Best Hospitals 2011-12: the Methodology

How Cleveland Clinic keeps making this list astounds me. I'm an NP there d/t insurance issues. A) it's the dirtiest hospital I've EVER been in! Mold in the showers, sh*t on the floor. 1 roommate was from out o/state & was reacting to her antibiotic -3 HOURS & no one answered her light. Finally a'hospitalist' (these're GPs & Internal med docs who can't get practices so they take courses in saving hospitals $) comes. Never removed her blankets or turned on a a light: just said he'd give her Benadryl. I asked what did he think was in the IV she was getting? Deathly ill w/kidney disease (3 surgeries/5 days) yet bandages weren't changed or her drains emptied so fluids were dripping onto the floor- her bed was soaked! I got out of my bed to cover her & called the nursing super when an AIDE came @ 8pm to change her complex dressing (an RN's job). I called her doc who came flying in. 40 min later she's in ICU. He kept my notes.

I've gotten other people's meds (well,I found out I'm allergic to Dilantin - now I have to explain to all new docs I do NOT have epilepsy). 2x I was given a med I'm deathly allergic to: wrote it in BIG RED ink on my admit form. The form they brought to show me had NO allergies or my writing. Staff fled when I fell on the floor. 20 min later 2 male nurses yanked me up despite my back injury, stripped me naked & threw me back onto the heavily soiled bed & tied me to it.(The drug causes explosive diarrhea & caused heart failure which put me in ICU for 2 wks once my doc got there.

1 mo ago my doc wanted me to go to the ED stat & my phone was off hook-so she sent the cops to tell me to head in. When I got to Hillcrest I was ignored for 50 min. Went to CCF main campus where an RN read the Drs note saying 'admit via ED my service d/t labs' & she said I didn't look that sick & the labs weren't that bad. I passed out in chairs 20 min later. Hubby came w/my emerg meds & we left untreated. ED was insane: pts in the hall naked w/dry IVs, every light on & NO staff.

I've seen suicides, rapes, assaults, thefts, you name it covered up (used to work there if u haven't guessed). HORRIBLE staffing - Toby flew 1,000's of RNs from VIETNAM, India, Malaysia etc while refusing to hire US RNs (had a hiring 'freeze' 4yrs so he could close Huron Rd Hosp & ditch the poor in E Cleveland). He makes staff PAY to PARK at the main campus: $.60/hr=$1200/yr!

Top 100? Ha! Toby's a great salesman: he keeps CCFs name in the news for those 35% name recognition votes. Treats staff like dogs:pays LOW wages but as CEO gets ~$26M/yr. Mistakes r rampant & I've watched dozens of great docs leave sick of his micromanagment BS.

The whole rating system rests on who hears what from whom. Nobody looks at mortality rates, revolving door stats (that's where the pt is discharged too soon & is back in a day or two. What about putting new grads straight into the ED or ICU instead of making them work the floors for a year or two to learn their jobs.

Top 100? Not now or EVER!

Eloise deLun of OH 6:39AM May 15, 2012

FROM CMS Investigation 02/23/2012 of the Cleveland Clinic Foundation

482.12 GOVERNING BODY

The hospital must have an effective governing body legally responsible for the conduct of the hospital as an institution, If a hospital does not have an organized governing body, the persons legally responsible for the conduct of the hospital must carry out the functions specified in this part that pertain to the governing body,

This CONDITION of PARTICIPATION is not met

482.22 MEDICAL STAFF

The hospital must have an organized medical staff that operates under bylaws approved by the governing body and is responsible for the quality of medical care provided to patients by the hospital.

This CONDITION of PARTICIPATION is not met

482.12(a)(2) MEDICAL STAFF APPOINTMENTS

[The governing body must) appoint members of the medical staff after considering the recommendations of the existing members of the medical staff.

This STANDARD is not met

482.12(a)(3) MEDICAL STAFF – BYLAWS [The governing body must) assure that the medical staff has bylaws.

This STANDARD is not met

482.22(a)(1) MEDICAL STAFF PERIODIC APPRAISALS

The medical staff must periodically conduct appraisals of its members.

This STANDARD is not met

482.22(a)(2) MEDICAL STAFF CREDENTIALING

The medical staff must examine credentials of candidates for medical staff membership and make recommendations to the governing body on the appointment of the candidates.

This STANDARD is not met

482.22(c)(4) MEDICAL STAFF QUALIFICATIONS

Describe the qualifications to be met by a candidate in order for the medical staff to recommend that the candidate be appointed by the governing body.

This STANDARD is not met

482.22(c)(6) CRITERIA FOR MEDICAL STAFF PRIVILEGING

[The bylaws must] Include criteria for determining the privileges to be granted to individual practitioners and a procedure for applying the criteria to individuals requesting privileges. For distant-site physicians and practitioners requesting privileges to furnish telemedicine services under an agreement with the hospital, the criteria for determining privileges and the procedure for applying the criteria are also subject to the requirements in §482.12(a)(8) and (a)(9) , and §482.22(a)(3) and (a)(4). '

This STANDARD is not met

CCFToby of OH 6:26AM May 14, 2012

I will do my best to join this cleveland clinic.....now i am 14 years old

Leona 12:26PM March 09, 2012

I have a question about what the Hospital Score means. I am looking at University Hospital in Cincinnati, Ohio. Their Hospital score is 31.8 out of a possible 100, which sounds low. They are ranked fairly highly in many different categories. What is the average score? It's hard to determine what this score represents in the grand scheme of things.

Scott of OH 11:55AM February 22, 2012