Hospital to page staff silently for ''codes"
Rubbernecking isn't confined to the highways; it's been a major problem during ''codes" at Brigham and Women's Hospital. Normally, operators announce a code -- a patient suffering a cardiac or respiratory arrest -- on the hospital-wide overhead paging system. But these announcements have brought a stampede of doctors, nurses, residents, medical students, and other staff -- all wanting to help out, learn, or just watch -- to the patient's room. Sometimes, hospital leaders say, a room is so crowded, it's unclear who's in charge. Since operators announce only the unit for the code -- not the specific room -- overhead codes also alarm families, who show up, too.
As a result, the hospital has decided to limit the number of people who can attend a code to the doctors and nurses caring for the patient. The Brigham this fall switched to a ''silent code," where medical staff on code teams carry pagers. Operators no long announce overhead codes. And if staff get wind that something is going on, as they often do, the hospital has adopted another method of crowd control: A security officer now comes to all codes.
Angry husband's mailing targets Newton-Wellesley
A brochure with a photograph of four men rowing a boat and asking ''What are these men missing?" is showing up in thousands of mailboxes in Newton and other cities and towns in Middlesex County. The answer: ''Their Wives." The pamphlet goes on to describe how Charlotte Petrie died shortly after giving birth to a daughter at Newton-Wellesley Hospital and warns residents to be careful when choosing where to have a baby. Petrie's husband, Mark Petrie, said in an interview that he bought a mailing list of 50,000 homes and hired a company to mail the critical brochures.
Petrie has been at odds with Newton-Wellesley since his wife died in 1997 amid a series of patient deaths over several years at the hospital, which led state public health officials to investigate medical care at Newton-Wellesley and demand improvements. Petrie, who sued doctors involved in his wife's care, said his complaint now is that the hospital reneged on its promise to dedicate a room for families in his wife's name.
Dr. Michael Jellinek, president of the hospital, said the previous administration did not make such a promise. And, he said, he and Petrie have been unable to reach an agreement on the specifics of a room. Newton-Wellesley has improved its quality and patient satisfaction since 1997, Jellinek said, but the hospital will not mount a counter-campaign.
It may get increasingly difficult to hold back. Petrie said he also plans to put his message on a billboard near the hospital.
Public health award questioned by industry
Next week, The American Public Health Association will give its most prestigious award to Dr. Barry Levy, a physician in Sherborn, who has been in the news for other reasons. The organization will give him the Sedgwick Memorial Medal, which goes to ''an individual who has demonstrated a remarkable record of service while working to further public health practice and knowledge." Levy, an author and consultant in occupational hazard litigation, has worked as an epidemiologist with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and as executive director of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War.
But he also substantiated claims of workers who said they were injured by exposure to asbestos and to silica, a very fine sand used in making glass, paints, and ceramics. In September, the trust set up to compensate victims of asbestos exposure barred payments to claimants who rely on reports by nine doctors, including Levy. According to a story in The New York Times, Jodye Marvin, general counsel for Claims Resolution Management Corp., a subsidiary of the trust, said the claims supported by documents from the nine doctors ''simply were not reliable."
Georges Benjamin, executive director of the public health association, said the group discussed the trust's barring of Levy's reports, but said ''we still believe very, very strongly that this award is for an individual's life work and contribution to the profession, and that Dr. Levy did nothing really wrong."
Levy would not comment on the litigation but told The New York Times in September that issuing the list of barred doctors was ''reactionary, knee-jerk and un-American."
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