If I receive comments on the process underway at Alpena General Hospital, aka Alpena Regional Medical Center I will post them here:

1st comment from Kait: Well Mark, this (pollution as noted by John Pruden in another post) is just one of the problems facing our fair city. On one hand we have the folks near you at the Alpena C of C who are beating the bushes trying to put us on the map; sell Alpena; Make businesses & industry notice Alpena etc. Then we see the 3 ring circus at ARMC & its connections. Has anyone bothered to note how many GOOD doctors have left Alpena in the past ten or more years? I don’t think the exodus began while Mr. McVeety was CEO out there, but the latest to leave is the ONLY Nephrologist in this part of the state… Dr Azabache. With his departure, this means dialysis patients will have to look for a new specialist? Driving to TC, Petoskey, Bay City? And then there are the unfounded but recurring rumors of McLaren taking over the Alpena County’s Hospital? Was it that many years ago that we the citizens were told when a group of investors wanted to close the street between the State Street Barber Shop & the Mexican Restaurant that it could only be done if the VOTERs approved it? They did NOT. However later the city owned garage on Campbell street was sold. Did the Voters have to approve that? Using the same logic, since Alpena General Hospital aka Alpena Regional Medical Center is a County owned facility, are we the taxpayers/owners of the hospital to be asked if we want it sold/merged with a for profit company? How many of our citizens have been receiving letters from their primary physicians saying they were leaving private practice & they need to find another health care provider… only to find themselves face to face with the physician when they are at or in ARMC? But they don’t work for ARMC? Who then do they work for? and please does anyone know WHY so many MD’s & DO’s come here & promptly leave? What does it take to have hospital privileges? can they not see their patients at hospital? How does a Hospitalist physician know a patient, as a personal physician would/could/should? How can your personal physician know about your health when they are out of the loop when you go to hospital? So it’s not just the air we breathe, the water we drink nor the pollution we have falling on us… it’s also the people who take care of us when the air/water pollution take us down. Kait Comment from Retiree: I am a retiree from ARMC.  I know for a fact that there was a large turnover of physicians under McVeety.  It continues with this administration. Under McVeety we experienced anesthesiologist issues.  We had local tenums and they about broke the hospital.   The new laboratory director that started today is from McClaren.  I find that interesting since they are the top runners in the buy out of the hospital. Diane Shields, human resources director also oversees the lab.  It is rumored that she has experienced tire troubles both at the hospital and school.  She’s hanging on for the RN contract and will then leave. Diane has no knowledge of the technical side of the laboratory but is a tyrant that bullies people.  She must have “something” over the current administration to keep her on staff.  The hospital has paid out lawsuites for her actions.  No one is aware of these because of the confidentiality clause in the settlements.  Try to make an orthopedic appointment here in town.  In November the lead time was February with surgery in April if needed.  The wait list had 15 “emergency” cases ahead of us.  When questioned the response was that the orthopods are short staffed.  One left and was not replaced, another is leaving. It has been rumored that the sale of the hospital will not result in real dollars.  It will simply be a take over.  Our county will not receive a large cash boost to the economy.  The other beef I have is having a health club rent prime realestate on a tax free building.  Bay Athletic should have their own building, pay taxes to the county/and/or city, and free up this area for physician offices.  Munson has been able to have surgeon’s office connect to the hospital for years.  We tried this effort with the Doctor’s Office but ended up running most of those physicians out of town.  At that time McVeety and Ferguson would make promises they could not keep to the physicians.  Boehm stayed, the rest ran!  All of this hospital potential sale should be front page news for paper.  People should have public forums available.  The large emergency room project will serve as a band aid station until people can get out of town for definitive healthcare. My Comment:  I would comment on the Retiree comment to say that while McVeety and Ferguson may have made promises that could not be kept, it is more likely that when Ferguson may have done so, that it was at the direction of McVeety, and that McVeety did not follow through.

Karch Comment: 1/21/2015 – RE: SALE OF ARMC — WE have heard employees stumbled upon the CEO and his cronies discussing how to “hide” news of the chosen buyer. Secrecy is the norm here, to the detriment of the entire community. Employees and Patients have a right to know who will be managing this place in the near future. The trust is broken. While hospitals continue to merge or sell out, one would hope that merely replacing the management team at ARMC would serve to solve many issues. Perhaps the board should be held responsible for hiring a CEO and a Human Resources VP that rule like thugs, seemingly to care nothing for the community in which they live. Let’s all hope Bjella and Shields are kicked to the curb, escorted out, without compensation & the “Board” sent to sea for what they have contributed. Together, they have created a travesty. How many more employees will be dejected, fired, blamed, for the grave errors in judgment and the personal inadequacies of Bjella and Shields. Stories abound in the community, all one has to do is listen. It is sick. Reputable hospitals do not hide the names of members of the Board. Names should be posted on a main wall near the entrance for all to see. Will proper compensation ever exist at ARMC for clinical employees? Proper respect? And now, for years of education and dedicated service, employees can sit and wait, for the fate of their MERS retirements, for the fate of this community.

2-23-15  Nurses:  Why are you not printing anything about the nurses contract & what the hospital (Diane Shields) is trying to take away from the employees? The public to my knowledge has no idea what is going on right now with nurses working short, insurance increases for families & part time employees. It’s very sad how little ARMC care about their nurses. Please take a look.

4-21-15  From Keely:  You suggested that if a customer had a complaint about ARMC to speak to Dixie Jones. I would advise against that and just complain to the Joint Commission. She is not helpful and takes the side of her employer and helps them circle their wagons.

Reply to Keely: I would still report to Dixie Jones, or any other patient representative at ARMC first. If not satisfied then go elsewhere. One problem I have seen is that people in Alpena complain about the hospital about medical matters which appear to have not been reported to the patient representative. The ARMC board does express a desire to improve the hospital’s services at their meetings, but they are not getting reports about the things I hear about in the community. For instance, patients coming to during surgery, or getting wrong diagnosis which is corrected at another hospital the patient goes to, or getting the wrong prescriptions. Most complaints to the patient advocates are about waiting times or billing or other general non-medical problems.