A string of medical mistakes that included a patient death after a routine gallbladder operation prompted the surgical teams at the Nellis Air Force Base hospital to take a stand-down safety day last month as part of what the facility calls an "unflinching look" at its level of care.
All scheduled, elective surgeries and non-life-threatening procedures were canceled at the Nevada facility while surgeons, physicians, nurses and support staff huddled to review the surgical incidents and chart a course to prevent them, according to the AirForceTimes.
According to Jacob Hafter, an attorney representing a civilian physician at the hospital who is concerned with the quality of care being provided there, "a plethora of preventable injuries" have recently occurred at the hospital, including:
an anesthesiologist blocking the wrong site on a patient in April;
an orthopedist making an incision on the wrong forearm bone in June;
an otolaryngologist implanting a device in the wrong ear of a patient in September; and
a doctor lacerating the portal vein during a June surgery to remove a patient's gallbladder. The patient in that case bled to death.
In a statement, Col. John DeGoes of the 99th Medical Group said the stand-down helped medical staff members meet the safety objectives of the hospital, which is run jointly by the Air Force and Veterans Affairs Department.
"Our medical staff took time in an open and honest discussion forum in order to continue to improve the quality of care we provide, and to further build on the patient safety culture we highly value," he said in the statement. "We took an unflinching look at our procedures and processes, both to identify areas we can do better and reinforce those we do well by ensuring our medical protocols continue to be followed."
Mark McGraw
