"Usually when people are sad, they don’t do anything. They just cry over their condition. But when they get angry, they bring about a change."- Malcolm X
We need not get angry to bring about Positive changes, we just need to act responsibly and be reasonable.
The article (in the daily Herald on Tuesday Nov 6, 2012) on Medical Center objecting to the Inspector General Dr. Earl Best demands is very alarming to me as a Doctor and Member of Parliament. Why is the SMMC board, of one, not willing to compromise and act responsibly. To resist all efforts to improve the effect running of our Only Hospital on the Dutch side of our Island is neither productive nor smart, in my humble view. The demands that stick out to me as a Doctor are as follows:
· The institute of SMMC needs to have an approved Rules of Regulation for the Board of Directors as per article 5 of the Articles of Incorporation of SMMC, and article 16 of the National Ordinance of Health care Institutions. This simple means that SMMC current board needs to ensure that representation of Management of SMMC in absence of members of the Board of Directors is regulated by means of a formal appointment of a replacement representative with the required experience and expertise on the Board. Since a Board of ONE cannot be present all the time (he is off the Island 2 weeks out of every month) this is a no brainer.
· All medical administrative data, medical data, files and computer files required for an adequate representation and care are placed in one location within SMMC.
· SMMC has to provide a suitable action plan in finding solutions to prevention of infections during Surgery and after Surgery.
· Directors who are representing SMMC should be at all times accessible by phone (who else should we call, when we need answers if not the persons in charge?.)
· SMMC needs an action plan for the ER (Emergency Room): the supervision, improvements of the medical staff, file management and a proper notification system for acute issues.
· SMMC needs a disaster plan and a disaster awareness system and annual drills for the staff. I remember hearing this from a Smart guy on this Island:" If you fail to plan, you plan to fail" We cannot afford to fail because of a lack of having a plan on this Island that can be hit by a hurricane a Earth quack or another national disaster. We don’t have FEMMA on speed dial, Like New York, New Jersey and other States in the North East of the USA.
These are reasonable request because this is how you should function unless you have an agenda to keep running a 3rd World nation’s Hospital.
Why make it more difficult? instead make it easier to run the SMMC , As we grow older and wiser we need to find solutions and not stay stuck in old methods of doing thing that are neither effective, efficient or productive. Taking these matters to court to resist doing things better is neither good nor smart because it helps no one in this case. The Hospital may be a private foundation but is it not a Kingdom on its own with one single Ruler. These articles of incorporation are VERY clear… SMMC Board of Directors should Comply with the articles and put these other issues to rest ASAP, Please plan to succeed because lives are at stake here, we have to minimize our failure rates, is my recommendation.
I thank you for attention.
Sincerely ,
MP Dr. Ruth Douglass
Thursday, November 22, 2012