What’s going on at Riverside Hospital? Watch this clip of Dr. Paul Rein.
Newport News Politics wants you to have the full story, presented by Dr. Rein. Later this evening, we will bring you the written story, along with supporting documents.
©-Newport News Politics/Dan Curran 757-291-6494
Video-credit Riescha Bass 757-971-1114
Mondays. Seth Fisher
Mondays. Greg Lesko
Thursdays. Joshua Fisher
Saturdays. Daniela Curran
Labor relations should always be good to ensure the success of a company.,*,
Kelly, we all understand the reservoir stinks of cronyism and graft, but what does it have to do with Riverside’s mismanagement? Are you saying the two are connected? If so, how other than some of the Riverside people supported it? Is this the smoking gun related to what Dan wrote about a new scandal breaking that has nothing to do with the J Clyde location? I am not passing judgement on your post, but I am truly ignorant on this (other than what is on this blog) and wish to be informed.
Dan is quite right, NN politics definitely broke the Riverside story. It was afterwards that VNS reported on the story Dan had already broken. They apparently did plenty of their own research, but it is not true that they broke the story in general. They merely beat the Daily Press in reporting on it. In fact, the Daily Press essentially stole one of VNS’s headlines regarding the cessation of heart surgeries.
Speaking of Riverside and McKinley Price, here is an article from the Virginia News Source that implicates both of them in this corrupt project. Riverside has very dirty hands in many ways.
NEWPORT NEW’S WATER RESERVOIR A FRAUDULENT POLITICAL LAND GRAB?
Written by Editor
Sunday, 02 May 2010 16:54
NEWPORT NEWS — Newport News’ more than 20 year attempt to hijack the King William Reservoir was more about making establishment politicians and insiders wealthy than it was about securing a future water supply for its citizens.
As the city’s most costly, longest legal battle raged at taxpayer expense, several of Newport News’ ‘connected’ politicians and citizens were acquiring property in King William Co. as future recreational, development investment they expected to capitalize on.
All the while, the city insider politicians lied to its people that it was a fight for a badly needed future water source. They never told the people they, law partners and family members were buying peripheral property cheap with big $$$ signs in their eyes for future development.
The insider politicians spent millions of dollar$$$ in consultant, study, acquisition, permitting, and lobbying (legalized bribery) fees to further their plans for future riches – all subsidized by the Peninsula taxpayers. The fact is the project was so multi-faceted, involving funds across many city agencies, convoluted, and complex that to this day, no one has been able to put a final figure on what it cost citizens of the Peninsula.
This is the first of an in-depth disclosure of many thousands of documents that previously have never been shared with the public. Virginia News Source will run the stories periodically as its navigates the mounds of documents.
Many of the supporters of the project were from Riverside Regional Medical Center and supporters of Mayoral Candidate McKinley Price. Riverside was recently forced to fire an anesthesiology company after Virginia News Source revealed the company was a scam – basically couldn’t provide any of the services it had sold to Riverside’s board.
Quick note from Dan here: When I reviewed all the material relating the breaking of the Riverside story, everything says Dan Curran, Riescha Bass, Newport News Politics. Interesting this fella wolud claim the story as his. Oh well, the main thing is the story got out.
Price, one of two candidates for mayor of Newport News, was also a member of Riverside’s Health Systems Board which hired the sham company.
The truth now begins to surface
It wasn’t until the entire reservoir project failed that the truth began to surface: Proof the project about a land grab by insiders and politicians and never about water.
Now that the ill-fated project is over, the city, King William County are left holding hundreds of acres of no longer needed or useful overpriced properties. They’ll sell, if they can, at a loss and the public will take another ‘tax bath’ from the ill-conceived political decisions of greed that originated the plan.
Proof that data was falsified and fraudulently submitted to permitting agencies covering up the fact that it was a contrived shortage.
In May, 1999, the US Army Corps Institute for Water Resources, wrote in an initial report, evaluating risk of water shortages, determined Newport News’ projection of water needs by 2040 were exaggerated by more than 100% and would suffer no risk by not immediately increasing its water supply.
Almost to the agency, both federal and state, none supported Newport News politicians claim for a need for the reservoir. But that didn’t stop Mayor Frank from soliciting his buddies to lobby. See letter with blacked out names Frank sent to his buddies. Eventually VNS expects to reveal all names and data.
