Northwestern Medical Center
| Northwestern Medical Center | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Geography | |
| Location | St. Albans, Vermont, United States |
| History | |
| Founded | 1883 |
| Links | |
| Website | http://www.northwesternmedicalcenter.org/ |
| Lists | Hospitals in Vermont |
Northwestern Medical Center is a hospital in St. Albans, Vermont.
History
The St. Albans Hospital, in St. Albans, Vermont, was established in 1883. The Kerbs Memorial Hospital, also in St. Albans, was established in 1950. In 1978, these two hospitals merged into Northwestern Medical Center.[1][2][3]
Allegations of Medicare Violations, Fraudulent Peer Review and Deliberate Contamination of Surgical Patients:
During 2007, Northwestern Medical Center was investigated by the United States Department of Justice for allegedly engaging in an illegal kick-back scheme involving radiological services for physicians in the community (U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Vermont, http://jpands.org/ral03.pdf; Huntoon, L. Did a Hospital Deliberately Place Patients at Risk to Retaliate against a Physician? Journal of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, June 3, 2015). In addition to penalties, Northwestern Medical Center potentially could have been required to pay back up to three times the amount it collected from federal health care programs for care provided to patients referred by the orthopedic practice. In a related matter, Northwestern Medical Center, its management company, Quorum Health Resources, Triad Hospitals, hospital CEO Peter Hofstetter and Drs. Joseph Salamone, James Duncan and Michael Burfoot were sued by orthopedic surgeon Dr. Raymond Long for antitrust and other violations arising from a fraudulent peer review of Dr. Long (Stein A. Surgeon accuses St. Albans Hospital of deliberately infecting his patients, VTDigger, Aug 12, 2013; Huntoon, L. Did a Hospital Deliberately Place Patients at Risk to Retaliate against a Physician? Journal of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, June 3, 2015; Harming Patients? WCAX April 5, 2004 ). Dr. Long’s lawsuits against NMC and Quorum Health Resources contain allegations of deliberate contamination of his surgical patients operations. Specifically, Dr. Long’s suits allege that a series of highly unusual infections struck his patients. When the hospital refused to investigate the infections, Dr. Long undertook his own investigation. On February 6, 2004, he intercepted irrigation solution provided by the hospital for arthroscopic surgery and had it analyzed at the University of Vermont laboratory (Fletcher Allen Health Care). That analysis proved that the irrigation solution provided by Northwestern Medical Center was heavily contaminated with Staphylococcus aureus bacteria (Harming Patients? WCAX April 5, 2004; Stein A. Surgeon accuses St. Albans Hospital of deliberately infecting his patients, VTDigger, Aug 12, 2013; Huntoon, L. Did a Hospital Deliberately Place Patients at Risk to Retaliate against a Physician? Journal of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, June 3, 2015). Discovery in the lawsuits revealed that Northwestern Medical Center had purchased the same bacteria that caused the infections shortly before the infections struck (Stein A. Surgeon accuses St. Albans Hospital of deliberately infecting his patients, VTDigger, Aug 12, 2013; Huntoon, L. Did a Hospital Deliberately Place Patients at Risk to Retaliate against a Physician? Journal of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, June 3, 2015). Dr. William Jarvis, formerly the head of hospital infections at the United States Centers for Disease Control evaluated the infections and was able to use antibiotic sensitivities to match the bacteria that NMC purchased with the bacteria cultured from the infected patient’s shoulders (Stein A. Surgeon accuses St. Albans Hospital of deliberately infecting his patients, VTDigger, Aug 12, 2013; Huntoon, L. Did a Hospital Deliberately Place Patients at Risk to Retaliate against a Physician? Journal of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, June 3, 2015; Raymond A. Long, M.D. vs. Triad Hospitals, Inc., Quorum Health Resources, LLC, Northwestern Medical Center, Inc., et al. U.S. District Court for the District of Vermont, No. 2:05-CV-21. Filed Jun 15, 2006). Northwestern Medical Center spokesperson (and Vice President) Jonathan Billings responded to questions from the media regarding the infections by stating, "We have done our investigation into concerns that have been raised regarding operating room fluids. And we answered questions from the state regarding that matter. And have come out of that assured of the safety of our operating rooms and the materials used in that, and have not seen any evidence to the contrary," (Harming Patients? WCAX April 5, 2004). However, when confronted with Dr. Jarvis’ report he stated, “At this point in the process,” he said, “the hospital is unable to comment on the specific matter,” (Stein A. Surgeon accuses St. Albans Hospital of deliberately infecting his patients, VTDigger, Aug 12, 2013). Vermont Attorney General William Sorrell has faced allegations of covering up and burying any legitimate investigation of the deliberate infections and biological terrorism, (Anon. Sorrell takes heat in AG debate on radio show. Barre MontpelierTimes Argus, Oct 13, 2004; Huntoon, L. Did a Hospital Deliberately Place Patients at Risk to Retaliate against a Physician? Journal of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, June 3, 2015). Northwestern Medical Center ultimately paid a multimillion dollar settlement to Dr. Long. The hospital CEO Hofstetter, who was a defendant in Dr. Long’s suit, was subsequently transferred to Holy Cross Hospital of Taos, New Mexico,(Chandra Johnson, New Hospital CEO to Arrive With Bagage,Taos News, April 17, 2009; Huntoon, L. Did a Hospital Deliberately Place Patients at Risk to Retaliate against a Physician? Journal of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, June 3, 2015).
References
Coordinates: 44°48′29″N 73°04′17″W / 44.8080699°N 73.0712901°W4. "Stein, A. Surgeon accuses St. Albans hospital of deliberately infecting his patients". VT Digger, August 12, 2013.
5. "Huntoon, L. (June 3, 2015). Did a Hospital Deliberately Place Patients at Risk to Retaliate Against a Physician?" Journal of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons.
6. "Sorrell Takes Heat in AG Debate on Radio Show." Barre MontpelierTimes Argus, Oct 13, 2004.
7. http://www.jpands.org/vol20no2/huntoon.pdf
8. "Harming Patients?" WCAX April 5, 2004
9. http://jpands.org/ral03.pdf
10. "Johnson C. New Hospital CEO to Arrive With Baggage",Taos News, April 17, 2009.