(abcnews.go.com) A woman is lying on the floor of a Los Angeles County hospital emergency room. She is throwing up blood. Family members say hospital workers ignored their pleas for help, so they called 911 from the hospital frantically seeking help.
A half an hour later, Edith Rodriquez, 43, a mother of three, was dead, leaving the family reeling. The county supervisor is outraged, and it’s all been caught on tape.
[...]
Eight minutes after the first call, another call to 911 apparently comes from another person not related to Rodriquez. “There’s a woman on the ground of the emergency room at Martin Luther King and they’re overlooking her,” the female caller says, “and they’re ignoring her.”
The operator asks the caller what she wants him to do and informs the woman to contact hospital personnel. The conversation then becomes tense as the operator lets the caller know he cannot send an ambulance to the hospital.
“I cannot do anything for you for the quality of the hospital there,” the operator says. “This line is for emergency purposes only.”
“May [God] strike you too for acting the way you are,” the caller responds. The operator says, “No negative, ma’am. You’re the one.” (more…)
And this from LA Times regarding the competency level of nurses in King/Harbor:
Forty-seven percent of 285 licensed vocational nurses failed to pass detailed skills tests on the first try, he reported. After several attempts, most passed, he wrote. Those who did not pass “were removed from patient assignment.” More than 40% of certified nurse assistants did not pass their first skills test, though “virtually all” passed after additional training, he said. (source)
and this…
“The hospital’s failings did not stem from a lack of money, as its supporters long contended. King/Drew spent more per patient than any of the three other general hospitals run by Los Angeles County.” (source)
Meanwhile, Rep. Maxine Waters has been against the idea of closure for the hospital claiming that folks in her district will have no other place to go.
Last year, I wrote the following about this issue:
“The reason why I think this sort of thing happens in many low income Black/Hispanic communities is because of the fact that administrators (School, hospital, government) know that typically folks in these areas will not ask them probing questions on fiscal issues–and hold them to it. All an administrator has to do is claim that he/she is not getting enough money from the State of Federal level due to rrrrrraaaacism and the unfortunate sheeple just follow along. This is very unfortunate, but it happens.” (keep reading “If ya’ gonna march, march for fiscal responsibility”)
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