Letters to Webmaster

Extra! Extra! Visitor Comments and OHMC scandal rag (new feature coming soon KENNY'S KORNER -- CEO INSIDER info! You write, we print ... the LAST WORD is the WEBMASTER'S!

The Webmaster is happy to allow public and physician commentary to be posted on this site. Certain letters (few of the many we receive) to the site's Webmaster will be posted if they are of interest to our readers (private communication requests strictly observed.)

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EVEN OVERLAKE EMPLOYEES CANNOT BELIEVE WHAT GOES ON INSIDE!

Subj: more power to you
Date: 4/7/2001 PM Pacific
From: ******
To: MedicalErrors

Jane, is it? Good for you.......you go girl! I happen to be an employee at Overlake. From a worker's point of view, Overlake is not the greatest place to work either.  At one time it was, but recently the administration has done everything possible to make it a living hell.  I'm not a *********, but rather *******.  We receive little respect, ******, and little voice in quality improvement.  There was so much energy put into passing the recent JCAHO inspection.  We hid, concealed, and covered up all the things we knew they'd be looking for.  I only wish (they'd) come unannounced and do a REAL inspection instead of giving us 6 months notice and stating what they will be examining. What a joke! The completion of the new Medical Tower has siphoned off the bulk of the organization's energy and resources rather than maintaining a clean, safe, workplace.  Based on worker morale, I would consider carefully if OHMC is indeed the place to go for medical care.  Without the support of the employees, unsafe and dangerous conditions could exist that affect the entire continuum of care given.  You should check into turn-over and retention rates and ask why all the good employees have gone elsewhere or been eliminated. All for now.
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Subject: Stroh Date: 9/4/2003 1:06:05 AM PST From: D**** To: MedicalErrors
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Stroh is a complete idiot! I was referred to him after getting hives from my pregnancy. He did not do any tests to find out where the hives were coming from and basically just asked me personal questions. His conclusion was that I needed to see a shrink!!! I walked out and thought what an idiot and I was then treated at Univ of WA Medical Center for my condition!!!!!!
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Subject: Thank you for the info Date: 7/28/2004 12:16:47 PM PST From: ********** To: MedicalErrors
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I worked at OHMC for over ten years, and the atmosphere was a caring, appreciative administration, before the current CEO was voted in, by the Board of Directors, to 'cut costs'. It cut costs, people, attitudes of good and loyal employees, and turned the 'teamwork of Doctors/Nurses' into unprofessional behavior (in some cases). It is true that ALL hospitals will have their mistakes, bad judgement and patient treatment (UW Cancer Unit was the worst, years ago, with its Cancer Treatment mismanagement, lack of follow through, and patient treatment coordination. They have improved tremendously). Ways to improve OHMC: 1. Dept of Health Inspections- should not be announced ahead, because the Food Service staff stays 24hrs to make everything ok for inspection. 2. JACHO inspections should not be announced ahead, also, for the same reason. The whole hospital is primed for the inspections. 3. The doctors should NOT have access to all patients records at OHMC. An ex-husband harrasses his ex-wife, with comments about her husband's medical records. Doctor's should login with a code, to search records of only the current patient which he is treating at the time. No browsing of all citizens' records. The privacy act should be screened for a better system to control 'snooping'. This could be snooping at the mayor, millionaires, aids victims, etc. signed Concerned
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Overlakehospital.COM is a groundbreaking site and we welcome commentary from our readers/visitors, physicians and especially Overlake personnel. MOST of our readers have high praise for this site, and LOVE the information we provide, and have thanked us profusely. Some may see it as vengeful. We see reaching both of those points of view as success! This site appeals to very intense emotions from all sides involved. We intend to provide this VERY serious matter with some humor and levity. Highlighting the most bizarre letters we receive is one good way to show fringe of society barely hanging on to normality. And, that society remains full of folks that just don't "get it" -- or understand what doing the right thing is all about. They don't realize what standing up for your civil rights is all about.


Sometimes you have to play hard ball. That's what this site is all about -- Machiavellian justice for shafted patients that need help and a voice. Enjoy. More letters soon! (This small sample of letters does not reflect actual percentages of "favorable" or "unfavorable" opinions -- local color only.)


