Army ousts Ft. Bragg hospital commander after deaths

[BMT (RIP)]

http://hamptonroads.com/2014/05/army-ousts-ft-bragg-hospital-commander-after-deaths

Six years ago wife was at Womack with an infected finger.
You would of thought she was the only patient in the ER.

BMT

[glebo]

Well, we recently had the death of a Q course students wife. It could have and should have been prevented....yes, it was at Womack

[The Reaper]

I stood in the ER bleeding on the floor for more than five hours the last time I went there.

One of our other board members had a heart attack and was brought in via ambulance. The crew told the ER he was having a heart attack when they dropped him off. IIRC, six hours later, they finally got around to checking him out and they had to Life Flight him to UNC Hospital.

TR

[Joker]

My wife went in with an ectopic pregnancy (her second). They had to do an emergency surgery and I told them to make sure they do it on the side that was not done before.

Well the fool almost killed my wife AND didn't do it on the correct side.

They hid him from me and the head Ob-Gyn doc redid the surgery after they re-reconfirmed his FU. This was the asshole that used the suction and pulled the brain out of a baby he was delivering.

My wife won her lawsuit.

[Peregrino]

Talk about the tip of the iceberg. I've had enough negative experiences at Womack, that it's my "option of last resort" for most medical care. I tore my shoulder up pretty good on Valentines day (the wife' s "special" day wasn't nearly as "special" as mine :(). The ER was relatively empty (training holiday - nobody trying to sham out of PT!) so I got in and out fairly quickly. I should have immediately become suspicious. Because of cost cutting and reduced staffing the attending was a PA. Diagnosis and treatment was the "path of least expenditure". X-rays (soft tissue injury, nothing to see on film), pills, "see your PCP next week", and out the door. Because of Womack's slipshod ER procedures everything since has been an odyssey of epic proportions. The only positive outcome was pursuing follow-up treatment (surgery) at an off-post hospital. Of course Tricare saw to it that that took four weeks longer than necessary (TR finally chewed my ass and told me to quit waiting on the system - naturally he was right). The lesson for everyone else is ALWAYS get anything done at Womack countersigned by a DOCTOR. Federal Worker's Comp won't accept anything less and until I can fight through the bureaucracy I'm out 2 1/2 weeks pay for the period I was out of work from the surgery. My only consolation is that all the bastards who've been telling me for my entire career how good we have it with "free" medical care can now experience the joys of socialized medicine themselves. Obamacare looks to be poetic justice.

[frostfire]

that news broke my heart.

I know from personal experience that the commander is very passionate in serving service members and has unflinching integrity. He made time and effort to bypass toxic middle mgmt leaders to talk to junior enlisted and junior officers to get the real gist of WTH was going on. Having said that the multiple budget slashes were nothing short of crippling. IMHOO, once the titanic started to sink, it did not matter how good the captain was. He was set up for failure.

From a command-level OPD I was privileged to attend, I had a glimpse of how things are done in Pentagon. Again, IMHOO the same can-do mindset in infantry cannot be applied 100% to mil healthcare. If I were tasked to charge a hill with less men and weaponries, there's the concept of expected/acceptable casualties. I don't think one would like to go to the ER and be told there's a x % chance he/she would get a poor outcome.

Another aspect is the enabling of Burger King-have-it-my-way mindset. Why should I schedule and wait 2 weeks for clinic appt when I can get drive through medical care for sorethroat, rash, hang nail, etc. etc. at WAMC ER. Add to that jump days and lack of expansion when FORSCOM and Reserve command moved on post, and it's a matter of time :(

Your experiences are valid. I am so sorry they happened.