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A VA HOSPITAL'S OUTRAGEOUS INHUMANITY --
Scathing editorial from the St. Petersburg
Times.
For more on the situation at the Bay Pines VA
hospital that prompted this editorial (and other information on the
troubled facility), use the VA Watchdog search
engine...click here...
http://www.yourvabenefits.org/sessearch
.php?q=bay+pines&op=ph
Story here...
http://www.sptimes.com/
2007/08/03/Opinion/A_hospital
_s_outrageo.shtml
Story below:
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A hospital's outrageous inhumanity
A TIMES EDITORIAL
Those who run the emergency room at Bay Pines VA Medical Center let a
loyal federal employee die of a heart attack in an adjacent building
without lifting a finger to help because he wasn't a military veteran.
The decision was inhumane but reflected hospital policy. After an angry
backlash, Bay Pines changed its policy, though not its reputation. Now
if anyone needs life-saving emergency care while on Bay Pines property,
the victim can be brought to the emergency room without regard to
military status. Fall ill even an inch off VA property, however, and
it's tough luck.
So continues the outrageous behavior by VA officials after the death of
Mark Surette, a nonveteran who had worked at Bay Pines for 17 years.
When Pinellas County paramedics fighting to keep Surette alive asked to
bring him to the nearby VA emergency room, a doctor there said no.
Instead, Surette was taken on a 10-minute ride to St. Petersburg General
Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Now, Bay Pines officials acknowledge that in a medical emergency "time
is of the essence." Now, they "will strive to do what is best for the
patient" in emergency situations, as long as the victim is "on the Bay
Pines VA campus." Apparently Bay Pines officials think they should be
thanked for adopting this new policy.
Sorry, but it appears Bay Pines still is violating state law and federal
regulations. State law says that "a person may not be denied treatment
(by a hospital) for any emergency medical condition that will
deteriorate from a failure to provide such treatment."
Bay Pines can argue it operates under federal authority. Fine. The
Veterans Administration handbook on the subject, titled "Intake
Registration," says that if a person "requires emergency care and has
been determined to be administratively ineligible for enrollment (in
other words, a nonveteran), the applicant must be provided humanitarian
emergency care" until the threatening condition is stabilized. Notice
that even federal regulations say emergency care must be given.
If those standards don't sway Bay Pines, how about this one: simple
human decency. Should paramedics, in their best judgment, be allowed to
transport a patient to Bay Pines' emergency room if they think it would
help save the victim's life - even if the person fell ill or was injured
just off Bay Pines property? Of course. It's the right thing to do.
While a VA hospital's primary responsibility is to give military
veterans medical treatment, it is funded by all taxpayers and has an
obligation to the wider community. When someone is fighting for life,
there is no time to research his Social Security number to determine if
he is a veteran, which has been Bay Pines' policy.
Bay Pines let Mark Surette die within sight of its emergency room. Next
time it could be an accident victim just outside the Bay Pines gate.
Congress needs to intercede and force Bay Pines to live up to its
humanitarian duty in medical emergencies.
-------------------------
Larry Scott --