Nevertheless millions of dollars were spent by the city without any support or assurances it would ever have access to the reservoir. But they pressed on.
Began in 1987 when Newport News formed the Regional Raw Water Study Group to development a plan to meet future water needs, the spike was driven into its heart by the Army Corps on April 30 2009.
And on May 12, 2009 the council was presented a resolution suspending the project.
At that time, Councilwoman Pat Woodbury, currently a candidate for Mayor, joined a conversation in which she said she could not support the resolution because it was ill-defined and would cost more tax dollars the way Mayor Joe Frank and the then city manager planned to administer the suspension.
Woodbury said it was clear the Army Corps mandated that ‘ALL’ activities be stopped. Frank and others, she said didn’t seem to be getting that message.
During the same discussion, Ms. Pat Coile said Frank should not vote on the resolution because one of his law partners had a deep investment in property the city was going to buy.
In a lame reply, Frank said he wasn’t related to his law partners, that the property was purchased by a trust (all members of which have not been disclosed publicly) 8 years before he joined the firm.
Mayor Frank said the property was a personal investment of law partner E.D. David bought by the Land Trust Co. Ms. Coile said after the purchase of the Land Trust Company about 9 miles of shoreline and 2 peninsulas that could be easily developed would be big return on investment for the trust (again, remember: Members of the trust have not been publicly identified so the public can’t determine which politicians, family members, and friends are part of the valuable investment).
William Pelkey noted that March 31 federal court decision denying the city’s case, preceded the Army Corps action and that he felt no further money should be spent on it. He presented a Richmond newspaper article showing the 135,351 acres of the Bear Island Paper Company, LLC was sold to Newport News for $2,298,356.
Pelkey said that was well after the Army Corps had ordered all work stopped. And the property he said was valued at only $231,000.
Councilwoman Woodbury, at the time, said she recalled a conversation about having lawyers provide the city with adequate escape clauses on contracts. Frank said contracts hadn’t been closed yet: One had a contingency, the other didn’t.
Kelly Place, addressing the resolution, said transferring the land, 26 days after the permit was killed, was unwise, especially 5 days before the Army Corps stopped all activity.
Place said all expenses on the KWR should be stopped instantly.
Dr. Angela Herring said the water usage projection had been wrong and the promoters had used fear of lack of water to push the doomed project at the same time the city manager wanted to raise water rates because Waterworks wasn’t selling enough water.
Before the vote, Woodbury reiterated she didn’t feel the resolution was necessary since the Army Corps had order the city to cease and desist.
Woodbury was among 3 voting against the resolution.
I was at the rehabilitation hospital on friday to have lunch with a friend i have that works there. as I walked in through the main entrance I couldn’t help to notice all the history that was on the wall. there was a timeline on the wall that started in the early 1900 hundreds. it talked about riversides’s first nursing classes as well as their very first physicians. after leaving, i couldn’t help but to think about all the history that is involved with riverside, as well as all the history riverside has with this community. now I set back and wonder how riverside can make such bad desisions with so much important history involved. if riverside continues to keep acting stupid and not make decisions with the the community’s best interest in mind, riverside can surely forget all the history involved with their hospital because it is not going to matter because people are not going to want to come back there, no matter what.
did anyone read the article in the daily press on the latest about riverside. once again administration is wimping out and blaming Dr. Rein and james river. dr. parcells has now said it was based on a decision from an incident that happened on feb. 18. why not tell us the public what REALLY happened and let us decide who’s at fault. How can Dr. Parcells set back and say that they made this decision not to renew their anesthesia contract based on the best interest of the patients and the community. Lets get real. Why can’t you Dr. Parcells just man up and admit that you made a horrible mistake, apologize, and start kissing butt trying to fix this problem. you would be more respected if you did this. it is very obvious what was at best interest for the patients, which is evident through all of the numerous positive coments that have been made by staff and patients alike.
