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10/24/07

Goodsam.org makes some hilarious claims, such as: "A major research center and teaching hospital, Good Samaritan pioneers procedures that save lives and alleviate pain and suffering."

"Noted as one of America's best hospitals."

Hah!

It has patients lying in the hallways for hours before they get their sub-standard care. Its doctors and nurses are at war.

A patient dies. The nurses think about which doctor they want to get rid of, and then they blame the patient's death on that doctor.

State law since 2005 has required Good Sam and all other hospitals to make sure they meet minimum nurse-to-patient ratios.

Nothing, however, requires them to meet any physician-to-patient ratios.  So the hospital saves money by cutting back on its physician staff.  The result is a hospital swamped with patients with too few doctors answering the calls to an ample nursing staff. 

Good Samaritan staff have a high turnover rate.

Its doctors are looking over their shoulders wondering whether nurses are there to help them or just to catch them in a bad result.  A string of physicians left after being blamed by nurses for patient deaths. 

There's such a low ratio of doctors to patients that the doctors have to run from patient to patient. Unlike Cedars-Sinai and UCLA, Good Samaritan can't count on residents from its teaching programs to provide enough doctors to give patients prompt care. 

Other downtown hospitals (LA Metropolitan and California Hospital, etc.) are also skimping on the number of doctors. 

Here's a link to the Los Angeles Times coverage of the Martin Luther King - Harbor hospital:

"Martin Luther King Jr.-Harbor Hospital is set to close down soon after failing a federal inspection. The action comes after a new round of questions about care, including one in which a woman writhed on the floor of the emergency room lobby for 45 minutes before dying of a perforated bowel. No one stepped in to help her. The Willowbrook hospital, once known as King/Drew, has been plagued by allegations of poor treatment almost since its inception 35 years ago."

Would you like to be treated at any hospital named after Martin Luther King? Would you like to hang out on any boulevard named after Martin Luther King?