By Walter F. Roche Jr.
A patient at a Blair County hospital was kept waiting for more than eight hours for transfer to a larger facility and first became unconscious and then went into cardiac arrest before the transfer finally took place.
The recent incident at the Penn Highlands Tyrone hospital was detailed in a Sept. 19 report just made public by the state Health Department.
The seven-page report cites the facility for "failure to ensure that transfer arrangements were made" for patients requiring transfer to higher level facility.
The report notes that under a federal law, the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, hospitals are required to promptly assess and treat emergency patients within 30 minutes of arrival.
The eight hour delay came as workers at the Tyrone facility attempted to transfer the patient, who eventually had to be intubated, to another Penn Highlands facility rather than seek a bed at the closest available facility. Eventually the patient was sent to a competing UPMC hospital.
The hospital filed a plan of correction addressing some but not all of the violations. Hospital officials did not immediately respond to questions about the report.
The same report states that in five of 19 cases reviewed the hospital failled to provide prompt triage treatment. In one case the patient wasn't triaged for 158 minutes.
State health surveyors also found that hospital personnel were treating emergency patients in an area only authorized for triage.
An unnamed employee at the facility told health department officials "the facility struggles "when there is a surge of patients that need to be triaged.
Contact: wfrochejr999@gmail.com
Friday, November 4, 2022
Thursday, October 27, 2022
USN Reports on Temporary Generators
By Walter F. Roche Jr.
A Greene County chemical firms used temporary generators at its Midway plant for a total of 320.5 hours, ending on Sept. 30 when the regular in-house generator was finally repaired.
That's what US Nitrogen LLC said in a report just filed with the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, the agency which authorized the use of the two temporary generators.
In a letter to James Johnston at TDEC USN's Dylan Charles reported a 250 horsepower generator was in use for a total of eight days and 170 hours, while a 300 horsepower generator ran for nine days for a total of 150.5 hours.
The ammonium nitrate manufacturer sought approval for use of the temporary generators when a leak developed in the in-house unit.
The company said the temporary boilers would produce negligble emissions and should be exempt from a permit requirement.
TDEC agreed and gave the company the go-ahead with the condition that the temporary boiler equipment could only be used for 14 days.
Contact: wfrochejr999@gmail.com
A Greene County chemical firms used temporary generators at its Midway plant for a total of 320.5 hours, ending on Sept. 30 when the regular in-house generator was finally repaired.
That's what US Nitrogen LLC said in a report just filed with the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, the agency which authorized the use of the two temporary generators.
In a letter to James Johnston at TDEC USN's Dylan Charles reported a 250 horsepower generator was in use for a total of eight days and 170 hours, while a 300 horsepower generator ran for nine days for a total of 150.5 hours.
The ammonium nitrate manufacturer sought approval for use of the temporary generators when a leak developed in the in-house unit.
The company said the temporary boilers would produce negligble emissions and should be exempt from a permit requirement.
TDEC agreed and gave the company the go-ahead with the condition that the temporary boiler equipment could only be used for 14 days.
Contact: wfrochejr999@gmail.com
Unmonitored UPMC Patient Found Dead
By Walter F. Roche Jr.
A patient who was supposed to have been immediately placed on monitors was found pulseless at UPMC Lock Haven on Aug. 12, just after midnight, according to a critical 36-page report from the Pennsylvania Health Department.
According to the report, which was recently made public, the unnamed patient was admitted to the facility on Aug. 11. A physician ordered a continuous cardiac monitor with telemetry. The monitor, hospital records show, had yet to be hooked up when the patient was found lifeless early in the day on Aug. 12.
An order for a pulse oximetry monitor was also ignored.
Hospital officals did not respond to questions on the report.
As the report states, the exact time of death could not be determined, nor could it be determined if the patient could have been saved.
"Therefore," the report states, "staff was unaware the patient was decomposing, resulting in a delay in staff intervention which potentially contributed to the demise of the patient."
According to the report the last check on the patient came at 11:04 p.m., a little over an hour before the patient was found lifeless.
Although an emergency reponse team was summoned, no action was taken because the patient was under a do not resuscitate order.
Citing the seriousness of the deficiency, state health surveyors declared a state of immediate jeopardy, forcing hospital officials to come up with an immediate corrective action plan.
A plan was submitted calling for staff to immediately place cardiac monitors on arriving patients when ordered by the admitting physician.
The report cites the facility for other deficiencies including failure to respond to a patient grievance and failure to adequately supervise the medical/surgical staff.
The surveyors found that other patients were not immediately placed on monitors and still others were not administered pain medications as a doctor had ordered.
Doctors orders were not promptly implemented for four of six cases reviewed, according to the report. In one case a doctor's orders were not implemented for eight hours.
