Publisher - Sri Foundation

Online Edition

PETERSBURG - A couple of local residents recently expressed their concerns with the service at Southside Regional Medical Center. And for the most part, their responses indicated that something needs to be done.

When Beverly Johnson sent her son to the Petersburg hospital to receive medical attention for an injured right eye, the thought of a problem never crossed her mind.

But Johnson was alarmed when she discovered that her son was not treated because he did not have the proper insurance.

“I thought that they would at least stabilized him,” said Johnson. “All they did was tell him that he was not in the proper insurance category. I am a registered nurse, so it really set off my antennas. I was always under the impression that you should at least stabilized a person before sending them home.”

Johnson, who declined to release her son’s name for privacy reasons, stated that a representative from the hospital called the day after and asked why her son had left.

“They called and tried to twist it around by saying that he was suppose to stay to be seen,” Johnson stated. “My son is old enough to know if someone told him he was going to be seen or not. They never did any vitals on him, and they never even sent him to triage, so how was he suppose to stay there to be seen?”

She stated that her son had reported to the hospital’s emergency room after accidently poking his right eye with a set of clippers.

But Johnson said her son was told by hospital offi cials that he was under the pre-pay category only, and could not be seen for treatment unless he paid fi rst.

“When he came home from the hospital, his eye was red and almost swollen shut,” said Johnson. “You could see that the lid of his eye had a cut in it.”

Johnson, who resides in Hopewell, said her son was born at SRMC, and that a lot has changed with the service at the hospital since it was sold three years ago.

When the hospital authority agreed to sell the facility in 2002, it was to the understanding that the hospital would continue to provide care for indigent patients.

Johnson stated that she left a message with the hospital’s patient representative Ava Warren expressing her concerns, but received no response.

Another case involves Tracey Whiten of Petersburg, who has had a series of hospitalizations since suffering multiple strokes in May of 2002.

Whiten says she became alarmed when SRMC gave her a discharge just hours after she was rushed to the emergency room after suffering a stroke.

Whiten was transported to SRMC on three different occasions for the same complications.

But Whiten claims she was never given a proper diognosis, which forced her to seek help from several other surgeons.

She stated that she was taken back to the emergency room just two days after being discharged.

Whiten says she waited for over four hours in the emergency room after hospital staff was informed that she was suffering from stroke-like symptoms.

She recalls seeing one of the RN who was surprised that she was not admitted during her fi rst visit.

“All they did was take my blood pressure, which was 275 over 175,” said Whiten. “They wrote a prescription and sent me home.”

According to Whiten, hospital administrators refused to treat her after discovering that her insurance information was being delayed.

After paying a vistit to a private surgical physician, Whiten ultimately received the news that she had suffered a stroke.

Whiten’s private physician immediatlely advised her to report to Chippenham Medical Center for emergency treatment.

Whiten, who is still recovering from her illness, is prescribed to seven different medications.

She says she was even paralyzed on one side of her body at a certain point. “I don’t feel like they treated her fairly,” said Dale Parham. “I feel as though they sent her away in a detrimental state.”

While Whiten continues to bring her condition back to normal, she expressed that things could have turned out a lot worse. “I could have died,” Whitten stated. “Someone should be held responsible for what was done at that hospital.”

‘No rules and regulations’ alleged at John Randolph
A former John Randolph Medical Center insider claims there are no bylaws, rules, or regulations in place when patient care is compromised at the 271-bed Hopewell hospital

SRMC physician: ‘There’s a mechanism of truth’
A Southside Regional Medical Center physician has joined the bandwagon of disillusioned former patients, doctors and nurses who have been pointing fingers at the hospital in

Physician’s license suspended;which others will follow?
The plight of a Newport News physician whose license was suspended by emergency order after the death of a chronically pain patient, is just one more look into how medical

Source: Patient care at JRMC lacked $5 face mask
According to a source, a couple months ago, two employees at John Randolph Medical Center brought up a situation involving a code that happened in the radiology suite

