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Expert Witness Criticizes Hospital's Emergency Staff Deficiencies

Posted on: Friday, 16 September 2005, 18:00 CDT

Sep. 16--WILKES-BARRE -- Mercy Hospital's emergency staff had inadequate training and a "cavalier attitude that noncompliance was acceptable" among the doctors and nurses caring for ill children, a hospital expert said.

"Widespread system failure within Mercy Hospital appears to be the product of its corporate culture," the expert said in court papers. "They neglected to provide resources and plan for safe care. Patient rights were ignored."

The critical remarks came in the report issued by Justin Doheny, an expert witness who offered the analysis on behalf of Tukishia and William Bobbett in their ongoing lawsuit against the hospital and employees over the death of their 4-year-old son.

Doheny's report and a report from the state Department of Health outlined a series of problems with the hospital's emergency staff, including its failure to correct known problems and a lack of communication among its emergency staff.

The remarks could be used by the Bobbetts' attorney, Joseph Quinn, to show how the hospital's deficiencies and its failure to correct those problems over several years, played a role in the death of the Bobbetts' son, Torajee, in 2001.

The Bobbetts filed suit against the hospital and several others after their son died after spending more than nine hours at the hospital without obtaining proper treatment, according to the suit.

The Doheny report was referenced in court papers filed by the hospital's attorneys as part of their effort to show why it was necessary for them to contact a former nursing manager to prepare for the Bobbetts' trial next week.

Previously, the Bobbetts' attorneys, from the law firm of Hourigan, Kluger and Quinn, said the hospital should be sanctioned for contacting the former manager, Andrea Shaw, because the attorneys were "threatening and intimidating" toward Shaw. She had said the hospital's care of the boy was "bad."

Hospital attorneys have said they did not threaten Shaw.

The attorneys debated the sanctions issue Thursday before Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas Judge Peter Paul Olszewski Jr.

But the judge said the incident has evolved into a much more complex issue than imposing sanctions.

First, Olszewski said, he needs to determine whether he could punish the hospital for something its attorneys did, if hospital officials were unaware of the attorneys' actions.

Second, he said, the issue will likely need to be determined after Shaw testifies.

But if the hospital attorneys want to rebut Shaw's testimony, it could lead to one of the attorneys testifying in the case.

That means Olszewski needs to determine if that conflict would disqualify the hospital attorneys from representing the hospital, or whether the hospital is entitled to seek new attorneys.

The judge will issue a ruling.

"This issue, as far as I'm concerned, is a very delicate one, which could force some people into a difficult situation," Olszewski said.

The hospital attorneys, from the law firm of Post and Post in Bethlehem, said they initially contacted Shaw because they thought they would be representing her because of her employment with Mercy.

The attorneys said they needed to speak with her because several of Doheny's critical remarks relate to policies in place when Shaw was the nursing manager.

The Doheny report was completed for an expert opinion on the care Mercy provided and how it related to Torajee's death.

Doheny, in his analysis, made some of his opinions based on an evaluation done by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations in May 1999 and a Department of Health investigation in July 2000.

According to the court papers:

The Department of Health investigation stemmed from an April 21 incident at the hospital in which a patient was brought to the emergency room at 11:27 a.m. Tests showed the patient had a leaking aortic arch, and multiple calls were made to surgeons. A surgeon from Wilkes-Barre General Hospital arrived at 2:45 p.m., and the patient was later transferred to General.

The investigation revealed Mercy's on-call surgeon failed to examine the patient despite being in his hospital office while the patient was in the emergency room. The surgeon said he was never contacted.

The hospital was given a plan to correct those problems, but it failed to abide by that plan, Doheny said.

"Mercy's failure to implement their corrective action plan in response to related citations represents flagrant disregard for the welfare of patients requiring emergency care," he wrote.

Jennifer Battista, a Mercy spokeswoman, said the hospital does not discuss pending litigation. She said any response would come from prior court documents. She was not specific about the documents. They could not be immediately located late Thursday afternoon.

Geisinger Health System, which recently agreed to purchase Mercy Health Partners, has no liability in the case.

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Copyright (c) 2005, Wilkes-Barre, Pa., Times Leader

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Source: The Times Leader (Wilkes-Barre, Pa.)

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