Sandra I agree, that the only thing left to do is for James River to pursue legal action. I am currently writing a very lengthy letter, and as soon as I finished it will be “out” there. My letter is factual and based on being a former nurse and a very frequent surgical patient related to an ongoing medical illness. Maybe after receiving this letter, dailypress might finally be on our sides. hopefully joint commission will get involved because this is definately a patient safety issue because lack of experienced anesthesia staff as well as a medical group for management that has no prior anesthesia experience. how can this be? who will be the current anesthesia’s advocate if they need advice. it just seems like there were much better ways to save money than sacrificing patient care . what about all of them corporate cars that the “big wigs” drive. wouldnt that save alot of money? I dont see any other anesthesiologists or physicians getting corporate cars. in the past 7 years that I worked with RRMC, patient care has tremendously fallen low of expectations due to making changes to save money that in return directly affects patients negatively. I can even say that in the last 3 years since receiving care from RRMC that things have dramatically changed. I still have my same great physicians but other things have been sacrificed do to money especially from low staffing. It is funny and ironic how the nurses, physicians, and support staff can be low staffed, but when it comes to administrators there are sure plenty of them. I know for a fact that there have been many sentenial events that have happened due to short staffing and budget changes. To bad paul Rein is not one of the administrators. RRMC sure would be a better place if he was. the world as well as RRMC, needs more experienced, courageous, knowledgable, respectful and honest physicians/ people. thankyou Dr. Rein
Mary Ann Johnston’s statement is almost laughable. Anybody that knows Paul Rein also knows that Ms. Johnston has her own agenda and her own “sour grapes” to stomp around on. Shall we tell everybody the truth about you Ms. Johnston? Oh but that surley story would really just take the focus off the real issue. Malignant behavior (as usual) by the RRMC administration.
This fiasco by RRMC’s administration is being talked about in ALASKA people! That is where I live and we are discussing it on our OR’s. First and foremost what is the Board of Directors doing to insure patient advocacy for the patients coming to Riverside for surgical services? Shame on them for letting this unravel like this.
Second, the adminstration at Riverside need to be investigated for “dirty Chicago style dealings” and behind closed door decision making. Poor, poor decision making.
And lastly, the Anesthesia group needs press forward with a legal investigation . And I am no fan of lawyers however, this is morally and ethically unacceptable. The entire community needs to stand up and let their voices be heard. My collegues and I will be following this story closely.
Paul Rein, thank you for standing up against the system and being a patient and community advocate. It is obvious that your heart is in the right place!.
Although Riverside is considered a not for profit corporation, the key word there is corporation. Just as with for-profits, their primary concern is to make money; the only difference is in how that money is taxed and distributed.
Corporate medicine is dramatically changing medicine, and generally not for the better. Just as McDonald’s is constantly weighing the cost of ingredients vs. the potential gain or loss of customers and profits, so do corporate hospitals. In the days when every physician was independent of the hospital, they acted as an important “brake” on the corporation to ensure that cost cutting measures didn’t go too far. Unfortunately, many physicians themselves went too far in their own profit seeking and, in some cases, their arrogance, and thus pressure began to build as much as thirty years ago to change the system. The result, however, has been disastrous.
As corporate hospitals have bought physician practices, fired troublesome MDs, squelched dissent and politicized medical staffs, the pendulum has swung too far in the other direction. Now corporations are squeezing the entire staff – housekeeping, medical technicians, nurses and physicians – to bend to the corporate will, and the corporate goal to make more money. Yet the corporations do so with little or no knowledge of what it actually takes to make a sick person well, or keep a well person healthy. And they have even less knowledge or regard for the intabgible things that made American medicine great – the care that doctors, nurse, technicians and housekeepers showed to patients. The little touches of person to person contact. The corporate attitude is that if the worker has time for that, then they aren’t working hard enough.
Government shares a big portion of the blame as well. Via The Joint Commission (TJC), which exists solely at the discretion of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) of the Department of Human Services (DHS) of the federal government, hospital medical staffs have been forced to bend to the will of hospitals as described above, or risk losing their ability to practice altogether. The letter from Mr. Allen, above, describes only the tip of the iceberg in terms of what TJC can and does do to hospitals and their medical staffs should they step out of line with government desires.
In summary, corporations exist to make money; they are _required_ to do so by law. The federal government has empowered corporations to make money while allowing them to disregard the historical aspects of caring which made American medicine great. The events at Riverside are an example of the direction this process started upon thirty years ago. Sadly, at the national level, it will get much worse before it gets better (if ever…)
Dan’s Note:
This Doctor’s name is protected.
