County judge agrees to revisit hospital issue
Published by Jeff December 29th, 2006 in County, Medical / Hospital.In a meeting Wednesday organized by several concerned citizen leaders, the denial of the hospital expansion referendum by the quorum court was discussed extensively. All members of the quorum court were invited to attend. Several in attendance expressed their concern that members of the quorum court had “their minds made up” before hearing the details and all information related to the expansion referendum.
Members of the Drew Memorial Hospital Board were also present to answer questions and respond to concerns about what was perceived as inadequate information related to the funding of the expansion. There were more than 25 people in attendance, including Drew County Judge Damon Lampkin, Zach McClendon, Bennie Ryburn, Dr. Jack Lassiter, Bobby Harper, Bill Wisener, John Porter Price, and mayor-elect Joe Rogers.
After more than an hour of discussion and response by members of the Quorum Court, hospital board and those in attendace, Judge Damon Lampkin agreed to place the issue back on the Quorum Court’s agenda for their January 15 meeting. The Quorum Court meets on the third Monday of each month, on the third floor of the Drew County Courthouse, and meetings are open to the public.
Representatives of the hospital board were asked to present more detailed information related to the funding of the expansion project and the proposed 3/4 of one cent sales tax for the Quorum Court’s meeting.
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I’m an employee of Drew Memorial Hospital so this may appear to be a little bias.
A citzen of Monticello approached me abouth the new addition that was being asked for the hospital and did we really need it or was it being ask for because someone had won an architect’s design.
I can assure you the need has been there for a much longer time than that. The needs has been discussed for some time by the people of the hospital.
If you look at all hospitals today the outpatient services are where the upgrading or new additions are going. This is because outpatients are the life blood of all medical centers.
Our outpatient areas are in need of updating. At present we have two outpatients clinics. One has to share its space with the sleep clinic. Both of these area are very productive and needed. But, it is something for patient to walk in and there is a full size bed in each exam room plus it makes the rooms very crowded. The waiting room is small and patients are made to sit in the hallway. The other clinic has very small rooms, making it hard for the patient, family member, the physician, equipment, and a nurse to all be there at once. Also, one of the rooms has no water so a portable sink had to be placed in it. This clinic has no waiting room and patients are to sit in the hall outside the exam rooms tha is shared with respirtory therapy, which makes it very hard to maintain patient confidentiality. No one is complaining unnessesarily but me.
All of the outpatient areas could use an update, but the convenients to patients is much needed. X-ray has a waiting room that is much to small with almost no room for wheelchairs. The lab is very small and all the equipment is very crowded. Physical therapy has no waiting room and very little privacy.
Now for my personal commplaint, the outpatient surgery, this is no commplaint against what we do but the inconvenience to the patients. Patients are to come in and preadmit days before their proceedure, first they come in the front of the hospital to the addmissions office from there they go to the nursing station to the outpatient office to be interviewed, then they go to the back of the hospital to the lab, x-ray, then to ER for an EKG. Back to the front of the hospital to their car. The morning of their procedure they come in to the ER to be admitted, then to the nurses station to be placed in whatever room happens to be empty, this could be ICU, or any of the halls, which can make it very challenging for the nurse. When they are released the patient is taken to the front of the hospital, if someone hasn’t brought the car around from the back of the hospital that has to be done. This is very confusing to patients.
Now my area, surgery, we have no room for the storage of supplies or equipmnent making our rooms having to be storage space. Our director plus other directors in the hospital have closets for their offices. The recovery room has to be used to store supplies plus equipment.
I want you understand that this is my opinion and not that of anyone in the hospital asking me to write this. If you want to know the needs of this new area we are wanting approval for, please ask someone from the hospital. These needs have nothing to do with the design that was won, but the winning gave an opportunity to see what would be possible.
I hope I haven’t rambled to much and again want to say this is my opinion.
Thanks fo your time in reading this.