LIMITED DISCUSSION AND REPLY HERE IS A SAMPLE OF THE OTHER COMMENTARY ON LINKS ACCESSIBLE ABOVE:


Dear Mr X:

Thank you for your analysis of my website, mental condition and tactics.

** you write: You're claiming that you don't have a mental condition, but your website tends to give the impression that perhaps everything's not quite right upstairs**


If you sift through my entire site, MRS. X, you will see that I have described my site as black comedy or satire full of useful information for the patient needing help. My site carries a message of life saving warnings and direction toward a number of avenues for patients to become their own safety nets. That really is the key. I am treated now by the best medical school in the country (U of WA, recently bypassing Harvard on this stat), but I have caught many an error there by my vigilant surveillance. I have 3 other sites under development, 2 will be more "straightforward" in their approach to this same problem. My National Center for Patients site is a gateway to all "grass roots" medical sites, and State Board sites to be found under one umbrella. The other "straight" site is the Washington Center for Patients -- a place to report medical errors, mistakes and bad attitudes occuring in all Washington Hospitals, even the University. The third yet to be up is CitizenJane.ORG (you'll see my cable access show with my alias persona, Citizen Jane, entitled "Jane's World" in the future, a la the very excellent "Wayne's World," also in the style of Politically Incorrect and Drudge Report -- beyond medical malpractice, but strong focus on that failing system). That site WILL be satirical. Thank you for your comments on my tactics.


I remind you, my site is not for those that are happy at Overlake, but for those that have been hurt there. Bad things have happened there to many patients, I am just one of them that is willing to stand up and say "ENOUGH!" -- it's a place to allow a forum for all public opinion about the many doctors who have been less than competent or cordial to be discussed openly. If you have a good doctor report, I'll post it for the readers.


I am a screenwriter, and I created overlakehospital.com to draw attention through dark humor and biting reality. You must have noticed all the movie references on the site. I guess I have done a good job in my structure and format by making even my dissenters laugh. When my protesters feel compelled to go in to navigate my site, and can't turn away... I have some degree of control over their feelings for those few moments. I provide a compelling interest for them to morbidly seek out what I am saying. One way or another, my message gets out, my readers listen to me whether they want to or not. That's the beauty of it. It was designed to be precisely like that.


I know the value of real controversy. I am not looking for revenge or sympathy ... ONLY justice. With Congress in perpetual gridlock over patient right's, the power of the American Medical Assoc. Lobby going against us, what choice is there left now except a bare knuckles brawl in the press? It is about the 100,000 + dead out there, Miss X, not about a few miffed prima donnas at Overlake trying to hide their ignorance and rudeness. My personal case revolves around a lot of cover-ups, forged forms, lies, and repetitive similar errors when told otherwise. I am not suing over one mistake. I was there maybe 30-40 times, and they still wouldn't listen! First day at the University, I got the proper care, and made a dramatic turn around in less than a week -- but, I am left with damage form the Overlake era, sad to say. I am keenly aware a trauma surgeon might lose 50% of his patients due to the extreme cases he deals with. I don't compare apples to oranges with the polarity in mortality in the myriad specialties. What Overlake did to me (and a number of other women calling me) is like cinematic fiction -- it is so bad. The fact remains that if Overlake doctors don't want to be on my site, then RESPECT, HONESTY and COMPASSION is all they need to treat their patients with. They didn't say to me -- "hey, you have a really bad and weird problem, we don't know what to do, but we will try to find you someone that does" Had that been said, you think I'd be here? It is HONESTY that counts, not their FRAGILE egos. Public health interests supercede any interests of a rude, stupid  and incompetent doctor's reputation any day of the year. I AM interested in the rude and arrogant ones as well, who wants to see a doctor like that?  (OFF RECORD DISCUSSION HERE -- gaps in contiguous thought will occur for privacy protection of readers that desire it)


I only print what I can prove. I should mention my husband and brother are both attorneys. I KNOW exactly how far I can go on my site, and I will walk that line without crossing it. That's my right ... and it is yours to feel otherwise.


you say** ... (OFF RECORD AGAIN)

I want to know about those that are hospital employees possibly trying to act in the best interest of a patient, only to be shot down by some arrogant doctor to proud to listen to an underling's observations. That REALLY interests me. The pulling rank over underlings, by doctors. They see the errors.

