The following letter was sent to Ben Steffen, Executive Director of the Maryland Health Care Commission, by Patrick Lovett of Bel Air. A copy was provided to The Dagger for publication:
Dear Mr. Steffen,
During the past few weeks I’ve been reviewing the US governments Medicare Provider Charge data. This file http://www.cms.gov/Research-Statistics-Data-and-Systems/Statistics-Trends-and-Reports/Medicare-Provider-Charge-Data/index.html allows the public to compare charges at different hospitals. During this research, it became apparent to me that Upper Chesapeake Hospital in Harford County had an exceptionally high number of Sepsis cases which are classified as DRG #’s 870, 871 & 872 in the Medicare system. According to a number of different sources, the normal range for hospital Sepsis cases is usually in the 1% to 2% range of total overall hospital admissions. This percentage range is supported by the other MD hospitals included below. I’ve compiled a list of Sepsis cases for a large and varied group of Maryland hospitals from the Medicare website that includes the three specific DRGs related to Sepsis, 870,871 & 872. As is shown, Upper Chesapeake and Harford Memorial have almost three times the rate of Sepsis than the range at other hospitals.
I’ve been in touch with a local reporter, Cindy Mumby from The Dagger, and Cindy contacted Upper Chesapeake and received the following emailed response at the end of this note. I think this is a very serious issue that requires a transparent and independent review of the Sepsis situation at both Upper Chesapeake and Harford Memorial hospitals.
Sincerely,
Patrick Lovett
Bel Air, MD
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The following response was provided by Martha Mallonee, director of corporate communications for Upper Chesapeake Health, when The Dagger requested an interview about the sepsis rates.
Hi, Cindy. Just wanted to get back to you before the end of the week regarding your inquiry regarding UCH’s sepsis rates as posted online. I don’t have enough information at this time to provide an interview on this topic. The reports are generated from a particular code being put into a patient’s chart. That code reads “possible sepsis”. We are currently undergoing an analysis (started before your inquiry) to determine if our rates reflect an actual higher incidence of sepsis or if the code ‘possible sepsis’ is not being updated in the record to reflect the final diagnosis before a patient is discharged. The definition of sepsis is not uniformly agreed upon and the coding is very much definition-dependent. We are reviewing both the documentation and coding to determine if there are any issues. We don’t believe there are quality of care issues.
We are constantly monitoring a variety of quality measures and look forward to reporting on our progress to the HSCRC and to the public through the HSCRC’s public information pages. You are welcome to check back and we will keep this on our list so that when we get updates, we can share them.
Have a nice weekend.
Martha
Martha D. Mallonee
Director, Corporate Communications, Marketing & Public Relations
Upper Chesapeake Health
My family has had the unfortunate opportunity to spend a lot of time at Upper Chesapeake during the past several months before my mom’s death. In my opinion, patient care is NOT the top priority at the Bel Air facility. The doctor’s are now “hospitalists” who roam the halls and don’t seem to care one way or another if their patient is treated properly.
Communication is just about non-existent. We, as a family, spoke to many different hospitalists, nurses, and other care-givers about my mom’s health. We received differing opinions from almost every one of them. It seemed that whoever came in to my mom’s room was there for just their one thing – no one seemed overly concerned with her overall health, only their part in whatever they were there to do that day.
There were several nurses who seemed to provide good, quality, patient-centered care. And one “front office” staff member who helped us when we had had enough and didn’t know where else to turn. But, overall, my experience with Upper Chesapeake was one of frustration and disappointment.
Upper Chesapeake is just Fallston Hospital under an assumed name. The quality of care there was horrible and it continues to be the same while it hides under it’s current name. You’re probably better off going to a veterinarian
My elderly father-in-law had the misfortune of having his false teeth get lost as he was being discharged from Upper Chesapeake and transferred to its rehab facility. Nobody at Upper Chesapeake helped us find out what happened to the lost dentures, which were in a sealed container with the patient’s name clearly marked on it. The unofficial word I got was it happens all of the time. He died a few days later. Elderly folks need their teeth in order to eat properly. This situation left a poor and lasting impression of Upper Chesapeake on me.
