St. Anthony's Hospital was ranked number 1 of the St. Louis Metropolitan area's 24 hospitals. Unfortunately, they lead St. Louis in turning away patients from their emergency room. In May, St. Anthony's was turning away patients 29.3% of the time. The next highest diversion rate for a hospital in St. Louis was 6.5%. This is the second month in a row and the fourth out of the last six months they have lead the region.
One would think that having a registered nurse on our fire board would be a good thing, but it appears Mrs. Stegman cares more about pleasing the bottom line then patient care. At the very least, we should expect a nurse director to be an advocate for patient care. Frankly, it doesn't appear she cares about patients at all. Perhaps she feels she can't speak out because she is employed by St. Anthony's Hospital. If she can't do her job, she needs to step down. South County deserves better care.
15 comments:
Heins you do not have any clue of what the hell you are talking about. Bonnie Stegman has no power over the emergency room and there might be some reasons why the hospital is turning some patients to other emergency rooms. YOU NEED TO GET YOUR HEAD OUT OF YOU ASS AND FIND OUT WHY THE EMERGENCY ROOM IS REALLY TURNING PATIENTS AWAY OR IS THAT TO HARD:
Her quote in the Call-
"Who cares if it takes 10 minutes to get an ambulance".
She is a confused person!
Mrs. Stegman has nothing to do with the operation of the emergency room.
Members of Local 1889 threatened to picket the hospital AND divert patents to other hospitals unless she was removed from her ER position.
These union Mehlville paramedics also attempted to get Mrs. Stegman terminated from her employment unless she resigned from the MFPD Board.
Public outcry against St. Anthony's for going along with Local 1889's agenda resulted in a storm of media coverage that persuaded hospital management to reverse their ultimatum, but Stegman was moved out of Emergency care.
Of course, we don't expect South County News to publish these facts.
What a load of CRAP, 5:37. Perhaps YOU should check YOUR facts before shooting off your fingers.
Stegman's employment in St. Anthony's ER was MANY YEARS AGO.
She left St. Anthony's to work for Des Peres and did so for several years. She was still employed there when she ran for fire board.
Des Peres dumped her and she got hired at St. Anthony's to work in EMS EDUCATION. This put her in a position to monitor, impact and interfere with continuing education credits REQUIRED for medics to relicense.
Given the contentious attitude she brought to the director's position, the medics were quite justifiably concerned about the conflict of interest and protested such to St. Anthony's.
Stegman's duties were redefined to cover NURSING education. The medics were mollified and that was the end of it.
At NO TIME did Mehlville medics threaten to boycott St. Anthony's ER. To even imply they would jeopardize patient care is insulting, although typical of the attacks they have endured since this board was elected.
Stegman HERSELF investigated this outrageous rumor and concluded there was no evidence to support it; no doubt to her great disappointment.
As far as the allegation the union might have considered picketing...so what? Picketing is hardly an unusual union tactic and is not illegal. St. Anthony's responsible response to voiced concerns made it a moot issue.
You are correct that Stegman has no immediate involvement in the current ER deficiencies.
However, with her background and as a fire board director, she SHOULD BE advocating for the district and its citizens. She SHOULD BE addressing the diversion problems with hospital administrators.
Perhaps she fears for her job. Gee, that sounds like a CONFLICT OF INTEREST!
8:51 Why must you be so crude? As a MFPD Director and a nurse, Stegman has a responsibility to see that the district's patients are seen in a timely manner. At the very least, she should be using the media to pressure St. Anthony's Hospital to hire more staff to serve this community. She gets the diversion reports, she understands or at least should understand how this compromises patient care. She should be standing on somebody's desk until she sees some changes.5:37 I have not suggested that Stegman should do anything differently at her place of employment. That is a private matter between her and the hospital. I'm told she has nothing to do with the ER. Her silence on this issue force us to wonder if she cares about the quality of patients in her role as a director of the Mehlville Fire Board.
This issue with St. Anthony's really has nothing to do with MFD however, south county residents need to be aware that if you are in need of emergency care you will be transported to the closest facility....St. Anthonys. Diversion does not necessarily mean they can turn you away, but St. Anthony's is also the closest hospital that you may take that sick kid, or that kid that fell off the swingset....This is an issue that affects our community. How is MFD affected? maybe they should raise this issue as a community "health concern" and at least acknowledge it...but they are not the problem or the cause of St. Anthony's being put on diversion.