** you write--  if you were behaving at Overlake Hospital the way you're behaving on your website, they have pretty good reason to believe you're mental.**


Do actors using the drama of speech to communicate emotions in a theatrical production seem mental to you? Are poets nuts for their interpretive style in expressing their pain and joy?


Sometimes you have to use a little comedy to bring to light a terrible tragedy. Sketch comedy on Saturday Night Live tackles the VERY serious issues of Presidential abuse of power, Scout Leader pedophilia, drugs in the Governor's mansion, crazed Mayors smoking crack with hookers, and just about any other tragedy you can think of that made the news.


Sometimes the entertainment mediums are the is the only way we, as a species, can even tolerate knowing about these injustices that happen under our noses every day of our lives. Things that those we trust with our lives, hopes citizenship, leadership and laws have done, DO HAPPEN, no matter how incredulous these acts may be.


Look on my patient stories page, see the swollen face that makes me unrecognizable? Is that the power of the diseased mind? Is an unconscious cardiac compromised state worthy of involuntary commitment? I must be capable of quite amazing feats to do that, like Doug Henning, or Copperfield. That freakish swelling is called angioedema (life threatening kind/laryngeal obstruction impending -- the reason Fire Trucks now carry Epinephrine pens not just paramedic units, because it is so rapidly fatal) and the rash is hard to see on my site (I can send you other photos email if you want more proof/labs will be posted on site soon as soon as I get properly scanned in), but I was covered in hives and swollen all over struggling to breathe. Photos snapped prior to 911 getting there. Since you seem to be "in the know" in some aspect of medicine, I gather you know the book Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine 14th, every med student and hospital has this library book. Look on page 1864 for the differential on those symptoms I mentioned. Do you see mental illness there at all? No, you don't. You'll see "necrotizing vasculitis" as 2.c. (second tier of suspected causes for those symptoms), a deadly disease if not aggressively treated (66% will die within 1 year if not treated -- Overlake went for 8 months giving me nothing -- quite the crap shoot). No one at Overlake even mentioned such a vascular disease to me. No tests for allergy were done on me, no biopsy of that horrible rash, nothing. If Overlake REALLY was correct in the mental diagnosis and spousal abuse angle, why did I not respond to all the psychiatric drugs they pumped into me or the counseling I was forced to undergo? Why did I continue to rapidly decline in health and deteriorate? Why did I get better at the University suddenly and dramatically when I got treated FOR THIS SEVERE AUTOIMMUNE illness without any counseling? Isn't it odd at that exact moment of recovery, my husband stopped beating me? The medical "bandwagon" of  professional courtesy was in overkill mode in my case... e.g. "hey, Mrs. X, I have a great idea ... let's all jump off a bridge onto the freeway! -- sure let's all do it!" That's what OHMC did in my case. Jump.


I was just locked up in restraints to shut me up. There are VERY strict protocols for this type of thing. Overlake violated every one. They were cruel about it too, treated me like I was some criminal. My gentle caring husband was also accused of beating me, to hedge their bet. I guess they forgot to notice his profession on my admission form, attorney. That IS crazy! Not me. How would you act if you were accused of beating your kid when you bring her to the ER for a broken leg? When you feel like you will die of asphyxiation and you are held in restraints wrongly -- what is the appropriate decorum in that situation? I'd like to know how you would have reacted or would expect your spouse or mother to react -- how would you explain that situation to your children? I must have skipped that class in charm school ... because I was crying and pleading for help so very desperately so I would live for my kids, for me.


If that "hysteria" earns me a pass to the asylum without medical evaluation -- God help anyone else who has a bad day. If you know of the Utopian world where all is well, illness is nonexistent and happiness is all there is, I'd like to make a reservation please. My guess is, it isn't at 1535 116th Avenue, NE Bellevue, Washington. They only have padded rooms, no view. No in-flight meals. Not what I want.


** you write -- But unless you go through the proper legal channels and bring formal malpractice charges against them, you're pretty much out of luck.  What you've done on your website could be interpreted as a physical threat to them.  What are you trying to accomplish with the "Most Wanted" list?  From a legal standpoint, you're walking a thin line with that.