All In All my stay at Bel Air Hospital was pleasant. ( Heart Unit ) except for one nurse who advised me elderly people should just die and save the government money. sorryfor the disappointment I’am still kicking.
Do. Not. Trust. That. Place….our family has had several experiences of poor quality care from there…..from docs to nurses to ER admissions……I love Harford County but so wish we had truly good quality medical care in the county without having to go to Baltimore. God forbid we have an emergency and have to go there by ambulance.
Hater!!!
Well, I have to go against the trend here. I had wonderful care for an emergency hernia operation. I have three friends who have had similarly good care. My nurses were superb, kind and attentive. My surgeon was very nice and he was certainly skilful. I have had less satisfactory care at Franklin Square Hospital.
I knew I’d dodged a bullet when at the first office follow-up with the emergency surgeon who’d patched me up at UC a week prior, he asked where he’d performed the procedure.
I can honestly say that the care that my husband received at Upper Chesapeake in 1996 (and it has not improved since then) was a direct cause of his death less than two months after he was a patient there. He had stomach cancer and had undergone surgery at U of MD in July and a specific type of feeding tube was placed. After a particular round of chemo he was not able to take in as much fluid as he needed through the feeding tube and his doctor (at U of MD) advised me to take him to our local hospital for those fluids. While in the ER, he was in a room with a female patient, separated by a curtain, and the doctor did a full vaginal exam on her, describing every step out loud. My husband was upset and the poor woman was mortified as she and her husband walked out of the room after her discharge. Once admitted, my husband was taken to a private room where we were assured he would be well taken care of. I had to go home and get the canned nutrition he was on and when I returned “I” set up the system and explained how it should be run. The next morning I came back to find that his nutrition had been turned off (it was supposed to run 12 hours, it ran barely 6). The next day I brought the canned nutrition again and left it with the same nurse as the night before who assured me that she knew what to do. The following morning when I came in evidently disaster struck the night before. His clothes were scattered around the room, his medication had been changed and increased, a doctor who had no part in his care had initiated a DNR on him (while my husband was medicated and unable to sign it). When I asked my husband what had gone on the night before he told me that the site where his feeding tube felt funny. When I looked at it, there was a granular residue around the opening of the tube, and he told me that the nurse had used a lot more water and force when she gave him his medication. The skin around the tube was red and angry looking. When I tried to question his nurse about what had happened, I was told that she was busy and another nurse came in who informed me that there was nothing wrong with him and his care. She then went out in the hall and began to loudly discuss him, his care and me. When I went to the door, I told her that not only had she no right to discuss anything about him but that she had just made a major mistake in disclosing patient information and that I wanted a supervisor up there now!!! She told me that the supervisor was too busy to come up and see me. I then told her that I was signing him out AMA (against medical advice) and that we would be going home. (I was his medical power of attorney) When I got him home I took off the numerous pain patches, and took a look at his stomach where his feeding tube was. There was a greenish bile substance around the tube and I called his doctor at U of MD and was told to rush….not drive slowly…him to the ER at U of MD. Come to find out, the residue I found on the opening of the tube was from at least one crushed medication, but that they had either used too much force when flushing it down or attempted to put a pill down uncrushed. Either way, it ruptured the bottom of the tube which allowed any gastric contents to backflow up and around the tube. He underwent several more tube placements in order to attempt to replace the damaged one, and because of the poor condition of his skin, larger and larger tubes had to be used. In the end, he died as a result of an intussusception (the intestine turned back on itself around the feeding tube). Had some “highly qualified” nurse not tried to take a short cut or had been a bit more gentle with her flushing of the tube…he might still be alive today. It wasn’t the cancer that killed him, it was Upper Chesapeake. I will always believe that.
To Bakersbabe,
I am so sorry for your experience. I hope you are suing!
Think anything will change now that University bought UCMC?
I hope you’re suing!
