Family Wants Plaque Outside ER. Hospital Says "No."
First, welcome back to Sorry Works! I took a couple months off at the end of the summer and beginning of the school year (I have teenagers) to refresh and re-charge. A break was badly needed. Now that the weather is turning, time to get back to writing. We have many exciting announcements and information to share over the next couple weeks. Let's get started.
Today I will share a story I learned from "Medical Malpractice Insights," which is a regular e-newsletter about med-mal lawsuits written by Dr. Charles Pilcher, a retired ER physician. Here is the link to sign up for his FREE and valuable e-newsletters. Dr. Pilcher's mission is to help healthcare professionals learn from medical malpractice cases. I strongly recommend his e-newsletter.
For his October newsletter, Dr. Pilcher shared the story of a gentleman with a chest pain showing up a rural hospital at 1230AM only to find the ER door locked. The man rang the doorbell and video footage showed ER staff heard the doorbell but did nothing. The man laid down on the sidewalk outside the ER and -- further video footage showed -- was discovered unresponsive by ER staff some seven (7) minutes later. Making matters worse, the same video showed the ER staff doing nothing (no CPR, etc) for the gentleman. Instead, they assumed he was dead or dropped off dead and called the coroner.
Naturally, the family sued, and, according to Dr. Pilcher's e-newsletter, the hospital's defense was the man had advanced blockage and would have died anyway even if they had attended to him immediately. Nonetheless, the bad optics of the videos led to a private settlement. The family wanted changes at the hospital, and, according to Dr. Pilcher, the hospital conducted an extensive review, staff education, and installed new signage. However, the hospital declined the family's request for a plaque in memory of their loved one.
I can only wonder why the plaque request was met with a thumbs down. I do know that too often legal, claims, and administrative types miss or overlook the emotional aspects of medical malpractice cases. Yet, the emotional or spiritual factors in certain cases can be the biggest want or need of a family and also the medical staff. So often I have heard that memorial tributes (trees, plaques, benches, or presentations) in honor of deceased patients can have a tremendous positive impact on medical staff in addition to the family members. Keep this reality in mind with your medical malpractice cases. Also, remember to ask the needs of patients and families harmed by medical care and listen to all of their ideas, including the emotional and spiritual requests.
Regular readers of this space may remember another case of a person being locked out of an ER with fatal consequences. Bostonian Laura Levis sought treatment for asthma attack but was locked out of an ER, and despite numerous attempts to gain entry to the ER she was later found unconscious and later died. The case received national media coverage and hospital administration eventually provided a face-to-face apology to Laura's husband. You can read about it here.
Well, it's good to be back and I will have more information and resources for you next week. Enjoy the fall weather this weekend!
Sincerely,
- Doug
Doug Wojcieszak, Founder and President
Sorry Works!
618-559-8168 (direct dial)
doug@sorryworks.net