I happened to pay a little more detail to the soma website. click on solutions and what is the main comment MONEY and are you paying your anesthesia group to much. see for your self. go under the headlines and click where it talks about seeing the first page of soma’s website. who does riverside’s administration think they are kidding by writing that letter and saying that the anesthesia change was due to their expectations not being met, oh yeah and they had the guts to say that patient’s needs were not being met. lets get real. the reason for getting rid of james river was simply because you felt like you were paying them to much money, and that in your POOR research you found a CHEAPER group of anesthesia providers. this is outrageous how can you fire a group that has provided 25 plus years of quality and experienced care for a cheaper group no matter their track record or their experience. do you even care? of course not. the only thing you are concerned about is how big your pay check is. How would you like it if in an instance your life was forever changed and riverside no longer needed you. how would you feel if they found someone to replace you for a CHEAPER price no matter the quality job they formed. how can you sleep at night knowing that you have kicked these wonderful 32 employees and their families out of this community. these physicians are well known and respected members of their community. their children attend local schools and extracurricular activies. themselves and their spouses have friends, attend local functions, and have “home churches here” I just dont understand your reasoning, but more importantly how you can do this to a human being. I know that everyone comes from different walks of life, but dont you have any morals at all?
this is in response to riverside getting rid of soma. what did this solve? NOTHING. there are still 2 main problems. 1. the inexperienced new anesthesia providers are still here taking care of patients, and 2. james river is still not back. so I ask you, what resolution came out of firing soma. nothing just like no resolution came from firing james river. and most importantly, why is RMG managing anesthesia. that is the most insane thing I have heard yet. what does RMG know about anesthesia. how can you have a medical group taking care of an anesthesia group that knows nothing about anesthesia care. that is not what they went to school for. it would be the same as asking Dr. Parcells who is a neurologist, not a neuro surgeon to perform heart surgery. would you allow him to do that? of course not. who is going to be there back bone if something goes wrong, or if they have a simple question or just need some advice from some EXPERIENCED anesthesiologist then who will be there. tell me who in RMG knows a lick about anesthesia, the typical meds involved in anesthesia or at all what it takes to be an anesthesiologists. The administrators and “big wigs” can only Hope to be half the doctor that Dr Rein or any of his fellow workers are. history always repeats itself, I can only pray that nothing bad will come from this decision. at the end of the day I can only pray and hope that alll whom has been put to sleep wakes up, and that nobody loses their family member over this, or at worst that their family member becomes brain dead from a lethal dose of anesthesia. Everyone is extremely important in that OR room, but the most important person is the one that sets at the head of the bed. the anesthesiologist is the one that is keeping that patient ALIVE. one more comment, if something goes terribly wrong in the OR, are people going to remember the name of the anesthesiologist in the room with your family member? NO, they are going to remember the name of your surgeon and therefore his/her reputation comes crumbling down. I know that deaths due to anesthesia only usually occurs in 1 out of 250,000, but prexcisting medical conditions as well as having an inexperienced anesthesia provider greatly inhances the chance of death. and like I said there are worst things than death. like the person being a “vegetable” for the rest of their life. Even if james river had the oppurtunity to go back to riverside they probably would not. how could they trust the current administrators and why would they want to work for a company who thinks so negatively of them and does not commend them in any good they have done.
This is not the beginning of Riverside Administration’s screw ups. Lets go back to 2005 when they got rid of Nancy Grant and look at where their Oncology Dept is today—it practically doesnt exist and has never recovered from that poor decision. Finally there is a loud enough voice to bring some of these issues out in the open for public awareness. i bet if the community knew how they treated their pregnant or sick employees there would be a public outcry, unfortunately some of us that are not doctors did not have enough pull or loud enough voices to be heard. I personally would not take my dog to Riverside for care. Prior to recent events i would have still recommended Riverside for L/D–Mother/Baby but with no credible anesthesiologists on staff who would risk having their baby there now.
Thank you Dr. Rein for being a voice for many of us through the years that have not had one. Having worked with you for many years prior to my dismissal, i know you truly care about your patients and demand that they receive only the best care.
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this comment is in regards to the headline under my name. in no degree did I say that i was taking legal action. I simply said that the community as a whole should protest this decision to let james river go, so that we can get them back at riverside.
Dan’s Reply:
We have spoken and have clarified the headline.
It truly unfortunate that RRMC’s O.R. Director felt the need to threaten SLANDER lawsuits to his employees if comments are written or words spoken about this. RRMC has swept issues under the rug for years. It isn’t about the patients safety and welfare…..IT IS ALL ABOUT THE MIGHTY DOLLAR!!!!!!! To the James River Group, I love you all and if you need me shoot me an e-mail. I have a video you may be interested in.