U of MD didn’t buy UCHS. They have 49% share of UCHS stock. Nothing’s changing because university seriously over-extended themselves with their emergency buyout of St. Joe’s. Sorry people. Take your bitching else where
The bitching comment was not directed at you Bakersbabe. I’m very sorry for your loss and it does sound like you had a rough time there.
It’s no better then a cat and dog hospital.
My wife had lymphoma. During the biopsy the Dr unknowingly punctured her lung. The next day, seeing her oncologist, he noticed that her skin started to look like bubble wrap…..collapsed lung. My wife was doubled over in pain in the waiting room for over an hour before she was seen. For that she had to spend another night in the hospital with a drainage tube in her chest.
I was in the waiting room for over an hour with kidney stones. They finally saw me back to a room and told me it would be another hour. I have a pretty high threshold of pain and I was crying. I yelled a long string of expletives and was finally seen by an assistant. Wow……I was right, it wasn’t a pulled muscle as they had diagnosed, it was kidney stones. Got a shot and I was good to go.
If I have 30 minutes to live and it’s 40 minutes to GBMC or St Joe…….take me to Towson please….
My mother in law went there after some stroke-like symptoms and we waited in the ER for 15 minutes (it didn’t seem crowded), she was seen, tested, kept overnight, and discharged the next day. They advised her of a treatment plan, advice she took home to another facility in another state who agreed with what UC had done and advised. She’s fine today. Now, one of the only reasons we decided to take her there was because they have a stroke specialty unit, otherwise we were ready to drive to Franklin.
We have since been in the ER twice more for relatively minor ER issues, and both times it was not very busy, and we waited no more than 20 minutes. Both times services were just fine.
Another family member also had minor outpatient surgery there to remove a cyst, and that went perfectly fine as well.
If you don’t have a choice, you do what you have to do, but if you have a choice, like any health decision, research it and make a wise one. Not every place or doctor is going to be the best at everything.
I spent 4 days in Upper Chesapeake this year. Horrible experience. The convenience of it being in Bel Air is just not worth it. They were ready to rush me into unnecessary emergency surgery until my doctor showed up and put an end to it. I did have to stay there 4 days because of infection from a procedure for kidney stones, I only had 2 nurses that actually seamed to care. One time I asked for my meds and the nurse took a call from her husband and never came back. I had to ask her again an hour later and she told me they were so busy she would get to it when she could. If she had given me the meds instead of taking a personal call it wouldn’t have been an issue. That was not the only time one of my nurses were on personal calls. One was calling about her dog all the time. Really? her dog. I’m laying there with a hole in my ureter which caused an infection, in terrible pain and she continues to call about her dog. There is so much more I could say about my experience but you get the idea. I will just say I wouldn’t take my dog there after that experience. I had such high hopes that after University of MD took over that it would improve the quality of care. Guess not.
I have found that the hospital portion was okay. My issues are with the emergency room. Several times I have had problems. Once I was told to go to the ER and have them call my doctor as soon as I got there. I notified the gum chewing receptionist about my doctors directive and she guaranteed me that they would call him. The did—three hours later! Another time, a doctor give me a Rx for pain (reason for being there in the first place and told me to go get it filled (this was late on a July 4 weekend). Another time (asthma attack) the doctor comes in (no badge, no lab coat–nothing) and just started to puts his hands on my chest. I smacked his hands away and asked him who the hell he was! He didn’t give me the courtesy of an introduction of himself. The final straw was when I was in the ER and hooked up to monitors. I needed to use the bathroom and had my wife tell the nurse I needed to go (this after a dye procedure). 20 minutes later, still not aid in unhooking the cables. My wife requested aid again–still no help came. So after another 15 agonizing (and bladder full moments), I said the hell with it and just let the pee go. I smiled with glee as they cleaned up everything. Finally, I don’t understand why the ER computers cannot interface with my primary care doctor’s computer ( with limitations). I wrote to the hospital head honcho and just get a courtesy form letter in reply. It’s sad that Upper Chesapeake is where I need to go in the event of an emergency.
You are so cool for pissing your pants! You really showed them!!!
