"The Ronan Report" provides insight about the activities at the Western Maryland Health System in Cumberland, Maryland, and about the changes taking place in healthcare today from a CEO's perspective.

Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Texas Health Resources

I am attending a Premier Governance meeting in Scottsdale, Arizona, this week.  (70 and sunny, sorry!)  So far, it's an excellent meeting.  Yesterday, I attended a breakout session with the CEO and COO of Texas Health Resources on Leadership in Crisis Management.  

If you remember, this was the Dallas hospital that received Mr. Duncan, the first patient exposed to Ebola while in west Africa who traveled to the US.  Mr. Duncan subsequently died at that hospital, but the story told by these gentlemen was most interesting.  They told of repeated incorrect information being reported by the media; even after they corrected them, the media continued to report the misinformation for sensationalization purposes. 

The CEO said that they followed the CDC guidelines for Ebola exposed patients and found that they were woefully inadequate to the point that they dramatically improved upon the standards as they cared for Mr. Duncan.  The nurses at Texas Health Resources were furious at the American Nurses Association when they repeatedly reported misinformation about what was happening in the care of Mr. Duncan simply to promote their position on issues and to embarrass the hospital.  In turn, the nurses held a rally in support of the hospital. When they learned that 60 Minutes was in Dallas to do a story on the death of Mr. Duncan, the nurses volunteered to tell their story.  If you remember that  60 Minutes segment, the nurses were wonderful in telling it like it happened and dispelling what the ANA was spewing.  The nurses were so effective that Texas Health Resources used them to restore the public's trust in their system because of the misinformation that had been shared nationally.  These gentlemen provided a wealth of knowledge related to managing in a crisis, but their story related to Mr. Duncan was fascinating.

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