Contact: wfrochejr999@gmail.com
A patient who was supposed to have been immediately placed on monitors was found pulseless at UPMC Lock Haven on Aug. 12, just after midnight, according to a critical 36-page report from the Pennsylvania Health Department.
According to the report, which was recently made public, the unnamed patient was admitted to the facility on Aug. 11. A physician ordered a continuous cardiac monitor with telemetry. The monitor, hospital records show, had yet to be hooked up when the patient was found lifeless early in the day on Aug. 12.
An order for a pulse oximetry monitor was also ignored.
Hospital officals did not respond to questions on the report.
As the report states, the exact time of death could not be determined, nor could it be determined if the patient could have been saved.
"Therefore," the report states, "staff was unaware the patient was decomposing, resulting in a delay in staff intervention which potentially contributed to the demise of the patient."
According to the report the last check on the patient came at 11:04 p.m., a little over an hour before the patient was found lifeless.
Although an emergency reponse team was summoned, no action was taken because the patient was under a do not resuscitate order.
Citing the seriousness of the deficiency, state health surveyors declared a state of immediate jeopardy, forcing hospital officials to come up with an immediate corrective action plan.
A plan was submitted calling for staff to immediately place cardiac monitors on arriving patients when ordered by the admitting physician.
The report cites the facility for other deficiencies including failure to respond to a patient grievance and failure to adequately supervise the medical/surgical staff.
The surveyors found that other patients were not immediately placed on monitors and still others were not administered pain medications as a doctor had ordered.
Doctors orders were not promptly implemented for four of six cases reviewed, according to the report. In one case a doctor's orders were not implemented for eight hours.
Contact: wfrochejr999@gmail.com
Wednesday, October 26, 2022
US Nitrogen Seeks Two Month Delay
By Walter F. Roche Jr.
A Greene County chemical firm is seeking a two month delay in the installation of a retention pond which will reduce excess nitrogen runoffs at its Midway facility.
In an Oct. 24 letter to an official of the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation Dylan Charles, US Nitrogen's plant manager, wrote that delays in contractor availability made it impossible to meet the next day's deadline.
The Oct. 25 deadline was set a year ago when the company filed a plan to curb excess nitrogen/nitrate concentrations at one of its outfalls.
As Charles wrote, the excesses beyond permitted levels were detected at an outfall from a detention pond.
According to Charles, the corrective action plan calls for installation of a lined stormwater detention pond. All the necessary supplies are already on site and installation of the liner was scheduled for this week.
Finally, he concluded a new pump must be installed.
"Due to contractor availability," Charles wrote that it will take until Dec. 31 for the project to be completed, two months beyond the original deadline.
The request came by email one day before the original deadline.
Contact: wfrochejr999@gmail.com
A Greene County chemical firm is seeking a two month delay in the installation of a retention pond which will reduce excess nitrogen runoffs at its Midway facility.
In an Oct. 24 letter to an official of the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation Dylan Charles, US Nitrogen's plant manager, wrote that delays in contractor availability made it impossible to meet the next day's deadline.
The Oct. 25 deadline was set a year ago when the company filed a plan to curb excess nitrogen/nitrate concentrations at one of its outfalls.
As Charles wrote, the excesses beyond permitted levels were detected at an outfall from a detention pond.
According to Charles, the corrective action plan calls for installation of a lined stormwater detention pond. All the necessary supplies are already on site and installation of the liner was scheduled for this week.
Finally, he concluded a new pump must be installed.
"Due to contractor availability," Charles wrote that it will take until Dec. 31 for the project to be completed, two months beyond the original deadline.
The request came by email one day before the original deadline.
Contact: wfrochejr999@gmail.com
Wednesday, October 19, 2022
Cadden, Chin Hearing Moved Back
The next hearing date in the second degree murder case of two former pharmacists has been moved back to next week.
Livingston Circuit Judge Michael P. Hatty has set the date of the settlement conference at 1:30 p.m. Monday.The hearing had been scheduled for this week. Barry J. Cadden and Glenn A. Chin have been charged with 13 counts of second degree murder for their roles in the 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak.
Other dates set recently by Hatty include a Nov. 10 session on a motion by Chin's lawyer, James Buttrey, for the prosecution to file a bill of particulars, showing the details of the specific charges.
It is unclear if the sessions will be open to the public.
Hatty also set dates for future status conferences - Nov. 10, No v.17 or Nov. 22. The dates are subject to change if there are scheduling conflicts.
Cadden was president and part owner of the New England Compounding Center, the company that caused the deadly outbreak.
Chin was a supervisor in the clean room where drugs infested with deadly fungi were produced.
Contact: wfrochejr999@gmail.com
Livingston Circuit Judge Michael P. Hatty has set the date of the settlement conference at 1:30 p.m. Monday.The hearing had been scheduled for this week. Barry J. Cadden and Glenn A. Chin have been charged with 13 counts of second degree murder for their roles in the 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak.
