Patients at St. Mary's Medical Center in Long Beach were quite shocked and taken aback when a nurse in the Emergency Care Unit reported that their blood samples tested positive for marijuana.
How could that be?
One startled patient informed personnel right away that there was a gross error!
"I haven't smoked any marijuana in over twenty years!"
When a patient in the next bed was overheard confiding to a Nurse that he smoked one or two joints a day, it was obvious to the individual who allegedly tested positive, what occurred behind-the-scenes.
The technician who drew the blood - and tagged the samples after-the-fact for processing - must have switched the blood samples by mistake!
Instead of investigating the issue to rectify the error, the Nurse in charge of the patient refused to open up an investigation, or even strike the erroneous blood test from the patient;s medical file.
In fact, when the patient asked for the name of the President of St. Mary's Medical Center so they could file a complaint, the staff in the emergency department claimed they did not know the individual's name.
And, get this, they denied having any knowledge of any contact information for the head of the Hospital they were in the employ of!
It not only stretches one's credulity, but smacks of an outright cover-up, undertaken in a deceitful and dishonest effort to mitigate damages arising from the negligent acts of the employees at St. Mary's in Long Beach which rose to the level of malpractice.
Unfortunately, there are other glaring problems at the hospital which warrant a review.
Patients have complained that on occasion they were placed on NPO (food restrictions which lasted two days or longer in some instances) pending medical procedures to be performed at the facility.
Once the NPO status was lifted, however, nurses neglected to update the computers; consequently, patients were left hungry until the glitch in the hospital's procedures was resolved.
In one instant case, a Nurse served a dinner after the patient brought the problem to the employee's attention. However, instead of delivering a hot meal with nutriional value after the forced two-day fast, the incompetent technician threw together a cold sandwich with a small container of cold juice.
In addition, patients have been forced to endure hardships because quite a few of the Nurses don't speak fluent English.
Patients complain that there is a communication problem at this hospital which has continued to be unresolved.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, it should be noted for the record, that St. Mary's has hired a few quack doctors bent on running up huge charges for services rendered, who have demonstrated their lack of concern for the safety and well-being of their patients.
Reports have filtered out that once doctors at St. Mary's have billed insurance carriers to the max, they have proceeded to discharge patients in spite of the fact the individuals are still suffering pain and hospital doctors have neglected to properly diagnose and treat their patients.
Dr. Steven Ho is a particularly bad offender in this regard.
His negligence rises to the level of malpractice which warrants disciplinary action in fact.
For good reason, I have issued this consumer alert, to warn residents in the neighboring communities to avoid St. Mary's Medical Center like the plague.
News at 11!
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