Epilogue: Case Study Ellen—Good Policy is Not Enough

These last few months have been so intense.  I have seen health care providers who struggle as they try to care for patients while others acted as if caring for a patient was a burden.  It was at the point of patient care that I saw the greatest variability in how someone was treated.  

I remember the nurse in the step-down unit who had said that the IV should be changed every 72 to 96 hours and became annoyed that after 96 hours I asked how come the IV had not been changed.  Her response was that she was dealing with more pressing patients and she would get around to it.  It was clear that the needs of the individual had become either dominated or subservient to some benchmark or target. This is not the health care any of us want or deserve.

As all this occurred I contacted the leadership at Georgetown University Hospital and they were responsive to my many concerns.  They  made it clear that the policies they had developed had not been followed.  All were apologetic and all apologies were accepted but the bottom line is that the patient suffered and died.

Part IV: Case Study Ellen— Another Trip to the ER

I returned to DC on Monday and my intention was to visit Ellen at the Rehab Center and see how she was doing.  The plan was that she would be there for a while to regain her mobility and then go home.  As I was driving I decided to call Ellen's daughter to see how things were going.  

She let me know that the Rehab Center wanted to call 911 and have an ambulance take  Ellen to Suburban Hospital.  Ellen's white blood cell count was high and they felt she needed to be taken there even though her primary doctor was affiliated with Georgetown University Hospital (GUH).  We were told that the Montgomery County ambulance would not take her to GUH which is located in Washington, D.C.  The only way Ellen could get to GUH was by hiring a private ambulance. And so we did.

So once again Ellen, her daughter, and I were on our way back to the ER.  This time I  let the Georgetown staff know we were coming ahead of time.  We were glad that Ellen was put in the same area designated as Fast Track B. We chuckled about what "Fast Track" means.  

This time Ellen had a wonderful nurse (Jason) who did all he could to make her comfortable.  The 4th year resident (Bobby) had a good disposition and was very patient with her. Ellen had blood drawn, ultrasound of a swollen leg, chest x-ray, and answered many questions. The physician on duty told us that her white blood cell count should not have been alarming as that may have occurred because of some of the medicines she was taking.

In the end they released her to go back to the Rehab Center.  There was nothing wrong with her or perhaps more accurately there was nothing found that could be fixed. Consequently, at 2:20am on Tuesday Ellen was transported back to the Rehab Center by the regular ambulance service.  On Thursday at 1:45pm Ellen died.