Paul Rein is to be commended for his brave stance. From everything I have come to know about Dr. Rein, I find him to be an honest man of principle. I am not sure what should happen when hospital administrators make radical changes in a vital department in a such an important institution without proper planning or investigation. To whom does the public turn?
I agree with the comments posted on the daily press web site. we need to get together and organize a protest to get these idiots fired from administration. we need to be the voice of patients being put under anesthesia while in the OR. lets protest and get james river anesthesia back to their rightful place of riverside. there is no excuse for this and the only reasonable solution is to fire pat parcells and any other adminstrators that are responsible for this insane decision. we need everyone to help on this problem. as a former riverside nurse I have no problem standing up to the “wimpy” administrators, when in fact I know they are nothing but COWARDS. my name is bethany mccann please contact me via email if you are interested starting a protest with me: lsmith185@cox.net
how can Dr. Parcells set and say in that ridiculous letter that he wrote to the community and patients and say that james river has fallen short of expectations, and to also have the guts to say that they were not meeting the needs of their patients. their patients absolutely loved the care they were receiving from james river. Dr. Parcells, dont even act like you care about patient safety. it should be the first priority on your list but instead it is at the end.
HOW CAN YOU SET BACK AND SAY THAT JAMES RIVER DID NOT MEET YOUR EXPECTATIONS AND ESPECIALLY HOW THEY HAVE NOT MET THE NEEDS OF THEIR PATIENTS WHEN IN FACT JAMES RIVER ONE AN AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING CARE. One last thing,How would you know what goes on in an OR when you were not a surgeon.How do you know what goes on to say that it was not being managed according to QUOTE” riverside’s standards”.Lets be real now,Dr Rein and you are in a who is at fault contest.I know people dont always get along all the time but i dont see administration getting rid of all the people that disagree’s with their views.The best thing you can do is just admit your faults and try to get them back.Riverside is going to suffer from lack of patients and who is going be let go of first…..THE STAFF NOT YOU OR THE ADMINISTRATORS….So please think about all of what I have said and especially all the employee’s that might be out of a job in the next few months or so to come.
I agree with Mr Bass and others, that the entire management team at Riverside should be replaced before another fiasco like this has the chance to happen again.
From the comments received on this site, and my own experiences, the replacement of these individuals should have happened a long time ago.
I am not questioning these people as doctors, but this group should go back to being doctors, and let the management style that preceded them be put back in place. It’s quite obvious this plan is not working!
I would like to thank Dr Rein and Newport News Politics for bringing this horrible situation to the public. It was obvious the Daily Press and local TV news could have cared less about this until AFTER the news broke on here. Fortunately they cared enough for the citizens of the Peninsula to bring this forward BEFORE someone died.
The local TV stations are supposed to, and claim they do, cover the Peninsula, but this makes it clear that their main concern is what happens in Norfolk or Va. Beach, not the Peninsula and for that, shame on you! As for the Daily Press, well that’s a story in itself. And they wonder why their subscription rates are dropping.
Thank God for Dr. Rein (ei al) who has risked his reputation to expose this felonious situation. Someone should be put under the jail! What happened to checks and balances at Riverside?
As a former anesthesiologist and chief of staff at Riverside I have watched the unfolding of events with interest and increasing consternation. Replacing an entire anesthesia department in toto requires careful planning and execution to avoid risks to patient care. Obviously Riverside has done neither. There appear to have been no bad outcomes yet, and who knows, they may get away without any. That does not mean there are not substantial patient risks in what they have done. Doctors and CRNA’s are not all the same, regardless of what Riverside administration may say. Some are good, some are bad. A group has time to cull and make up for deficiencies. A group of temps does not, and will not. Surgery is a team sport. A good anesthesia provider cannot make a bad surgeon good, but a poor one can certainly make a good surgeon bad I personally would not go to Riverside for minor surgery for at least 3 months, and major surgery for at least a year. It simply is not worth the risk. Pat Parcells may or may not be a great guy, but he’s a neurologist.. He knows nothing about what happens in an operating room. This has been apparent in watching this whole sequence of events unfold. Whether one agrees with Riverside’s decision or not, the execution has created substantial patient risk.
