Most people understand the reasoning behind receiving perks or special access when they participate in some type of program. It’s designed to offer a choice and to differentiate between levels of membership or donation; an incentive to potentially give a greater amount or to entice into spending more. This is fine as long as it is offered openly to anyone that wishes to participate.
When you pay extra to have a special credit card, join a club or make a certain level of donation to a charitable organization, there is usually a set of benefits that come with that purchase or gift. You might get early access to an exhibit at the County Art Museum, discounts at a gift shop or reserved seating at a concert hall; any number of benefits that are available to those that make that choice.
The key is that it is offered to anyone and does not have serious ethical questions as it would with the potential timing of life or death decisions in health care. That is why I have been interviewing caregivers over that last several weeks regarding the apparent perks that come along with the Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Health Foundation’s Friend of the Hospital (FOH) “Gold Card” program.
So who gets this FOH Gold Card? According to the Foundations brochure, those that get the card include; major donors, Legacy Circle (planned gifts or bequests), Board Members of Hospital or Foundation, Support Group Presidents, Special requests of Foundations donors, board members and volunteers, and Community Leaders.
You may want to re-read that list once more as it basically covers just about anyone that they feel like giving the FOH Gold Card to except of course the “regular folk” that aren’t connected. Doesn’t that smack of nepotism or even trying to curry favor with decision makers who are only offered it for their position?
The Beacon was able to confirm that some Santa Clarita City Council members have received the FOH Gold Card under the guise of “community leaders.” Although, some Council members prefer to go down to Holy Cross which should make you wonder if they know something we regular folk don’t!!
The brochure that the Hospital Health Foundation hands to recipients states clearly that; “The FOH program is not about special treatment, but is about recognizing and thanking individuals for their generosity and support of Henry Mayo and making their visit to our facility as comfortable as possible.” But according to various House Supervisors, Nurses and Doctors, the program is all about special treatment including apparently kicking “regular folk” out of rooms so that an FOH card holder gets a private room.
On one occasion, according to an interview, a FOH member pulled out his Gold Card and demanded a private room when admitted to the hospital after he had been placed in a double room with another patient. Apparently all single rooms were full that night and the Nurse respectfully told him she could not accommodate his request. The FOH member called a hospital administrator in the middle of the night, prompting a phone call from that senior administrator to the chief nurse on duty, who was told to move the other patient, the “regular folk,” out of the room and give it to the FOH member.
One Nurse spoke of the fact that health care staffers were required to identify Gold Card patients on the white boards, also known as the census board, or medical charts with the “FOH” initials. In fact, one nurse we spoke to was reprimanded for not moving a FOH to the head of the line in the ER even though there were more serious patients that needed immediate attention according to the triage process.
Personally, I don’t have a problem if Foundation volunteers bring FOH members a gift basket, newspapers or even give special VIP meals. Those perks seem perfectly reasonable as a thank you to a donor. But, once you start giving preferential treatment in healthcare to one group over another it crosses over to an unethical class system; the haves and the have not’s.
Jumping FOH members to the head of the line; bumping “regular folk” from hospital rooms or cutting into an operating room ahead of those already scheduled is not an acceptable practice. Having the Charge Nurse become a Private Nurse for an FOH patient takes away quality of care from the other “regular” patients.
About a month ago a homeless woman was found dead in the ER waiting room at Henry Mayo after visiting the ER three times the night before. She was complaining of arm and wrist pain; had no insurance and was discharged after each visit. A hospital spokesperson stated that the hospital “…treat homeless people with the same compassion and care as all our patients. We care for everybody, regardless of insurance or an address.”
I wonder if she had had a FOH Gold Card would she have been found dead after being mistaken for sleeping in the waiting for seven hours after her last discharge from the ER. It makes me think that if you don’t have a FOH Gold Card that you might potentially get the same level of care as that unfortunate homeless woman!
Although the brochure clearly tries to make sure no extraordinary treatment is given to the FOH Gold card carriers, it’s evident from speaking with a number of people who work at or are affiliated with the hospital, that there is clearly a wink & a nod that goes with having the card. According to our sources, hospital house supervisors, after hour’s administrators and case managers all appear to take special interest in FOH patients especially with their health care.
We should all be appalled, but not surprised, that in this day and age anyone gets "special" treatment in a health care situation, especially due to financial or political influence. The “free pass”, as one local medical professional put it, is a “kick in the ass to everyone else” and should be seriously resisted by the local healthcare community. Our valley deserves top quality health care for everyone regardless of race, color, creed, sexual orientation and social or political status.