AM I REALLY? What about OHMC's THREAT to MY health and life? Or the THREAT to public health at large with their very scant medical knowledge? That's a fine line to gamble with another's life when you don't have a clue. I have made no physical threat to them. They brought this on themselves. Should I keep my mouth shut about things I know will kill? Time to pay the piper, clean out the barn, all the usuals. They just picked the wrong girl to try to intimidate. I am not capable of succumbing to ANY intimidation for some reason. Character flaw I guess! I am just not afraid to say what I think. I say what others wish they could. The harder the game, the rougher I will play. OHMC set the rules, now I play on their turf to the bitter end. The way to win this game, for any doctor terrified of the new wild card (me), is by of RESPECT, HONESTY, EFFORT and COMPASSION. You play with those cards, you will win EVERY time.


** you say -- I agree with you in the fact that people need to become aware of medical mistakes, but to attack an organization just because you feel that you were treated poorly is wrong.


YOU MEAN treated ILLEGALLY and INCOMPETENTLY.


you write ** You should take a deep breath and think about the consequences of your obvious overreaction

DID THEY THINK ABOUT THEIR'S? My actions might actually save lives. If you don't like what I say, leave the site. Do I hold a gun to the head of my ANY OF MY readers? NO I DO NOT.


Webmaster replies: For the record... I have threatened no one, Miss X. However, I HAVE BEEN THREATENED TWICE BY EMPLOYEES of OHMC since my release 4 weeks ago. Most notably by Pat McQueen (most don't realize the stamp of real name is on their email alias') -- I post those letters for my safety. If anything happens to me ... good place to start. I also DID go through ALL proper channels for reporting. I wanted to report the HIV test to the Nurse Board, no one will tell me her name, threatened me when I tried to get her name legally ... does that seem like they are hiding things to you? I also went to the State Board, I was still VERY VERY sick at the time and tried to tell my story the best I couldto them.  My University doctors were ready to speak on my behalf. The Board NEVER called them. Nor me, nor my husband. I thought we'd all get together face to face and discuss the issues. I was wrong, and railroaded. Governor Locke ignored my letters about his own appointees "investigation". The Board used only Overlake's falsified records in my case! The whole issue I brought to them was that those records are FALSE! Overlake had a team of attorney's and presented false statements to the Board, I had no attorneys working for me, I didn't think I needed to have one in that setting. I believed I would be given a fair chance to discuss the issues. I was not privy to OHMC defense tactics nor materials, yet they saw my entire hand up front so they could tailor statements to spin them. I was allowed NOT ONE WORD IN REBUTTAL!

(DISCUSSION OFF RECORD COMMENTARY ON THIS ISSUE)


THESE  State Boards are "foxes guarding the henhouses" -- one-sided Good Old Boy network -- the very reason for the existence of all the grass roots sites for medical error reporting across America -- same issue in all States. Little guy is run over by powerful system. Now, here I am, CIVIL COURT due to the lack of due process and governement failure to bring me justice (I would have taken an apology six months into this, you know.) I will be out to change that any way I can. If it takes some drama through a "Most Wanted" poster, a picket line, a cable access show, emails to those that "don't get it" or any other bare knuckles tactics I can pull-off, by God, I'll do it. And then some. Government is too slow. This is the ONLY way until they catch up to help the dying. If ONE person is more cautious today because of what I have said ... and ONE doctor more careful because he knows I'm watching... I will sleep VERY soundly tonight, every night. All the rest is gravy. ONE life is where it starts. Just ONE.


I found your letter to be intelligently presented, even though you do not agree with me IN ALL AREAS, only some. Thank you for that. I respect your opinion, that is why I wanted to respond to you with such attention to detail. OFF RECORD HERE AGAIN...


This is about the sick, the dead and the wronged. I work for them. No one else. That's why I do what I do. Thank you for your remarks.


The Webmaster
CITIZEN JANE


CLOSING REMARKS TO FOLLOW UP EMAIL TO WEBMASTER...


I appreciate there are numerous levels of contempt and approval for my activities, and for any dissenter who presents himself eloquently AND LOGICALLY to me in disagreement, is perfectly OK with me. If I waited around for everyone to agree with me in life, I would never get out the gate. I know in my heart why I do this... I can't let what happened to me at OHMC EVER happen again to another human being. I respect my fellow man more than that, and my silence could kill. You think I want a wrongful death on my shoulders by one of my accused down the line? No way do I ever want to hear the words "Why didn't you say something about Dr. XYZ when you knew he was bad?"

The Webmaster

CITIZEN JANE