The Argonaut
BY CINDY FRAZIER
State Sen. Bowen gives Tenet list of questions ‘community has right to have answered’
During last week's public hearing on the proposed closing of
Bowen lives in
Bowen told a judge conducting the hearing that "one of the concerns I have is that the format that you have chosen does not allow people to have any answers to what I think are critical questions that they have a right to ask.
"This process of community consultation should not be just an item on the court ordered checklist that Tenet checks off in order to comply with the judge's order before closing the hospital."
The state senator said the court had ordered Tenet "to return the hospital to the level at which it operated before Tenet took it over.
"Specifically, the judge ordered Tenet to keep the hospital open, to continue providing emergency care, to admit new nonemergency patients and to stop the process of closing the facility until the conditions for hospital closure have been met or trial is held."
Bowen said her first question to Tenet would be, "Have you done that yet?
"How far along in the process are you and when do you expect it to be complete?"
Bowen noted that Tenet, a Fortune 500 firm, has reported eight straight quarters of earnings growth of 25 percent or more, including a doubling of profits in the last quarter.
"These are formidable skills. Why can't they be used to make Daniel Freeman Marina a profitable hospital?" Bowen asked.
The state senator next asked:
"Are all new nonemergency patients being admitted or are they being turned away?
"Are 100 percent of all services being provided as the court has demanded, including laboratory services and ancillary services?
"Has the doctors' medical library been closed, and if so, why?
"Have the psychiatric, chemical dependency and physical therapy units been reopened per the court order; if not, why?
"Has the hospital been restored to full staffing level; if not, why not, and when will it be fully staffed?
"Have there been changes to the types of insurance you will accept?"
Bowen said she has been told that a number of repairs are needed to the hospital air conditioning system in the patient area, including the emergency room and laboratory unit.
"Does Tenet intend to make these repairs; if so, when; and if not, why not?
"Have physicians been informed that they could begin admitting new patients again; if so, how were they informed; if they have not been informed, why not?"
Bowen said that during a July 17th meeting at the Boys &
Girls Club of Venice she had asked for a copy of Tenet's transportation plan
concerning how patients would be taken to facilities, including emergency
facilities, should
"And, I'm still waiting for it three months later," Bowen told the judge at last week's hearing.
"Any idea when I might get it?"
Bowen also wants to know when Tenet intends to return to the court to ask the judge to find if Tenet is in compliance with the court order.
"What is Tenet planning to do with all this information it is gathering from the community," Bowen asked.
"When does it intend to answer the questions posed by the community and how and where will those answers be provided," Bowen asked.
"The community deserves answers, not just an opportunity to ask questions," the state senator concluded.
Judge John Davies, who presided at the hearing, assured Bowen that answers to her questions "will be forthcoming."