In my opinion, Riverside has always had several internal biases. Their results are measured financially and financially only. In their opinion, one health care provider is as good as another, so the primary determinate is price. These may make for great qualities in a bank, but maybe not so much for a hospital. Service organizations live and die on the quality of their service providers. In my opinion Riverside never understood this.
I left Riverside because I felt the administration was flawed. I still feel that way. In the execution of this decison they have put patient care at risk. That should not be tolerated. The administration should go.
Kitty and others, thanks for shining some light on this discussion. After your comment and others it becomes clear: this is all an April joke on a few fools like us.
There is no conflict at Riverside…the Anethesia departement and Riverside Management and others planned this fiasco as a joke to divert our attention from the devicisive politics in NN and the lack of printable news for the Daily Press.
All the monkeys in the tree are laughing !!
Seems to me the monkeys in a tree analogy fits RHS Admin here. The monkeys at the top(701 Town Center Dr., Suite 1000,23606) see nothing but smiling faces when looking down. All the other monkeys see nothing but a–holes when looking up.
jordan…ur a hoot lol
OMG!OMG!The Compass Website Dan referenced is nothing more than use of photoshop,stock images,etc,lack of specific professional information,a promotional marketing device. For the CEO to claim he was a Marine had better be true at least or I know some veterans and active duty in Newport News who would immediately” help” his “attitude adjustment” for dishonoring the USMC should he reappear in Newport News,perhaps to coordinate RRMC electronic PERSONAL health record (EPHR) project from …. What do you mean the X-Ray Report is from Samoa?Oh,we forgot…. that is the West Coast Location for Compass Health System(it will have a new name by then). For those at this site far more skilled than myself in graphics,media,website design,and other technology applications , I know there are many more errors and “red flags” that I missed . The entire Compass Site looks so ….childish…but maybe elementary school children could have done better. From the old saying….”there is a sucker born every minute” but,for the “kings” of the current Newport News/RRMC “castle”,there are “rumblings in the countryside”. Something about “chickens coming home to roost” or “some fox…. in Newport News FOXES…in the henhouse”.The Compass Website has so many “red flags” to those in business/professions that the “tech” experts at the Newport News Politics website might even be able to design a contest to who can find the most …. maybe Dan could even offer a prize….a ticket to the Newport News Aviation World’s Fair!(Gallows Humor) Second Place Award would be a glass of prized water ($60 million and counting..tick..tick..tick) from the Mattaponi River. I know ….I supported the King William Reservoir..”blinded by the light”(or was that “fools rush in”?). But it is never too late to “repent” and return to supporting environmental/natural resources protection,is it Kelly? Now,if it just wasn’t for all that acreage in King William County…wait a minute…COMPASS Virginia Health System II has just been formed to establish” Riverside Brain Surgery Center”…with “recovery” in “quiet solitude in well manicured acreage down by the river for eternal happiness”.
hmmm why was the daily press not reporting this at first? could it be because they are trying to cover something? could it be because MCKINLEY PRICE IS VICE CHAIR OF THE BOARD THAT MAKES THESE DECISIONS?!? i understand if some want to claim that this may have slipped by him but please understand that this was no daily activity or routine, riverside fired their whole anesthesiology department and hired some fake company even though all the evidence pointed toward the truth that they were being ripped off. this is not a small event that just got caught in the details that nobody would know..this is something that the board knew about because they had to approve it and look after it for a while- this clearly shows a lack of leadership and research on the part of mckinley price and demonstrates a pattern of incompetency by just trusting those aroundto do the research instead of forming ones own opinion on a HUGE issue, for example the king william county reservoir. price is running for mayor but if you ask me, newport news cant afford price which is why i will be voting for pat woodbury
