The Massachusetts Nurses Association (MNA), the union which represents the nursing staff at Brigham and Women's Hospital, is asking the Department of Public Health to take a closer look at the surgeries that Brigham has been scheduling now that there's a state order in force to reduce electtive surgeries to alleviate some of the covid pressure on hospitals.
Because, despite our high vaccination rate - as of today, we rank fifth among states (and the only four ahead of us are fellow New Englanders: VT, RI, ME, CT - we still have a lot of people being hospitalized due to covid.
Not surprising, most of those in dire enough shape to be hospitalized are non-vaxxers. And they're selfishly and idiotically hogging beds that could be used for people who need them for something other than covid.
And with the state requiring a reduction in elective surgery, it means that the procedures that do get scheduled mean bumping someone else further back in the queue.
Here's what the MNA told the state:
The union wrote that nonessential surgeries such as tummy tucks were continuing unabated as patients who need urgent surgery for broken bones and brain injuries were sometimes waiting for operating rooms.
“We don’t see any action by the hospital at all to try to curb elective surgeries,” said Trish Powers, an operating room nurse who chairs the union bargaining committee at the Brigham.
“We feel extremely overwhelmed, not just the nurses, but physicians, technicians — everybody is so overwhelmed,” she said. “We’re understaffed and have way too many patients.” (Source: Boston Globe)
Tummy tucks, eh?
Hard to think of any other surgery that's more elective, unless it's a facelift, nosejob, or that weird thing women were having done a few years back where they removed their little toe so that they could fit more comfortably in their pointy-toed Manolo Blahniks.
Okay, so they're not actually postponing emergency brain surgery in favor of procedures like tummy tucks.
Still, elective surgeries aren't all vanity projects. A knee or hip replacement counts as elective surgery. Shouldn't something that helps someone become more mobile and reduces their pain take precedence over someone who wants their jelly roll reduced? Come on, lady, just put on a pair of Spanx.
And not all elective surgeries are nice to haves, either.
They include surgeries for patients with cancer and other serious conditions.
Hospital officials have countered that they're complying with the order, which "applies to surgeries that require patients to stay overnight in the hospital, not outpatient procedures that allow patients to go home the same day."
Most tummy tucks are day surgery, letting the hospitals off the hook.
Still, the optics are pretty bad when someone can't get their knee replaced but someone who wants a tummy tuck can get the deed done.
And although nothing I read indicated that the MNA was actually accusing Brigham of doing tummy tucks - that might well be an extrapolation by the Boston Globe - I believe the nurses when they say that elective surgeries are chugging right along at a faster rate than it should be.
The hospital has every reason to rev up elective surgeries: they're a big source of revenue. And it's a big source of money for the doctors who perform them.
Would it be any surprise if the Brigham were complying with the letter of the law - reducing elective surgeries that require overnight stays - while actually encouraging more still- lucrative day surgeries? Like tummy tucks?
The nurses also argue that, because of the incresaed volume in covid patients, those with elective procedures who require an overnight stay may end up waiting on a gurney in a corridor waiting for a room to free up. (Trust me, you do not want this to happen to you or a loved one.)
The DPH is reviewing the MNA complaint.
As I said, I tend to trust the nurses here.
We'll see how this plays out.
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