Walter Reed: Dot the "i"s, Cross the "t"s, and Dig the Graves

Unless you have been living in a foxhole off the coast of a small island in the Pacific for the past sixty years you must know what has been going on at Walter Reed Army Hospital. What is coming out is a story of neglect of patients and the physical plant. A crime of monstrous proportions committed by hospital bureaucrats- these happen to be in the Army. For excerpts on the atrocities perpetrated on our wounded citizens you can go to this article. After you read it, you will probably want to declare war on the United States Army Medical Corps.

Why are we surprised at the substandard care at Walter Reed? Who has been watching them? Unfortunately this issue has not been covered by the media yet but the answer is even more troubling. The answer unfortunately has consequences for the care we receive at our own local hospitals where many hospital administrators spend most of their days filling out paperwork and glossing over inefficiencies to pass inspections from an agency called the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare (now referred as the Joint Commission). Every "i" is dotted and every "t" is crossed. Unfortunately, at the same time, every grave is being dug.

It appears that the the Joint Commission which accredits hospitals signed off on Walter Reed. Follow this quote:

"We're fully accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, which awarded us a final score of 97 out of 100 during their regular inspection..."

Walter Reed Army Medical Center Web Site

I wonder what a score of 90 out of 100 gets you - cyanide PEZ dispensers?

In interviewing many doctors around the hospital, it seems that their own hospital administrators tout their Joint Commission stature but at the same time here are a few horror stories:

• A patient requiring intravenous antibiotics for six weeks was sent home on antibiotics by mouth so the hospital can save the nearly $800/day antibiotic dose. The patient was soon readmitted to another hospital after the life-threatening infection came back.


• A hospital had the opportunity to obtain a special blood salvage unit called an OrthoPat that would save hundreds of transfusions a year but chose not to get this because the administrator refused to make available the hospital nurse practitioner to start the unit the first day after surgery. I assume that contracting hepatitis is OK with this hospital administrator.


• After repeated requests a hospital administrator refused to allow the stocking of premium antibiotic bone cement once the supply from a previous "cheaper" vendor was found to be defective and at risk to the patients. Now the surgeons do not put the same antibiotics in to prevent infections.

None of the above breaks any Joint Commission rules but clearly break rules of a higher moral code. A code that many hospital administrators do not abide by. Their code is saving money at acceptable harm rates to patients...and of course, pass Joint Commission surveys.

Apparently, just recently the Joint Commission pulled a surprise two-day inspection at Walter Reed. Wow, what a surprise. Where I come from it is called trying to cover your rear end after the fact. Where was this commission before the surprise inspection? Shame on them.

Years ago, hospitals were run by doctors and nurses that actually cared for the patients and made all decisions in the patients' best interests. Now many hospital administrators make bottom-line decisions without patient care and safety being their most optimal concern. They don't make decisions by moral reason but rather on the selective and arbitrary enforcement of hospital rules and by-laws. Anything to save money and pass those accreditation surveys. They will need all the help they can get because if Walter Reed scored 97 out of 100, your hospital will need to score 1000 out of 100 just to prevent killing a healthy patient. That ain't happening on this planet.

Now I know that when a hospital has a ground breaking ceremony they have a photo of the administrators and Board of the hospital digging the ceremonial first holes with a shovel. After the building is built they will need those shovels to dig the graves of those patients who died due to their bonehead decisions once the building started taking patients. At least they saved some money on extra shovels. I bet these shovels are accredited by the Joint Commission as well.

Dr. K.

Related Topics:

• Cost: A Deadly Barrier to Health Care
• U.S. Health Care: Pay More, Get Less?

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