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Legislators also to blame for Sch’dy hospital fiasco

    The Aug. 24 letter [“Ellis management should seek advice of talented nursing staff”], concerning the nurses’ position on the Ellis/St. Clare’s merging debacle, addressed many of the problems created by the Berger Commission. The writer was right on the mark in assessing blame to both the shortsightedness of the Berger Commission and the total lack of planning by the Ellis Hospital board. The result has been a severe reduction in the quality of health care in Schenectady County and a severe lack of confidence in the health care facilities by patients.
    The only thing lacking in the letter was asking our local politicians why they all took the coward’s way out and allowed this to take place without any public forums or questions to Gov. Pataki and the Berger Commission. Sen. Farley, Assemblyman Tedisco and their fellow legislators seemed to have lost their power of speech when it came to investigating the impact that these drastic changes in hospital and nursing home care would have on the general public. If they had put half as much effort into this problem as they did in declaring their moral outrage at our ex-governor’s sex scandal, they may have stopped or at least delayed the implementation of the Berger Commission’s recommendations. Apparently there weren’t enough TV cameras or microphones around on the day that the commission’s findings were released.
    To this day, none of the legislators have explained their actions (or inaction) at all and have never really been questioned in depth about any of this by the media.
    I always believed that the primary job of our senators and assemblymen was to protect the interest of their constituents. Please think about this the next time that you are enjoying a relaxing five- or six-hour wait at the Ellis Hospital emergency room. Maybe you can use some of this free time to read over one of the periodical mailings from your local senator or assemblyman telling you of all the wonderful things they have done for you during this legislative session. That should be good for at least a couple of minutes.
    JOHN ANGILLETTA
    Scotia

Dr. Vacca practices Cardiology and Internal Medicine in Amsterdam, Clifton Park, Gloversville, and Schenectady.  He is my family's
Cardiologist.  His practice has been in place for many years.  His offices in are the medical buildings behind St. Clare's.  He spends
time at Cardiology Associates of Schenectady on Balltown Road.  He is a former St. Clare's board member.  His insights are illuminating.

Well, John Angelletta, the reason why our local elected officials did not speak up is simple. Even though this whole Berger Commission started with Patacki (rep) the issue did end up in the dems arena. And the majority of our elected officials are dems. So there ya have it. The walk lock step together.

Yep, the dems.......a preview of "universal" health care, aka Socialist health care.  

Obama is pro-"universal" health care.

But McCain wants to tax the value of the employer contribution to our employer group health insurance....yikes, my employer probably contributes $10,000.

Hey, what the heck is wrong with these boards?  Words are partially on one line and partially on the next, i.e., words that normally would not be separated....makes it hard to read

Quoted from mikechristine1

Hey, what the heck is wrong with these boards?  Words are partially on one line and partially on the next, i.e., words that normally would not be separated....makes it hard to read

I know and we're sorry about this. We did an upgrade about 2 weeks ago, and ever since then the word wrap went screwy. They are still trying to fix it, but I'm not too hopeful. It's a glitch in their software that will probably be fixed in the next upgrade unless hopefully they can fix it sooner. Just another one of those "computer things" that we have no control over.

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Keep Ellis ER problems in proper perspective

    There have been many letters lately from Ellis Hospital patients or their families who have been “forced” to go to the Nott Street facility instead of St. Clare’s and who have had to wait “10 hours” to even be seen.
    As someone who spends a lot of time every day in and out of the Ellis ER, and who has brought many of these patients in, I would like to say that 10-hour waits are not the norm, but rather a gross exaggeration I can only assume is for dramatic effect.
    True, you may wait several hours to be seen. However, if you are there because your “tummy has hurt for fi ve days,” you’re not going to be seen before the person who has an extensive cardiac history and severe chest pain. I’m sorry, but ERs operate on a triage basis, as well they should, and your tummy ache is not as urgent as a potential heart attack.
    Before you gripe about the wait time, look around at all the patients there, and see if you can figure out how many of them should legitimately even be at the hospital, or who could’ve been treated by their own doctor, a free clinic, or even at home with a couple of aspirin. Decide if, possibly, you fall into that same category. Stubbed toes, minor headaches, and 100-degree fevers do not generally belong in a hospital. Yes, the hospital is crowded. No, the Berger Commission probably did not make the best decision. The blame for the wait primarily lies on the people who abuse the hospital services for minor problems, though. The staff at Ellis has generally been doing a fine job in what are tough transition times.
SEAN MEARNS
Glenville
The writer works for a local private ambulance service.

I guess Sean wasn't paying attention when he went to paramedic training as a headache or stomach ache can be signs of an aneurysm which requires immediate attention and is not just a minor problem. The truth is you can't know what's wrong with someone until they've been seen by a doctor or have had tests run on them to find out.

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Connolly can’t shift all blame for merger mess

    Re Aug. 17 article, “Ellis caught short by St. Clare’s”: With all that’s been written about the apparent debacle on the Schenectady hospital scene, wouldn’t we all love to bask in a publicity coup like Ellis Hospital’s president and CEO James Connolly did recently in a frontpage Gazette article?
    The present situation seems to be a perfect example of what happens when decisions by politicians and finance managers remain unchallenged. Mr. Connolly, an experienced hospital administrator, now has the luxury of 20-20 hindsight to bemoan how everything happened too fast. Sadly, however, one has to ask where he was prior to the St. Clare’s closing. Could he have been relishing the imposed demise of his competition and celebrating the enhanced expansion it would bring to his own institution? Could he not have been actively and publicly advocating for a more gradual transition?
    CEOs are paid big bucks to have good foresight, not hindsight. Wasteful practices and duplicated services notwithstanding, if professional health care administrators are more vigilant of their own “bottom line” than of the public well-being, then Schenectady’s hospital situation, albeit temporary, should come as no surprise to anyone and we could well expect to see more of the same in the future.
    THOMAS P. HERRMANN
    Charlton

Quoted from JoAnn

I was just talking to a good friend of mine who told me a story of his grandmother who lives in Rotterdam. She fell and broke her leg. She crawled to the phone and called 911. Mohawk ambulance came and took her to Ellis where she had to wait 8 hours in the ER. She has since had surgery and will be going for rehab. Sorry to say, but 8 hours, for someone that age, in that much pain with a broken leg is ridiculously too long.

And for added interest, I was told that Mohawk Ambulance took 10 calls in Rotterdam that day. (24hrs.)

10 calls...  hard to believe

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Quoted from B GAGE

10 calls...  hard to believe

I thought the same thing.

The person is a close friend of mine and has friends who work for Mohawk Ambulance. So I assumed the information was correct.

Most of you have probably already received the mailer from Ellis about the open house. I have returned mine with a note - no donation - that reads I will be glad to donate when Ellis reopens St. Clare's and follows the directives set forth by the Berger Commission. Until that time please do not send me anymore communications.

This is only the beginning. Sources tell me that a big fund raiser is being planned for next year. Why are they adding on to Ellis when St. Clare's sits empty? How long before they ask for taxpayer dollars for this ill conceived folly?