Saturday, November 5, 2011

"Quality Care"

Vanessa’s time at Arrowhead Regional was a joke.  It was anything but what their mission statement states:  To provide quality care to the community.  Well Vanessa was a part of the community, and Vanessa received anything but quality care.

 We never spoke to an Oncologist. How do you get diagnosed with Cancer, your sent to a hospital that is supposed to take care of you, and there is no one to answer your questions.  Every day an Internal Medicine Doctor came in to check on her.  Vanessa of course had questions, and he of course did not have the answers.  His answer always was “Let me speak with the Oncologist and I will get back to you”.  After never seeing an Oncologist or speaking to one I honestly started to wonder if one was even employed at that hospital.

 Vanessa was getting treatment, she was getting chemo.  They were giving the right chemo treatment for her Cancer.   For months, she got chemo and came in for treatments but we never knew any progress.  It seemed like every time Vanessa walked into that place for treatment, she walked into the dark.. In fact I have a hard time remembering a lot that happened there because no one ever knew anything.. there really is not much to remember other then the lack of care, and communication.

 However there is one even I really remember.  Matt was spending the night with Vanessa as he usually did.  She was having a hard night so Matt got in bed to snuggle with her and comfort her.  Any time a Nurse or anyone came into the room Matt would get out of the bed so that the staff had full access to Vanessa to take care of her.  None of the nurses ever had a problem with this until one night nurse came in for her shift.  She came into the room and so distraught that Matt was in the bed, but he did get out of the bed so she could work on Ness, and she told him that it is policy he cannot be in the bed with her.  Well, Vanessa needed Matt next to her that night, so he climbed back in with her.  Then the nurse came again and yelled at them both telling them they cannot share a bed because they might be “fooling around” and this was not a place for that.  Vanessa explained to the nurse they were not doing anything other then snuggling as she felt sick and just needed some comfort from the man she loved.  The nurse called Security on Vanessa and had her kicked out of the hospital for simply wanting some comfort from her boy friend.

 Why on earth would anyone care if she had the arms of love wrapped around her?  Come on, she was scared, sick, and needed some comfort… needed to feel safe.  In my opinion this hospital broke their mission statement of “quality care” in many ways.  Never speaking with an Oncologist, never having questions answered, never knowing anything about her progress, and then being kicked out for trying to be comforted by the one you love… despicable if you ask me.

2 comments:

  1. I feel the same way about Arrowhead Regional- no hospital seems better than a county hospital. When my father-in-law had to be transported for a severe allergic reaction, the first time he was transferred from Loma Linda to Arrowhead regional for insurance reasons. They never gave him meds (even though his throat was starting to close) and he never saw the infectious disease doc (doubt they even have one). He never saw any doctor directly. He was discharged after 8 hours. That night, the reaction started to worsen and he had to be transported via ambulance. He told them to take him to Loma Linda. When the insurance started to pester about transporting him to Arrowhead Regional again, he refused to sign the papers- as did the docs at Loma Linda so that he could actually receive the care that was required of him.

    ReplyDelete
  2. The medical system can be a joke- I am appalled at the things I have seen personally as of late- This breaks my heart...

    ReplyDelete