Hospitals Can Be Dangerous

Patient rooms were found to contain overflowing trash bins, excrement and blood. Hundreds of medications were improperly administered to patients. Dozens of beds remained empty despite crushes of patients seeking emergency care. Senior leaders kept critical information from the hospital’s board of managers. One patient died, apparently after receiving a drug without doctors’ orders.

Where is this hospital? In Toronto? London? Answer below the fold.

Patient rooms were found to contain overflowing trash bins, excrement and blood. Hundreds of medications were improperly administered to patients. Dozens of beds remained empty despite crushes of patients seeking emergency care. Senior leaders kept critical information from the hospital’s board of managers. One patient died, apparently after receiving a drug without doctors’ orders.

Where is this hospital? In Toronto? London? Answer below the fold.

It’s Parkland Hospital in Dallas! One of the largest safety net hospitals in the country.

During last summer’s CMS review, inspectors found widespread unsanitary conditions and improper handling of medical waste. But the report obtained by The News describes a hospital that still fails to meet basic standards of cleanliness…

A new problem area highlighted in the report: the main operating room, which is supposed to be among the most sterile environments in a hospital. Monitors found a dirty, potentially unsterile environment that could sicken patients, cluttered by equipment and in need of repair. Staffers told the monitors that they didn’t know the standards or regulations for cleanliness…

Among the most serious and common violations cited in the report were medication and surgical errors. The report documented numerous lapses from inconsistent labeling, failing to secure drugs, giving improper dosages to patients, and sometimes medicating the wrong patients.

Full report on the persistent life-threatening problems at Parkland Memorial Hospital in The Dallas Morning News.