Wish I could speak? But? When they give you a 50/50 chance! Take your 50 and crawl to Baltimore! Have you ever noticed what the staff looks like? Really? I wish we could give weekly drug and alcohol screens to the staff? The night shift? Your better off at a Vets!
And Mrs.Mallonee, Sounds an alot like Old Marty And The Prison Scandle On His Watch? We were investigating before you called? Smells like BS it is BS Nice Try Baloney
Eleven years ago my mother went into UC. She had been experiencing constipation and discomfort for a few days. After 8 hours they finally discovered a twist in her intestine and rushed her to surgery. She developed Sepsis shortly after. They were initially able to halt it but gave her a 3% survival chance. She fought for a month in which someone from our family was constantly by her side. I must say her ICU nurses were wonderful. We could not specifically blame anyone but I am still convinced that had she been more quickly diagnosed she would have survived. I am not familiar with the details of her hospital stay as I was not in the state for most of it.
Really??? Getting an infection from a twisted intestine which could have been there for days since you say she had been complaining of constipation for a few days. 8 hours before a diagnosis would not have changed the outcome but you can stick to your opinion, I guess
I live 3 minutes from this place and if I was having a heart attack, cut off a limb, was poisoned, etc. I would drive the 45 minutes to St. Josephs. This is the worst hospital in the state, possibly the country. They almost killed my wife when she was there by wanting to do surger the following day that I discharged her against medical advice and took her to St. Josephs. They told me they could not operate for some time as she would probably die from the surgery if we didnt fix other conditions first. Upper chesapeake was more than willing to operate on her without any concerns about the other conditions. I thank God everyday I got fed up and got her out of there.
My goodness what horror stories. Look at comments from any hospital type article and you will find the same banter.
Ya see, Americans believe that they can eat too much, smoke, drink, and not exercise – and then blame the medical establishment for being unable to repair them.
Pathetic entitled whiners.
Seriously Lin??? I can tell you first hand that my husband was not a pathetic entitled whiner…and was seriously harmed by the care, or lack thereof, he received at UCMC. You expect a certain about of skill, especially in a health care setting, whenever you patronize an establishment whether it be a restaurant, a hospital or a car wash. To have someone obviously provide substandard skills to a person in their care is unthinkable. From reading most of these posts, these people, my husband included, went to UCMC seeking help. What they got was a worsening of their condition and in my husband’s case, one which ultimately led to his death.
You know not of what you speak Lin….there are hospitals all over the country that provide excellent care whether it is in their ER, their OR or simply on a patient floor. Unfortunately for the residents of Harford County, UCMC is not one of them.
You go to a hospital because you want to be treated. UCMC serves the residents of Harford county and they should be thankful they have a hospital nearby they can go to for help. I have been a patient there and my daughter has been a patient there. We were treated period. ED visits can be long yes, and there is always a chance that wen you go to a hospital which usually means you are pretty sick and that you may not make it. It is unfortunate for the families that have lost someone as a result of being hospitalized but that can happen at any hospital and that is just a fact. Smearing the name or care of a hospital is just simply hateful. We should try to be grateful for the good things that America is able to provide. Some places or countries don’t even have hospitals. I’m just saying..
Doctors and nurses aren’t miracle workers. They can’t fix the years of self-inflected neglect and stupidity that have been wreaking havoc on your health in the few days that the insurance companies now allow for hospital stays. Or maybe you don’t even have insurance and UCHS is going to eat the cost of your visit while you sit back and complain about absolutely everything. Sorry, but I agree with Lin and concerned. There are legit complainants/concerns on here and I feel awful for those people. But when you write stuff on here just to be nasty and you sound like such a jerk you have to realize you’re actually making those docs and nurses really happy they never have to take care of you.
Another thing, does this mean people were admitted with a diagnosis of sepsis? If that’s the case it has nothing to do with the hospital and everything to do with the infection a brewin’ before the person came to the hospital. Just FYI….
No matteer if some one searches for hiss vitql thing, thus he/she
desires to be available that in detail, soo that thing is maintained over here.