DOCTORS MEDICAL CENTER AND ITS EMBATTLED NURSING AND MEDICAL STAFF

The Los Angeles Times Data Desk report on 61 closed California hospital emergency rooms is ominous. Some hospitals closed altogether, e.g, Saint Louise Mental Health Center in 1999, San Jose Medical Center in 2004, and Martin Luther King Jr -Harbor Hospital in 2007

Now we're waiting to see if a similar fate will overtake Doctors Medical Center in Contra Costa County. A Contra Costa Times editorial dated 8/28/14 provided a dismal outlook and, said, yes, it was the fault of the "nurses and physicians." The newspaper's editors said the nurses and physicians were "more concerned with protecting unsustainable jobs than ensuring adequate emergency service." The nurses and doctors were at fault because they were trying to maintain the hospital as a "full-service hospital." 

The newspaper, in a masterpiece of misunderstanding, opined that keeping a full-service hospital wasn't "realistic." On its side, the paper was able to state that "the district borrowed to keep Doctors running the past few years." The editors said that this effort was burying West County taxpayers deeper in debt." The editors didn't mention that this effort also saved countless lives over the years and if properly funded would continue to do so. 

But, then, the CCTimes is no friend of the hospital. In 12/01/13 the editors opined that "death for Doctors Medical Center is only a matter of time" and that the emergency room service at DMC was already on life-support. The editorial board opined that DMC wouldn't make it past the Spring of 2014. While matters are still rough at DMC, the editors should take note that the Harvest Moon Festival from The Fall of 2014 is already behind us and the medical and nursing staffs are still soldiering, still doing good for many, and even saving lives.

The issue is whether or not patients come first, or profits. 

The main problem according to  CCT is revenue shortfall (that's the lingo financial people use for going broke). CCT pointed out that in 2011 the West Contra Costa Healthcare District which operates the hospital won a $47-per-house tax increase. Declining hospital inpatient volume was and is a serious problem. What do do?

Richard Stern, MD, DMC Chief of Staff, issued a statement wherein he said that "the county's effort to support the medical needs of West County residents has been the equivalent of providing ... fire extinguishers. This will not help when the next Chevron fire ignites homes and there is no infrastructure to fight the fire." Stern has a point when he says "it is time for the politicians to respond to the needs of the entire county and for the Contra Costa Times editorial staff to educate itself on the real issues here and its role in fomenting this human tragedy."