SRMC ad draws critcism
Sources say that shortly after Southside Regional Medical Center Chief Operating Office David Fikse placed advertisements denouncing articles published in the Virginia Times

JRMC upset over articles, another patient accuses Jadhav

Letters to the Editor
This is a copy of a letter written last week to Dr. William Harp, executive director of the Virginia Board of Medicine. The writer faxed it to the Times for use on the editorial pages

Local woman blasts physicians
When Petersburg resident Patricia Fitzgerald was recommended in 1996 by her primary care physician Dr. Mark Ende to Dr. J. Rayudu for a gall bladder removal, she never

Deaths, fraud, physicians’ negligence at SRMC true

Victory eludes Petersburg woman embroiled in malpractice, breach of contract suits

Allegations: ‘Hofheimer botched,covered up SRMC investigations’
According to a source, an investigation launched in 2001 to look into Southside Regional Medical Center’s certifi cation and to get offi cials to correct several instances of

Board of Medicine to investigate Jadhav

From the publisher
Gov. Mark R. Warner’s press secretary has told the Virginia Times that in response the newspaper’s inquiries concerning the appointment last year of Dr. Gopinath Jadhav by

Former SRMC employee claims she was forced out of her job for speaking out

No word from Warner on medical board appointee
It’s no coincidence that four people allegedly involved in a scandal surrounding the same hospital were appointed to various state boards by Gov. Mark R. Warner. Virginia, it

SRMC internist settles out of court
The Virginia Times learned early Monday that one of the doctors involved in alleged scandals at Southside Regional Medical Center, has settled out of court with the family of

HIPAA violations at SRMC
Family members of an elderly woman, whom they claim was provided such bad care while a patient at Southside Regional Medical Center, say that after the patient transferred to a

Replacement facility may target the elderly
The way may have been paved for construction of a replacement hospital in Petersburg, but that doesn’t hush the growl of residents who live in close proximity of the current

Woman: ‘They kept saying nothing was wrong with me’
PETERSBURG – Ramona Johnson gets the chills anytime someone mentions Southside Regional Medical Center.  That’s because of the frightening ordeals she says she

Incidences of substandard care leveled at hospital
Additional people have come forward with allegations challenging the level of care patients have been receiving at Southside Regional Medical Center since it became

Blatant peer review fraud involving SRMC
After recent allegations of misconduct surfacing around Dr. Akshay Dave, MD, a local physician, several attempts have been made by Virginia Times staff to contact the doctor,

Silent phone calls target local doctor’s office

Minority physicians at SRMC claim they’re more often taken to task
Quality Assurance reports have been at the center of contention between minority and non-minority doctors for years at Southside Regional Medical Center, according to a

Dance: ‘Concerns involving SRMC were brought to my attention’
Petersburg-Former Petersburg Mayor Rosalyn Dance said she was given first hand knowledge of plans to sell Southside Regional Medical Center. And for the most part,

Times may be target of corporate sabotage
CHESTER - Local Richmond television stations fl ocked to the Virginia Times news room on Friday after the chair of the foundation which pubishes the newspaper called a press

Claims of malfaeasance continue to plague attorney general's office

McKenney woman:‘SRMC would have let me die’
A McKenney woman has come forward on behalf of herself and several other people who allege they were victimized at some time or another by doctors and administrators at

Height of ‘peer review corruption’ at hospital

Hospital reneges on indigent care among ongoing allegations

‘Hush, hush, hush’ continues at SRMC
Another victim has stepped forwardin the ongoing saga of documented and alledged sex scandals pointed atSouthside Regional Medical Center

SRMC remains shrouded in mystery
PETERSBURG - The 1994 fi re at Southside Regional Medical Center, which killed four patients sparked heavy concern that indigent care may have played a factor

Events leading to fatal hospital fire still unclear
It's been more than10 yearssince a fire killed four patients at Southside Regional MedicalCenter