The new policy stems from an incident earlier this year when an officer arrested a nurse at University of Utah Hospital for refusing to draw blood from an unconscious patient without a warrant, in today's bite-sized hospital and health industry news from California, Nevada, and Utah.
- California: The California Hospital Association has launched a Hospital Workers' Fire Relief Fund, which will be distributed to hospitals that request assistance for employees affected by the fires. The California Hospital Association and several regional associations in the state have pledged to donate $40,000 to the fund, and AHA has already made a donation. The fund will be accepting donations from hospitals, hospital employees, and other companies through the end of the month (AHA News, 10/12).
- Nevada: Dignity Health-St. Rose announced that it will not require any payments from victims of the Oct. 1 shooting in Las Vegas who received treatment at the system's hospitals. "St. Rose does not intend to bill or require payment from any patient victims of this tragic event," a hospital spokesperson said. "St. Rose will bill third-party payers … and will be accepting contributions from donors in the community to address the financial and other burdens placed on these patient victims." Three of Dignity Health's hospitals have treated about 79 patients affected by the shooting (Rege, Becker's CFO Report, 10/12).
- Utah: Salt Lake City law enforcement has written new policies for working with hospitals and nurses in the city in response to an incident earlier this year when an officer arrested a nurse at University of Utah Hospital for refusing to draw blood from an unconscious patient without a warrant. Under the new policy, officers seeking to work with patients who are not in custody must contact the hospital's house supervisor, and if the patient is in the ED, officers must also notify the charge nurse and the hospital's own security unit. If disagreements arise, officers are instructed to touch base with their supervisors (Stilson, Deseret News, 10/12).
Members ask: How can our hospital prepare for disasters?
Hospitals must be prepared for myriad disasters that can stress health care systems to the breaking point and disrupt delivery of vital health care services.
Advisory Board has compiled step-by-step procedures for various threats your facility may encounter—though we hope you'll never need to use them.