NYU Hospital Bars Satmar Bikur Cholim,

lavenderchimes

Sun, May 13 2018, 11:28 am

amother wrote:

Long time poster here:

They changed my chart to hide my late husband's abuse. Don't ever think it doesn't happen.

My late husband stabbed me. The records were made to disappear. My insurance company was never charged.

During court proceedings, the hospital denied it happened. BH I had the discharge instructions for a stab wound. I was asked how I got the proof. The hospital was well aware of the fact the records disappeared. It was done at a high level.

I'm so sorry this happened to you. I assume that your late husband had something to do with this -- the hospital didn't do it randomly. That doesn't excuse the hospital, of course, and I hope you have dealt with the hospital appropriately.

Despite your horrible experience, I find it hard to believe that hospitals are routinely putting Do Not Intervene orders on people's charts for no reason. For the most part, these instructions are there because of the patient's wishes. I know my husband has a DNR -- I don't like it, but it's true. And since I have no legal power (his sister is Healthcare Proxy,) when the time comes, the hospital will be legally obligated to respect the DNR. That's not the hospitals fault.

amother

Aubergine

Sun, May 13 2018, 11:29 am

tf wrote:

Hospitals serve commercial type of food. Bikur cholim serves like what I would cook myself from fresh fruits, vegetables and homemade challah, etc. I NEVER buy the commercially prepared food. How can you compare? Rolling Eyes

I’ve been in the hospital many times in the tristate area including as a patient visitor and employee and never had a problem getting kosher food from the cafeteria or from the hospitality as a patient.So I didn’t know why it was needed, that’s all.

lavenderchimes

Sun, May 13 2018, 11:30 am

amother wrote:

Bikur Cholim ONLY sends food to families that have REQUESTED FOOD. Bikur Cholim does NOT look for Jewish names and just barge in...for your information.

Except they DO. Maybe they shouldn't, but they do. My husband recently told me about how they found his mother in the hospital, and how grateful he was that they randomly dropped by -- and kept coming by. It also happens to my friend when she was recovering from breast cancer -- they came in because she had a Jewish name. Both of these people were fine with it, but I imagine that many people would have a problem with it.

Last edited by lavenderchimes on Sun, May 13 2018, 11:40 am; edited 1 time in total

amother

Aubergine

Sun, May 13 2018, 11:31 am

shirachadasha wrote:

So an obvious solution would be to ask these righteous people to become hospital volunteers.

I agree. Back in college I volunteered at NYU hospital and worked there a few years ago. There was an application, medical form and background checks, but it wasn’t so hard to do.

lavenderchimes

Sun, May 13 2018, 11:33 am

Maya wrote:

There’s also the possibility that the whole affair is about inside politics, and the volunteers’ actions played only a minor part. It’s all speculation.

Also true. Hospitals have tightened the security a LOT in recent years. I went to visit a friend who had given birth eruv Shabbos, and had to have a security guard let me through the locked doors to L&D (because I couldn't use the intercom,) and then the nurse went ahead of me to make sure I was welcome. It's really not safe to have unknown people wandering into rooms, and hospital policy is increasingly reflecting that.

das

Sun, May 13 2018, 11:50 am

I didn't read the whole thread so maybe what I'm saying is repetitive. A friend was in the hospital recently--she is semi-famous because of her position in a very large school and she gives speeches. Anyway, she was feeling and looking terrible when in waltzed a frum volunteer (I dont know from which org). Just walked in without knocking. Not even her own family members knew she was in the hospital for various reasons. It felt like a tremendous invasion of privacy.

OTOH, if not for the Bikur Cholim she and her closest family members who went into the hospital from one minute to the next would've starved for hours until food could be arranged. There should be some kind of system where a patient can opt for privacy and volunteers wont show up to their room.

Fox

Sun, May 13 2018, 1:18 pm

Maya wrote:

There’s also the possibility that the whole affair is about inside politics, and the volunteers’ actions played only a minor part. It’s all speculation.

I don't live in NY and have never been a patient or even a visitor at this or any other NY hospital, but I'd put my money on this explanation.

As other posters have noted, hospitals are under a lot more pressure to provide heightened security and to guard patient privacy than in the past. They're more vulnerable to lawsuits from patients and their families who feel their privacy or security has been compromised. It's easy to see why skittish hospital administrators would be reluctant to give independently vetted volunteers access to patients or even families no matter how admirable their record. A single complaint leading to a nuisance lawsuit and the Board of Directors will have somebody's head.

At the same time, hospital administrators are notorious for engaging in turf wars over things far more ridiculous than whether patients and their guests can receive food from a group of popular volunteers who've been providing it for years. So I'm also quite willing to entertain the suspicion that Associate Assistant Director of Patient Coordination and Outreach Services is involved in a battle with the Assistant Vice President for Strategic Community Coordination and Patient Support Services and somehow Bikur Cholim got caught in the crossfire.

egam

Sun, May 13 2018, 5:21 pm

das wrote:

There should be some kind of system where a patient can opt for privacy and volunteers wont show up to their room.

