an inpatient she seems to be getting worse. It's kind of sad. Because of her health OR lack of it, she's cranky, easily aggitated, moody, doesn't want the priest to come and anoint her or talk to her and a complainer...when she is in a good mood.

Her husband is always at her side. They have been married 63 years. He is patient, calming, warm and engaging. He embodies the vows "in sickness and in health."

"Anna" was back in the hospital, "Henry" was at her side. Today instead of his usual long sleeve shirt on, he had a short sleeve shirt. Right...no big deal. Wrong...big deal.

On his inside forearm is a tattoo.

This isn't some ordinary tattoo. "Oh crap..." I think to myself.

"Henry, can I ask you a question?"

"Sure, chaplain, what is it?"

I take a deep breath, "could you tell me about that tattoo on your arm?"

"This one!"

"Yes, sir!"

"I got that at Auschwitz in 1938"

Oh damn...I think silently to my self.

"Is it ok to talk about this?" I gently ask.

"Yes, what do you want to know?"

"Ummmm, I don't know what I WANT to
know, but I am glad you are alive and here. What happened?"

"My family, my mom, dad and baby sister and I were taken by the SS and loaded on a train with the other Jewish families and after a two day train ride ended up at Auschwitz. As we were paraded in my family was sent to the left and I was sent to the right. I never saw them again."

"I never saw them again...." those words ring in my ear.

"How long were you there?"

"Until the US soldiers freed us. General George S Patton himself!"

"Is there anything I can do for you?"

He looks deep into my eyes, "We're ok, chaplain, just doing what you are doing." Henry says with a level of compassion, wisdom and experience I have no idea about.

"Yes, sir."

Inter-disciplinary Rounds #2

So I am sitting in daily Inter-disciplinary Rounds (IDT) recently, mostly minding my own business when the Doc says, "Chaplain, I would like you to call a family conference with "Mrs Jones" family. I will be there, the Social Worker will be there. We need to have a meeting with them and I think our best chance is if you lead it."

I scan the room everyone is staring at me. I am trying to guage and see if I am being played the fool or what?

"What would the goal of this meeting be, if I could ask?"

With no emotion, he dead pans "To convert this patient from Christianity to Buddhism. I truly believe her faith is the reason she is artifically prolonging her life and if she would just convert to Buddhism and embrace re-incarnation this would all just go away and be ok."

"Am I on Candid Camera?"

"Could you do that...for the team?"

"No!"

"I didn't think so, but I had to ask."

"Understood. I'll talk to her..."

"Thanks."

Roommate lottery

Sometimes it seems that getting a good roommate while making a hospital can seem like your chances of winning the Lottery. Pay your buck take a shot.

I have seen many crazy roommates who lucked out with each other. The hard of hearing roommate who has the TV on 'full blast' with the patient with chronic migraines. The religious patient with a patient with interrupts the prayer of the other person's pastor to tell them to shut up. You just don't know.

I walk into Room 100 to visit Bill and Charlie in Beds A & C, respectfully. Both are dressed in their form fitting gowns with tie straps in the back. Bill and Charlie are fully engaged in conversation and I am interrupting...

"I am the chaplain here in the hospital. Anything I can do for you gentlemen?"

"Hi padre! Come on in! We just found out that we were both B-17 pilots during World War II. We were in different squadrons, but the good news we both made it home."

"Absolutely! That was a very dangerous job."

"In my squadron we started with a 119 crews and when it was over we had 69." Charlie states.

"We had 87 and ended with 72." Bill states. "I lost many friends."

"Where did you guys fly?"

"Everywhere...happy valley, dams, trains, factories, everything...all the way to Berlin."

"Me too."

"What was your scariest moment?" I ask.

"One day we were on a flight to bomb a heavy water factory. We had to hit it. There were 100's of planes in the air. There was ack-ack fire everywhere. This target was well fortified. We had to fly straight through happy valley to get to it. Planes were going down. My plane got hit and I thought we were done, so we dropped from 30,000 feet to 5,000 feet."

"Did you turn around?"

"No. I discovered they couldn't see us. They were firing over us so we just kept on going. The amazing thing is that we were the only crew to hit the target. We blew that factory up and lived to tell about it."

For the next half hour Bill and Charlie told incredible stories of ordinary guys doing what they were trained to do. Full of pride, understanding the moment they were in, grateful to be alive and honored by those who served and gave their lives in the crew next to them. Between the two of them they flew over 250 missions.

Way to go Bill and Charlie!

Band of sisters

Evelyn's a 85 year old lady in the hospital for a routine procedure, meaning routine it's her and not me. Frankly the way that medical care is run these days, just to be admitted into the hospital requires a note from a higher power.

Evelyn is a bright, full of life lady. I ask her if she needs any more grandchildren? I am looking for a grandmother. She laughs.

Over the next few minutes she tells me that she was a nurse for over 50 years, "but I am not sure I an RN these days?"

"How come?"

"Nursing has changed so much. It's very complicated."

"When did you start your Nursing career?"

"During WWII. I was a RN like in a MASH unit, before there were MASH units."

"You mean like in Band of Brothers?"

"Exactly. In fact, I was assigned a battalion exactly like that."

"Where did you serve?"

"From the Aragon Forest all the way into Germany. Those boys were amazing. What they faced and fought was unbelievable. We were gased, saw unimagineable horrors and still we knew we were fighting for the truth."

"I wish someone would tell the stories of the women of WWII. The RN's and others who were there."

"Thank you. I feel it was the greatest work of my life."

"Bless you for all you did."