Thread: Four resign from Talihina veterans center after resident found with maggots in wound

But the Obama Administration is spending Billions on illegals
Four resign from Talihina veterans center after resident found with maggots in wound

A veteran who later died had been found with maggots in a wound


Peterson
What is sepsis?Sepsis occurs when chemicals released into the bloodstream to fight an infection trigger inflammatory responses throughout the body. The inflammation can trigger changes that can damage multiple organ systems, causing them to fail.
If sepsis progresses to septic shock, blood pressure drops dramatically, which can lead to death.
Sepsis is most common and most dangerous in older adults or those with weakened immune systems. Early treatment of sepsis, usually with antibiotics and large amounts of intravenous fluids, improves chances for survival.
Source: Mayo Clinic

Posted: Friday, December 2, 2016 12:00 am

By Barbara Hoberock Tulsa World

OKLAHOMA CITY — Four staff members at the Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs Talihina facility have resigned after a resident who later died was found with maggots in a wound, the agency said.

Executive Director Myles Deering said the maggots were discovered while the patient was alive but were not the cause of his death. He said the man came into the center with an infection.

“He did not succumb as a result of the parasites,” Deering said Tuesday. “He succumbed as a result of the sepsis.”

Sepsis is a potentially life-threatening complication of an infection.

A physician’s assistant and three nurses, including the director of nursing, resigned in the wake of the investigation, said Shane Faulkner, a spokesman for the agency.

“All four chose to resign before the termination process began,” Faulkner said.

The agency reported the incident to the Oklahoma State Department of Health, said Deering, who also serves as secretary of Veterans Affairs.

It also submitted a report to the district attorney to see if charges are warranted, Deering said.

Jeff Smith, district attorney for LeFlore and Latimer counties, said Wednesday his office has yet to receive the report but he was made aware of the situation by the agency.

Deering said the facility staff discovered the maggots.

The Oklahoma State Department of Health on Oct. 13 received an incident report from the veterans center in Talihina, said Jamie Dukes, an Oklahoma State Department of Health spokeswoman.

The agency denied a request to provide the report, saying it contained identifying information that is prohibited by law from being released.

Based on the report, “it was determined that the facility fully investigated the incident and took any appropriate actions,” Dukes said.

Raymie Parker, of Atlanta, identified the dead man as his father, Owen Reese Peterson.

Peterson, 73, died Oct. 3 at the Talihina Veterans Center, according to his obituary.

Born in Texas, he grew up on a farm, according to the obituary. He joined the Army in 1969 and served in Vietnam, Parker said.

Parker described his father as a hardworking Texas boy, a patriot and a country poet.

“During the 21 days I was there, ... I pled with the medical staff, the senior medical staff, to increase his meds so his bandages could be changed,” Parker said. “I was met with a stonewall for much of that time.”

Deering said the patient’s medication was increased during his care.

Parker said the floor nursing staff was outstanding, but he is displeased with the senior medical personnel and administration.

Deering said the agency has been considering moving from the facility, which can house up to 175 residents. The facility is nearly 100 years old, he said.

Fixing the existing structures would take millions of dollars, Deering said.

Another problem is the inability to find and retain staff, said Sen. Frank Simpson, R-Springer, chairman of the Senate Committee on Military and Veterans Affairs.

“The Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs is required to maintain certain staffing levels and currently is unable to meet them,” he said. “At Talihina, they had to reduce the population of veterans there due to the inability to staff the facility.”

The Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs was in the news a few years ago after families and veterans raised concerns about the care.

A former Claremore Veterans Center physician’s assistant, Kenneth A. Adams, was sentenced to 90 days in jail stemming from the 2012 deaths of Louis Arterberry, 86, and Jay Minter, 85.

Minter died from complications from thermal injuries after being scalded in a whirlpool; Arterberry died after having a stroke, according to news reports.

Those and other incidents prompted a series of legislative hearings into the matter.

Simpson said the state has made tremendous progress in the past few years in improving care at the facilities.

http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/healt...8918ec284.html

This is horrible! Those people in charge should never be able to work in health care again.

I really think we should close most of the Veterans Hospitals. We have plenty of hospitals with outstanding procedures and rules and training to deal with most of what needs to be done. We could preserve some special facilities for the unique cases of war wounds for veterans coming home injured. But after that they should be folded into the normal population for normal treatment, access to emergency rooms, regular appointments with regular doctors, have access to doctors making house calls when travel is an issue, especially for elderly patients, this will increase business at our regular hospitals, government pays for it and that's it. This whole rigamarole of shuffling to inadequate separate Veterans facilities just doesn't make any sense in 95% of the cases.

When did they become so inadequate. My stepfather used the veteran's hospitals for years and received first rate care. I have been in a couple when he received treatment and I could find no problems.

It did bother me that some of his doctors could barely speak English. That has always seemed dangerous to me.

These people should not be allowed to resign - they should be prosecuted and not just for 90 days.
Unless and until people are held responsible for their actions, nothing is going to change.

Inferior and dangerous care for veterans, but some veterans hospitals have decorators, expensive art on the walls and sculpture -

All the really important things ---