Other dates set recently by Hatty include a Nov. 10 session on a motion by Chin's lawyer, James Buttrey, for the prosecution to file a bill of particulars, showing the details of the specific charges.
It is unclear if the sessions will be open to the public.
Hatty also set dates for future status conferences - Nov. 10, No v.17 or Nov. 22. The dates are subject to change if there are scheduling conflicts.
Cadden was president and part owner of the New England Compounding Center, the company that caused the deadly outbreak.
Chin was a supervisor in the clean room where drugs infested with deadly fungi were produced.
Contact: wfrochejr999@gmail.com
Tuesday, October 18, 2022
Hershey Transplant Woes Deepen
By Walter F. Roche Jr
There have been even more key departures from the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center's troubled transplant program and hospital officials failed to promptly report those vacancies to federal regulators as required.
In a four-page report made public this week, officials of the state Health Department said Hershey administrators finally reported the departures to federal officials only after the state surveyors questioned facility officials in August about vacancies dating back to April.
The reports comes after Hershey was forced to shutdown indefinitely the abdominal transplant program as a result of a highly critical state Health Department report.
The departures cited in the report include the abdominal transplant manager who departed on April 11, a transplant coordinator who left on May 20 and a primary liver transplant surgeon who left April 6.
The report notes that Hershey was required to report immediately to federal officials any significant changes in the transplant programs.
The transplant program resignations were followed by the abrupt resignation of the medical center's president Deborah Berini on Aug. 29. No reason was given for her departure.
During the Aug. 10 revisit state health officials requested that Hershey submit a detailed list of any departures that could affect the quality of the transplant program. The report was submitted on Aug. 18 and health officials returned to Hershey on Aug. 29 to review and verify the information.
According to the report Hershey failed to notify the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services of the abdominal transplant manager's departue until till Aug. 17 and the liver transplant surgeon's departure until May 10.
Hershey also failed to report as required the departure to the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network. Nor were the departures noted in the Plan of Correction Hershey submitted in response to the original critical Health Department report.
Contact: wfrochejr999@gmail.com
There have been even more key departures from the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center's troubled transplant program and hospital officials failed to promptly report those vacancies to federal regulators as required.
In a four-page report made public this week, officials of the state Health Department said Hershey administrators finally reported the departures to federal officials only after the state surveyors questioned facility officials in August about vacancies dating back to April.
The reports comes after Hershey was forced to shutdown indefinitely the abdominal transplant program as a result of a highly critical state Health Department report.
The departures cited in the report include the abdominal transplant manager who departed on April 11, a transplant coordinator who left on May 20 and a primary liver transplant surgeon who left April 6.
The report notes that Hershey was required to report immediately to federal officials any significant changes in the transplant programs.
The transplant program resignations were followed by the abrupt resignation of the medical center's president Deborah Berini on Aug. 29. No reason was given for her departure.
During the Aug. 10 revisit state health officials requested that Hershey submit a detailed list of any departures that could affect the quality of the transplant program. The report was submitted on Aug. 18 and health officials returned to Hershey on Aug. 29 to review and verify the information.
According to the report Hershey failed to notify the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services of the abdominal transplant manager's departue until till Aug. 17 and the liver transplant surgeon's departure until May 10.
Hershey also failed to report as required the departure to the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network. Nor were the departures noted in the Plan of Correction Hershey submitted in response to the original critical Health Department report.
Contact: wfrochejr999@gmail.com
Monday, October 17, 2022
More Legal Fees In Campbell Estate
By Walter F. Roche Jr.
The widow of singer songwriter Glen Campbell is seeking court approval for an additional $15,272 in legal fees pushing the total to a single firm to $320,362.
In a petition filed in probate court in Nashville Kimberly Campbell is askng the court to approve the payment to the firm of Sherrard Roe Voigt and Harbison. The total includes $414.85 in expenses.
In a filing defending the request estate attorneys said the fees were reasonable and consistent.
The billing shows hourly rates for those providing services ranged from $250 to $775 an hour.
Legal fees incurred in the estate case have been controversial with the hourly fees by one firm reaching $1,050 per hour. Those fees were ultimately approved. Campbell died in 2017 after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease.
The widow of singer songwriter Glen Campbell is seeking court approval for an additional $15,272 in legal fees pushing the total to a single firm to $320,362.
In a petition filed in probate court in Nashville Kimberly Campbell is askng the court to approve the payment to the firm of Sherrard Roe Voigt and Harbison. The total includes $414.85 in expenses.
In a filing defending the request estate attorneys said the fees were reasonable and consistent.
The billing shows hourly rates for those providing services ranged from $250 to $775 an hour.
Legal fees incurred in the estate case have been controversial with the hourly fees by one firm reaching $1,050 per hour. Those fees were ultimately approved. Campbell died in 2017 after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease.
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