The privacy system does exist in many hospitals. In the hospital where I work, a patient can opt to not be shown on the hospital census and is given a password to give to visitors that are allowed to come. Visitors have to give this password at the front security, otherwise they won’t be allowed to enter. Our security will not even confirm that the patient in the hospital without password. The patient’s name will also not appear on a list of patients given by pastoral care to volunteers that distribute Shabbos packages or visit Jewish patients on Shabbos. And all our volunteers are official, cleared by the hospital.

amother

Bronze

Sun, May 13 2018, 9:15 pm

I BELIEVE THAT NYU, DOES NOT POST THE NAMES OF PATIENTS IN THE HALLWAY FOR A LONG WHILE. Someone would actually have to go inside a room, to see who the patient is....

My father was in Mount Sinai West(formerly Roosevelt), and on Shabbos he had the local Bikur Cholim of the West Side come to visit. They had in their hands a list of all jewish patients. The hospital must have provided that. Is that o\k???

amother

Azure

Sun, May 13 2018, 9:42 pm

amother wrote:

iirc, when I was a patient there after giving birth, the name wasn't even on the door.
and I had times when I was there and didnt order food. noone came looking for me. so I find it hard to believe that these stories happened with SBC...

amother

Olive

Sun, May 13 2018, 11:13 pm

amother wrote:

Another problem I've noticed with NYU is that they wrote on the first page of patients charts in large the words "Do not intervene". I saw it on charts of 2 of my grandparents. I discussed this in college class and found more students who saw this. Unfortunately, this is called mass murder. Would we have asked the doctor for the chart they would've taken those words out first, before giving us the chart.

How did you see this? Doctors won't write notes in front of you typically and they're not allowed to hand you the chart directly. I once asked a different hospital just to see what was written because an immediate family member was in the hospital and I wasn't there when the doctors made rounds in the morning to hear what they said.

naturalmom5

Mon, May 14 2018, 3:44 am

ProudMommie wrote:

About time that everyone realizes that we are not at "home" in New York...

That may well be in general...

However, Medically speaking.. Israel and Socialized Med is not the answer..

My son was in Jerusalem the past 2 years. Last summer he was complaining about excruciating stomach pains, possibly related to food-poisoning at a yeshiva dinner.
He kept going to a Dr and they just gave him a run around for months. They refused to do an endoscopy, and just gave various prescriptions that did absolutely nothing.

Finally, he came home for Pesach. We went to Chemed, and in an hour, he was diagnosed and the situation was greatly alleviated.

ProudMommie

Mon, May 14 2018, 4:04 am

naturalmom5 wrote:

agreed.. I am not advocating any move to anywhere. I am not crazy and do not pretend to know the answers in the difficult matziv we live in .. in our generation... So... I am just saying that people should realize that we are NOT at home in NY (I love my Brooklyn too...) and it is silly to act like we own the place and everyone has to meet our needs.. I feel that is a gross misunderstanding of the matziv we are in.. sorry if I offended someone.

ProudMommie

Mon, May 14 2018, 4:08 am

but in E"Y .. in our land.. we have a right to demand, try to make changes.. etc.. even though Torah Jews have few rights there. Disclaimer: This post is my final comment on this subject and I will not enter into any debates with anyone.

ILOVELIFE

Mon, May 14 2018, 4:18 am

I also had unannounced ppl offering sandwiches and the likes— not from Satmar Bikur Cholim. I found they never ever came to my room unless I called and asked

Barbara Bensouson wrote a fabulous article in the Pesach issue Of Mishpacha and her intro was all about how when her dghter was in a coma doctors tried their best to get the family to stop intervention

I am not here to advocate for or against palliative care for as clearly stated: it’s a halachic question.

What I can say as someone who believes in the freedoms this country offers: the medical world is becoming way to intrusive in its push for its own agenda medically.

NYU has had many stories like this (personally heard two first hand) where docs, nurses will almost gang up on a Family & try to get them to agree to stop life support.

In one case, my friends father had a stroke and his chances of survival were next to nill. The doc, even after receiving requests from the family and a signed health proxy form indicating the patient’s wish to do anything needed to save him, kept giving the Family attitude and trying to wear them down. The man miraculously recovered and is Home doing fairly well....

Insurance companies put huge pressure on hospitals and hospitals on staff and NYU staff is notoriously famous for this

southernbubby

Mon, May 14 2018, 8:40 am

ILOVELIFE wrote:

It goes on everywhere. Most hospitals push for pulling the plug and in Florida it is mandated in lots of cases.