"I'll Let You Know When I Get Sick" - A Major Local Hospital Shuts Down Its ER Today

[Radiobarry]

The thread title comes from word today that as scheduled, after a last minute OK from the state, the Emergency Room at St. John's regional medical center in Oxnard, is now closed for at least 16 days in what some are calling an unprecedented situtation:

From VenturaCountyStar.com...

The emergency room at St. John's Regional Medical Center in Oxnard closes today for at least 16 days in a plan that gained state approval at the eleventh hour.
The OK Tuesday afternoon from the California Department of Public Health means that beginning at 7 a.m., people who come to the emergency room on their own will find the ER closed. They will be given maps and directions to other hospitals. Ambulances will take people from Oxnard and Port Hueneme to those same hospitals, which have geared up with additional nurses and doctors.
"I feel we're going to able to weather it well. I think we're as prepared as any hospital can be," said Gary Wilde, CEO of Community Memorial Hospital in Ventura, one of several facilities that expects more patients. "Emergency is an unpredictable thing. As I've said before, we could have a train wreck and all bets are off."
Shutting down the ER is part of St. John's now-approved plan to close the entire hospital Aug. 14 to fumigate with chlorine dioxide for mold. The hospital still needs a separate approval from the California Department of Pesticide Regulation for the fumigation. A spokesman for that agency said last week it's unlikely the approval will come in time for the hospital to fumigate on Aug. 17, as currently planned.
St. John's officials have said they hope to reopen the ER and the rest of the hospital on Aug. 24 but a delay in the fumigation approval could mean a longer closure.
The Oxnard hospital's emergency room is the busiest in Ventura County, with more than 45,000 people treated last year. Officials say during August the hospital ER would likely see about 100 patients a day.

Which may be neglible by big city hospital standards, but still a tremendous hit upon the other area faciities that handle a fraction of that.

This is a story that you'll undoubtedly be hearing about, even internationally - CNN is filming a documentary. Scientists from around the world have converged on Oxnard.

They've had a mold problem in the building since it opened just 16 years ago. (Management says that it's noth threatening the health of patients, but it still needs to be dealt with. They're bringing in a company that's worked a lot in New Orleans with the Katrina-ravaged areas...to, for want of a better way of putting it, fumigate the whole hospital.

Oh by the way...my wife works in the ER on night shift there. She'll be picking up shifts at hospitals in Camarillo and Ventura while the work is being done.

The Star asked one Oxnard resident how he feels about the closure. "I don't know," he said. "I'll let you know when I get sick."

I'll keep you updated.

[pratt55]

Oh by the way...my wife works in the ER on night shift there. She'll be picking up shifts at hospitals in Camarillo and Ventura while the work is being done.

Sheesh mold in a hospital. Maybe it is the hospital making people sick. I 'assume' your wife will have to drive farther to work at the other hospitals will they reimburse her for mileage?

[Radiobarry]

Sheesh mold in a hospital. Maybe it is the hospital making people sick. I 'assume' your wife will have to drive farther to work at the other hospitals will they reimburse her for mileage?

Only for the one, St. Johns Pleasant Valley in Camarillo, which is also part of the Catholic Healthcare West chain.

(The one in Ventura is closer to home anyhow.)

The hospital management, for its part, has said that the mold has never presented a danger to patient health...for what that is worth.

Again, if any of you start seeing reports about this in the larger regional newspapers, or radio or TV, since my wife is in it, figured I would clue you guys in first.

--Barry

[Alice's Wonderland]

That's crazy. They did that in Sacramento many years ago, but then they found asbestos and the whole hospital shut down and then never reopened.

[Radiobarry]

Here's the LA Times story today 8/8/07 -

In an 11th hour move, the state Tuesday granted approval to St. John's Regional Medical Center in Oxnard to shut down its emergency room at 7 a.m. today as part of a temporary closure to allow the hospital to prepare for mold fumigation.

The entire 265-bed hospital, which operates the busiest emergency room in Ventura County, will eventually close this month for two weeks in hopes of eradicating a mold problem that has plagued the hospital for most of its 15 years of operation.

In a letter signed Tuesday, Betty J. Smith, district administrator for the California Department of Public Health, said the department had approved St. John's emergency room closure. Other departments will close over the next week, starting with the intensive care unit.

On Aug. 14, all remaining patients will be transferred to other county hospitals so the facility can be tented.

Smith told hospital officials she wants to be notified immediately if they deviate from the plan. She also said a request in writing to reopen the facility would be required, along with an on-site visit "to determine whether the hospital is prepared for the care of patients."

St. John's President T. Michael Murray said last week he was confident the hospital would receive a green light from the state in time to adhere to the scheduled closure time-line, which had been discussed with area healthcare providers and planned for months.

Barry Fisher, administrator of Ventura County's emergency medical services agency, said St. John's daily treats more than 100 emergency patients, who will have to be re-routed to other facilities.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la...1,949632.story

--Barry

[elly]

its kind of odd...espcially since the hospital is relatively new. but thanks for the update Barry, St. Johns (well, the old building) was part of my childhood, my mom worked there as a nurses aide in the late70s/early80s...back when the nuns still roamed around the halls with their habits on!


I think its interesting that we havent' heard anything about this situation here at St. Mary's Regional Medical Center in Reno...we joined Catholic Healthcare West in Jan..and they haven't even sent a memo to us about the situation and the impact it might have on CHW as a whole

[aashee]

A few hospitals in the area have closed down because they were required to pay for earthquake retrofitting. Funny if the government had to pay for the retrofitting, I doubt the law would have passed.

Chad