12:19
Nobody hs said it's the fire department's fault! What we've said, is that it's a problem that greatly affects the way the MFPD provides for their customers. If ambulances are traveling to west county, they are not in the area to respond to calls. This isn't rocket science.Bonnie Stegman is silent on an issue that she, as a nurse, should be calling for action.
How do you know that she is silent.
2:51 Well, you've got me there. Perhaps she has been talking in her sleep. But she hasn't said anything at the board meetings and she hasn't been quoted in the press or the Call. Now if you have something to share, please do.
How would you know about MFPD Meetings? You have only attended ONE since Stegman was elected!
5:12 You are correct. I've only attended one meeting since Stegman's election. I'm flattered that you noticed.I have tried to attend others, but they were rescheduled without notice or weren't posted at all in violation of Missouri's Sunshine Law. Also, despite what was umanimously decided when Stegman came on the board to have the meetings at 7pm, they are held at 5pm. But all of this isn't relevant as I've procured audio records of many of the meetings.
With all that said, I guess it's remotely possible that Stegman could have spoken out on this issue, but I doubt it. If you know a time when this happened, let me know and I'll send a donation to:
http://lydiashouse.org/abuseshelter
Mike Heins
Stony has protested the poor opinions of Bonnie Stegman which have been expressed on this blog.
He says we're picking on the little dear. Actually, he says MIKE'S been picking on her...naughty, naughty Mike!
Funny, if you read carefully, you will see he does not dispute the facts as laid out by June 6, 10:12.
He does say St. Anthony's jerked Stegman around by hinting she might be asked to resign.
All the medics asked was that their required continuing education credits not be compromised by an EMS education instructor who was openly hostile to Mehlville medics.
St. Anthony's fixed the problem by reassigning her exclusively to hospital personnel education.
If hospital administrators first took a few missteps by hinting that she might have to resign, FOR WHICH WE ONLY HAVE BONNIE'S WORD, well that was an over-reaction on their part and hardly the fault of the medics who were entirely justified in their concerns.
Stony also resurrects pieces of a 2005 Post- Dispatch "news" article written by Patricia Rice which he quotes as if it were incontrovertible evidence of misdoing. Rice subtly presented Stegman's rendition of events as fact. Rice wrote a couple of little gems back then which even the least discerning reader could see were infected with her personal opinion.
(Evidently, if the Post-Dispatch prints it, it must be 100% accurate, include all facts, and be unbiased -- assuming it agrees with Stony's view. If not, it's a conspiracy by the evil LIBERAL DEMOCRATS.)
He brings up the rock-through-Hilmer's-car-window event which happened shortly after the election.
You know, when that happened, like most people, I immediately blamed the firefighters' union.
"There goes a union hothead," I thought. And maybe it was. Every group (even church boards!)seems to have at least one hothead.
Not yet fully understanding what Hilmer was capable of, union leaders walked right into a tar pit by offering to pay for the window in what they hoped was a "sign of good faith" and an effort to mend fences after a contentious election. The offer was accepted by Hilmer who then immediately touted it as proof of guilt.
Since then I have had ample opportunity to observe Aaron Hilmer in operation.
I have seen his arrogance; his ruthlessness; his contempt and disregard for people who, unlike HIM, work for a living.
I have seen the way he favors pals by diverting business in their direction.
I have seen the people he consorts with and the revolting, back-stabbing tactics to which they are willing, even happy, to descend.
And I have had occasions to wonder the past three years whether Hilmer threw that rock himself or arranged to have it done.
If anyone thinks he and good buddy Stony aren't capable of conceiving of and carrying through on a warped tactic like that, best think again.
Who would want your money, or possibly a bad check.
11:49- Amen! very well written
Stonebraker also chides the medics for the loss of Stegman's years of experience which she could have been sharing with those medics in continuing ed classes.
Pity he doesn't chide Stegman for the disrespect she has shown Mehlville employees with remarkably similar backgrounds.
By his usual faulty reckoning, SHE is to be revered, but THEY are "unqualified" and ineffective.
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