UPDATE:April 17 at approx. 6:15 PM Daily Press ONLINE version published results of their special “investigative” report on the Riverside issue(the print version is identified as scheduled to appear in Sunday,April 18 Edition) with the administrative process at RRMC even worse than we thought….no responsible business person or civic leader would have fallen for that SOMA “scam” without the infamous red flag warnings during investigation and contract development… we adults all know the warning “if it sounds too good to be true….” CAUTION. Run,Feris,Run! As pertains the Daily Press “investigative report” thus far(perhaps they will become more MOTIVATED for in-depth investigation.. i.e. “60 Minutes” tick..tick..tick…),the same issues/concerns of others responding on this issue at this site remain(plus additional new issues…what a mess!”an enigma wrapped in a mystery”): 1. FOLLOW THE MONEY… 2. When did Riverside Medical Group (RMG) suddenly begin managing anesthesia services as a defined component of their services? Who?Where?Credentialing? 3. Has the issue of cardiac surgical/anesthesia team services been resolved?How? 4.Quality Assurance as to Level 2 Trauma Center capabilities in NEWPORT NEWS ? instead of the mystery flight by helicopter somewhere…remember the critical nature of the “golden first hour” in emergency cardiac care issues and the patient confidence level necessary in progressive cardiac care team approach;5). this public health/safety issue and administrative process failure goes far beyond Dr. Parcells . He seems not to know what is actually happening to him as each day gets worse and worse in the sporadic revelations. As stated during the televised Watergate Hearings…” Who knew what, when,and the matter will be investigated even at the highest levels..”6). for SOMA why is their role legally not one of fraud in interstate commerce,fraud in the inducement of a legal contract in Virginia,and violations of health care ethical standards?Certainly matters of possible interest to local,state,federal agencies and professional oversight boards. Has the Daily Press inquired? For many citizens of Newport News they remember the pride that was once Riverside Hospital,a teaching hospital IN NEWPORT NEWS. For those of us who remember community donation drives(and the infamous “voluntary” donations from shipyard paychecks) approx. 1958-1961 for the NEW Riverside Hospital to be constructed on J. Clyde Morris Boulevard,it was a time of great pride that the COMMUNITY had participated in this project. One can only imagine reactions to this RRMC administrative system failure in protecting public health/safety/quality assurance levels from physicians/surgeons of that era…Dr. George Greer,Dr. William Old,Dr. Alexander,Dr. Watkins,etc… and hospital administrators Mr. St. Clair,Jerry Brink,etc. One can only imagine how fast Dr. Greer(FIVE MINUTES at most) would have personally “resolved” this issue in emergency cardiac care anesthesia…even without the need to try to find the right “board” or foundation committee. Maybe,with continued community interest and consideration by City Council of an independent and professional investigation of this public health/safety issue,the Daily Press and Riverside Regional Medical Center Administrative Structure(once the “circling the wagons” is done)can be “MOTIVATED” to restore the COMMUNITY PRIDE that was once in Riverside HOSPITAL in Newport News(not the regional developmental “empire” of RRMC in its present form).
Community-based,not-for-profit teaching HOSPITAL is not that difficult a concept…but the probability is there is now only ONE CHANCE for those in this community who care,to get OUR HOSPITAL back. With the large and diverse population of this city,civic leaders,medical professionals,and interested citizens could develop a plan to restore the hospital to a center of pride and quality health care…while the investigation that is sure to come from somewhere leaves “no stone unturned”.Again many thanks to Dan Curran for showing leadership in providing updated information at this website on this issue,certainly of more intensity and interest than the Daily Press(but the Daily Press of the past is no more either…Jim Snyder’s investigations continue to be in Chicago with the Tribune Newspaper unless he has retired).
Where is the community headed now to reach a reasonable resolution?
After reading about the similar issue in the California hospital between administration and anesthesiologists, there are only two directions:(my opinion)
1. Riverside Admin. attempts to find another group of anesthesiologists to replace Soma and the local group that has been fired. They could also restrict services and surgery which would cripple the cash flow for Riverside. Taking this route will set Riverside and the city of NN back a couple of years and cost lots of public money.
2. The other solution is for several of the ‘
top management team to resign(as happened in California). The old anesthesia group can be re-employed under new leadership and come back with a good work attitude.
Anything less and the group will not come back on good terms; friction will continue and only the patients, the local governments and the Riverside hospital will suffer.
If RRMC’s vetting of the anesthesia group was done so ineptly what does that say about how competently they credentialled the new anesthesia providers. My family will not use Riverside in the future even if it means having to change all our medical providers if they decide to continue to practice there. After a particularly horrible week’s stay at Riverside in 1998, I wrote a 4 page typewritten letter to the management detailing all of the problems I experienced – some of them life threatening and most of them appearing to be from understaffing and over reliance on nurses in training. My intention in writing was that it would pinpoint areas where they could improve service. I never received even an acknowledgement much less a thank you. Based on that I concluded at the time that they knew of the problems and didn’t care because it was strictly a “bottom line” issue with them.
