In The News
In Support of White Memorial
January 10, 2007
On January 10, 2007, La
Opinion published a
letter to the editor by Robert Blackman, MD,
regional director of HealthCare Partners.
In this letter, Dr. Blackman praises WMMC for
the way the hospital has handled the NICU situation.
This letter is one example of the overwhelming support WMMC has received from our community, physicians and patients through this situation.
Letter to the Editor: In Praise of WMMC
Read Spanish version in La Opinion...
Dear Editor:
I wanted to praise White Memorial Medical Center for its transparency in dealing with a bacteria outbreak in its neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) last month. The hospital’s administration swiftly identified the problem, immediately shut down the units involved and brought in the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health for an on-site inspection. Additionally, the administrators voluntarily issued a statement to the news media about all concerns: This was not “good press” for the hospital, but they obviously felt it was their moral and ethical duty to share the details of this outbreak with their patients and the public.
Unfortunately, the tone of the reporting in both the local and electronic media suggested White Memorial was negligent in the way it handled this incident. As hospitals treat only the sickest of patients with compromised immune systems, bacterial outbreaks are commonplace. There are more than 2 million reported outbreaks each year in the nation’s nearly 5,000 hospitals. Of those, about 200,000 involve Pseudomonas aeruginosa, the bacteria present in the White Memorial incident. Sadly, no patient in a hospital is more vulnerable to a bacterial infection than a premature infant. That two such patients succumbed to P. aeruginosa is tragic, but a likely risk at any hospital.
I don’t wish to downplay the personal suffering of families who will be forever impacted by this tragedy. In light of the White Memorial Medical Center infant deaths, all one can ask is that hospitals have processes in place to quickly identify a bacterial outbreak and prevent it from spreading. This is precisely what the administration at White Memorial did in this instance.
If the media persists in sensationalizing the reporting of such incidents, it will have a chilling effect on other hospitals being open and honest about inevitable future outbreaks. This is not in keeping with the public’s right to be informed.
Robert A. Blackman, MD
Regional Medical Director
HealthCare Partners Medical Group
Read Spanish version in La Opinion...
Posted 1/10/07
