Top should inspect how hospital is run

I have read several articles regarding the expansion and some of the controversy. I have been a patient at Providence several times and have found the experience only satisfactory. My surgeon complained about the ER being poorly supplied and managed. I required three surgeries and heard the same complaint. The care was satisfactory at best, and I found many of the staff to be very vocal about how poorly they were treated. I listened, yet never heard anything positive about the hospital from staff or fellow patients.

I have worked as a vocational counselor and had the opportunity to work with clients in the internal part of the operation. I found the same issues being voiced in maintenance and housekeeping. I observed a safety violation that could have seriously injured my client and reported it to his supervisor. She in turn sent it to upper management with no further action. The violation continued and was still in operation at my last visit.

What I am saying is this: All I hear is about land procurement, cost of expansion, and whether we need a larger medical facility. It seems to me that an internal investigation is required, looking into how the hospital is run, how they treat and work with their employees and quality of patient care, before any of the other ideas get off the ground. Does Providence deserve to be a larger hospital? I feel we do need a much larger hospital, but is Providence that hospital?

Jack Cantrell

Arlington