So sorry that Riverside has “other interests” outside providing the best of care to its patients on the Peninsula. Its a well known fact that Riverside’s investments prove that they are more concerned about the “bottom line” than employees or other fiduciary responsibilities. In these economic times, don’t they realize the hardships they are imposing on local residents? Would love to hear John Kelly’s opinion on this matter.
Here is another story on the Riverside fiasco from Virginia News Source.
http://www.virginianewssource.com/editors-messsage/550-riverside-fires-2nd-anesthesiology-group-friday
Any comments Mary Ann Johnston? Have some ketchup with those unkind and unfounded words.
Way to go Riverside! This dosen’t suprise me that you have made another stupid decision. Riverside has always been concerned about saving money and having absolute control. they never put patient safety first. Dont trust this new anesthesia group. James River Anesthesia is the only exceptible anesthesia company for Riverside. THANK YOU DR. REIN FOR BEING OUR ADVOCATE!!! i think the next step is to get JOINT COMMISION INVOLVED.
Way to go Riverside! This dosen’t suprise me that you have made another stupid decision. Riverside has always been concerned about saving money and having absolute control. they never put patient safety first. Dont trust this new anesthesia group. James River Anesthesia is the only exceptible anesthesia company for Riverside. THANK YOU DR. REIN FOR BEING OUR ADVOCATE!!!
Dan is right, Soma is fired, my doctor told me that around noon today.
Kudos to Dan for reporting on this vital issue and shame on the Daily Press for not reporting on it first because they had the chance to. They were apparently approached by Dr. Rein before any other media sources. There is another online news source that has also been reporting this story ahead of the Daily Press. In fact, it looks like the first Daily Press story on this was borrowed from Virginia News Source.
Check out the stories they published. Especially the one last night. Apparently the owner of Soma is the father of the young fellow who lacks true credentials, but was supposed to be running the show. The father did time in federal prison and is indefinitely barred from practicing law or accounting. Here are the links.
http://www.virginianewssource.com/editors-messsage/549-is-founder-of-riverside-hospitals-new-anesthesiology-group-a-felon?tmpl=component&print=1&layout=default&page=
http://www.virginianewssource.com/editors-messsage/546-riverside-hospital-forced-to-suspend-heart-surgeries
With this knowledge public, I wonder if the Board and administration will be held to account for their lack of oversight and due diligence. Perhaps they should all be replaced, including McKinley Price?
As a former Registered nurse, who worked in the Operating Room, I am appalled. Although the surgeons perform the surgery, it is the anestheologists that keep the patients alive & well during the surgery. They are critical to a good outcome. Shame on Riverside Hospital for not having patient’s best interests as their goal.
I watched the video. The situation is truly frightening, and reads like something that might happen in Guatemala or Zimbabwe … NOT the USA.
It took little effort for Dr. Rein to amass sufficient evidence to discredit that new bunch. RMG could not have conducted the even the most simple vetting, or they would surely have arrived at the same conclusion. RMG administration should be investigated. In the immortal words of Deep Throat: FOLLOW THE MONEY.
I am visiting from Rochester, NY and reviewed this video. I am a FNP and work for a anesthesia group in preoperative care at Rochester General Hospital. I am astonished at this situation. How can a hospital and prominent community allow this. If I had to have surgery I definitely would not consider Riverside Regional Medical Center as a choice.
I compare the City of Newport News to one of those raging rivers, which when in flood overflows the plains, sweeping away trees and buildings; everything flies before it, all yield to its violence and undiscipline government, without being able in any way to withstand it; and yet, though its nature be such, it does not follow therefore that men, when the weather becomes fair, shall not make provision, both with defences and barriers, and common sense in such a manner that, rising again, the waters may pass away by canal, and their force be neither so unrestrained nor so dangerous. So it happens with fortune, who shows her power where valour has not prepared to resist her, and thither she turns her forces where she knows that barriers and defences have not been raised to constrain her. I blame myself and all the citiizens of Newport News, for not firing the whole city government for this sad state our city is in. Councilman Batemen is a banker, so why did you not use those banker skills to right the sinking ship, Councilwoman McMillian its not enough to vote nooooooooooooo, but your attitude simply stinks, find a way to get over your insercurities.
The Phantom