What do you think?
P.S. - This is a developing and continuing story. If you are a local health care professional and have information, stories or documentation that you would like to share with The Beacon please pass it on. Know that your efforts will be kept in the strictest confidence as some of your colleagues will already attest to. Thank you!
Dave Bossert- Commentary
Dave Bossert is a community volunteer who serves on a number of boards and councils. His commentaries represent his own opinions and not necessarily the views of any organization he may be affiliated with or those of the West Ranch Beacon.
# Melanie Cross Says:
ReplyDeleteMay 3rd, 2011 at 5:42 pm e
Oh…that FOH policy.. it is long-standing & another reason why Henry Mayo is what it is. This is NOT new! In fact the policy is pervasive, extending into how the emergency room is sometimes “closed” to trauma patieints -based on address of the potential patient.
One suggestion for local residents; go to the ambulance companies & let them run a blank draft of your credit card. Make arrangments -in advance, so if you ever do need these service you can select the hospital. When I worked in transplant the coordinator suggested this to all SCV patients….
# NancyNurse Says:
ReplyDeleteMay 5th, 2011 at 8:01 pm e
Bravo! Bravo Dave. Thank you for bringing the truth into the light. Thank you for not pushing this under the rug. Our community needs to know why they are not getting the care they so rightly deserve. Henry Mayo has so much potential yet I can only see it offering lip service to the community. It makes me sad.
Thank you again.
# Steve Kassel Says:
ReplyDeleteMay 3rd, 2011 at 12:20 pm e
Dave Bossert wrote a wonderful commentary on what I like to call the American Caste Health Care System; a system the confounds , confuses, segregates, exploits and makes the best services available to only those who who have enough leisure time to give up to spend endless hours calling 800 numbers, or employ others to do that work or just have the cash to pay. As a local therapist I have witnessed horror stories of so-called health care coverage. The most exemplary case was that of a family. The father had coverage via his employer and that did not cover his family. The wife was on Medicare which does not cover my license. One child was on a state assisted program Healthy Families and the other was covered by Victims of Crime. This created a lot of confusion, extra work for which I was not paid and tons of paperwork. The “rules” of each health plan were different and onne entity refused to pay until I had to prove 2ndary coverage of one member. I was paid for about 70% of my work, writing off 40% and having to wait 1year to collect all that could be collected. Not fair!
This is yet another reason we need a Single Payor Health Plan. If we had one, there would be no need for an injured worker to have to prove anything; instead of securing an attorney and a 5 year battle which may see for the erosion of body via un-treated injury and depression (not to mention loss of home and marriage which often typifies these cases); the employee would go to a doctor and be treated. Doctors and therapists would have more time to LEARN about their craft, rather than chase money for work they had already done, deal with contrived paperwork and keep up on the many newsletters and contracts coming at them from multiple health plans.
I will use my analogy to police and fire departments to make my claim for Single Payor Health Plan. If an officer were in pursuit of a group of escape inmates and one was in your home, would they only come in if you had the Preferred Member Plan for the polioce department for which they worked? If the fireman hosing down your neighbor’s roof refused to spray water on your’s to stop your home from burning down, because you were still on hold with a fire case manager in India, wouldn’t you be little miffed?
Police and Fire Department employees are paid from a socialized system and do a heck of a job promoting the general welfare and keeping us safe and secure. Our health care system could do the same and assure that anyone who is sick gets the best of care when they are admitted to the the hospital.
# Val Says:
ReplyDeleteMay 2nd, 2011 at 7:18 pm e
When I had to be hospitalized several times for a joint problem, I had to wait days for surgical treatment because I was just a “regular person.” My husband and I found out something very interesting.
If you call 911 in Santa Clarita for emergency service, the ambulance provider is contractually obligated to take you to Henty Mayo.
If, however, you are not in a life threatening situation, you may wish to call the ambulance service directly. They may not service you quite as promptly, but you can request they check to see if Holy Cross has availability. If Holy Cross has room, you will be taken there.
The difference in service between the two hospitals is truly eye-opening!
You may want to check this out for future reference.
# Robert Thompson Says:
ReplyDeleteMay 3rd, 2011 at 11:06 am e
I was admitted from the emergency room and waited to get to my hospital bed for two nights. I was in the hallway on a guerney. Noise, brite lights, and people coinstantly walking by me were problems. When I finally got to my room I did not get any medications till the next day. My nurse told me that happens all the time. I wonder if I really needed admission?? Please choose another hospital…these people running this hospital are not doing what is good for the community. Bob
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